Last spring, this author warned that the Biden administration was readying to unleash a “total transformation of government” based on three of the main principles of Critical Race Theory: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE).
Now, the Department of Energy (DOE) is putting Critical Theory into practice by officially requiring all scientists and researchers to include DIE plans in their projects in order to be considered for federal funding and grants. That means that if you refuse to explain how your project will advance certain leftist social causes, you will not be considered for federal tax dollars doled out by the DOE’s Office of Science.
On October 3, the DOE website issued a press release saying, “… beginning in FY 2023, the Office of Science is adding a new requirement to our solicitation processes: applicants must now submit a plan for Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research, or PIER Plan, along with their research proposals.”
These plans should “describe the activities and strategies that investigators and research personnel will incorporate to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their research projects.”
The more employees are involved, the more detailed the plans are expected to be.
Based on language from the DOE, these plans should include information on how the research team will help “individuals from groups and communities historically minoritized in STEM fields and careers.”
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that means you must now show how your research project will hire or benefit people who aren’t straight white men.
If it doesn’t help such groups sufficiently enough, then your research project may not receive funding.
“This will be a requirement for proposals submitted to all Office of Science solicitations, as well as invited proposals from the DOE national laboratories,” DOE added. “The PIER Plans will be evaluated under a new merit review criterion as part of the peer review process.”
The Office of Science frequently asked questions page makes it clear that you must include these PIER plans just to have your solicitation request even looked at:
Will my application still be considered and evaluated if it does not include a PIER Plan?
No. If an application is missing a PIER Plan, it will be considered an incomplete application and will not be evaluated. Applicants should consider whether it would be in their best interests to withdraw the application.
The Office of Science also claimed that it had a responsibility to force this onto the American people because it is “the largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and a steward of public funding.” The office receives billions of dollars in federal funding, and it is using it to push the Critical Race Theory.
That money is supposed to go toward our nation’s best and brightest, which in turn strengthen our energy grid, national security, transportation, and more. Our scientists, especially the ones we fund, are supposed to make the best technology possible to help America.
Yet, because Biden signed an executive order for the purpose of “advancing racial equity” in the federal government to combat the devastating effects of so-called systemic racism, our nation’s smartest people have to take their minds away from the scientific process to make sure that their plans line up with left-wing radical theories about how the world should work.
In the springtime, Ryan Girdusky, founder of 1776 Project PAC, told The Daily Wire that “plan towards equity is race-based Marxism with a different word.”
“The entire program is set to lower standards, dilute meritocracy, and have the first large-scale government-supported laws that discriminate against people based on their race since before Eisenhower was President,” Girdusky added.
At a time when America is facing an energy crisis, an artificial intelligence race with China, and supposedly a climate change crisis, the Biden administration is focusing on DIE — which could in turn kill what made this nation great: equality, hard work, and judging each other based on the quality of our character or ideas — not skin color.
Tim Meads is a former DOE speech writer in the Trump Administration.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.