The Secretary of Energy has released a much-anticipated 20-year plan for construction of major research facilities across the fields managed by the DOE Office of Science. It is exciting that construction of the international Linear Collider is a high-priority goal of this plan.
http://www.sc.doe.gov/Sub/Facilities_for_future/20-Year-Outlook-screen.pdfThe DOE Office of Science Director Ray Orbach has spent much of his first year in office creating this prioritized list of 28 projects needed over the next 20 years to pursue the missions of the DOE. It has been a far-reaching exercise and many of the proposals put forward in the process did not make the final cut. The plan includes projects already under way (such as the LCLS), mid-term projects in conceputal stages (the Linear Collider is the highest priority project in this category), and long-range projects still in early proof-of-principle R&D. While this plan is not a proposal for funding, it is significant that the Secretary - who speaks to the President - has taken "ownership" and brought forward this roadmap to the future.