Hmm: What qualifies chief scientists to decide for everyone what the key issues are and what the political agenda should be?

EU’s new science advisor will need a loud voice, strong will

Research policy experts and economists agree chief scientists can have substantial impact, galvanizing public awareness, focusing the political agenda on key issues and setting the record straight when politicians wield uninformed scientific arguments to support their agenda.

The UK’s chief science advisor John Beddington has been a strong advocate for climate change mitigation policies, and made food security a top government priority. US President Barack Obama’s Chief Science Advisor John Holdren, director of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy, is a world expert on climate change and has played a highly visible role driving climate change awareness and policies.