Key to the future

As philanthropist wildcatter understood, basic chemistry research supports progress.

Fourteen-year-old Robert Alonzo Welch, born in South Carolina, borrowed $50 and in August 1886, boarded a train for Houston. After a short time, he had developed such an interest in petroleum that his friends nicknamed him “Pete.”

Back in 1900, no one could have predicted that 52 years later, this virtually penniless young man would leave an estate valued at $42 million or that he would create a trust fund “for the benefit of mankind.”

How did this wildcatter choose to help us all? Welch targeted his dollars to support basic research in Texas in the field of chemistry. His focus was farsighted. Everyone brushes against chemistry when they cook their meals, but few realize that chemicals underlie everything we see hear, see, smell, taste and touch.

Not only did Welch elect to aid an oft-overlooked field, but fast-forward a century, and private dollars to support basic research have become more pivotal than ever before.

Basic research involves finding answers to questions about nature without an immediate commercial application. The federal government once supported a majority of the basic research carried out in the United States, but not anymore.

Accelerating the disturbing trend, President Donald Trump’s official fiscal year 2018 budget request proposes deep cuts to most federal science agencies, including the Office of Science at the Department of Energy.

Any Texan who doubts the benefits of basic research should consider the oil boom in West Texas. Independent oilman George Mitchell developed the process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on the back of research conducted by the DOE The resulting shale oil and gas revolution of the past couple of decades has catapulted the once improbable goal of American energy independence into reach.

Now, basic research supported by public dollars is poised to transform the energy industry again. Electrochemist John Goodenough, 94, and his team at the University of Texas at Austin have devised a new lithium battery that can hold three times more energy, charges in minutes rather than hours, can last for more than 1,500 charging cycles, and poses no fire hazard, as reported by Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson.

Advances in battery technology could someday allow solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy to become the dominant forms of energy production, outstripping oil and gas.

Human progress is dependent on risktakers and philanthropists like Welch who seek better opportunities and then give back. It’s dependent on scientists like Goodenough who continue to ask why. It’s dependent on state support for a strong K-12 public education system and a compelling system of higher education.

But it’s also dependent on robust federal support.

Texans who understand the value of knowledge for its own sake should write to their congressional representatives to urge their support of continued funding of basic research. That research is key to our nation’s ability to meet the challenges of the future.