President-elect Barack Obama named physicist John Holdren assistant to the president and director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy on Saturday. Commonly referred to as the presidential science adviser, the position will give Holdren influence over budget allocations for nanotechnology, clean energy, space exploration, climate research and all other federal science and technology initiatives, assuming the Senate confirms him in January. (link)

A former chairman and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Holdren gave a speech to fellow scientists earlier this year that offers a glimpse of the perspective he might lend the incoming administration (full text available here). His thoughts: