The FY09 budget included many nods to Earth observing satellites and the Earth science they enable.

A Feb. 4 OSTP press release states:
The Bush Administration today announced its plans for a significant enhancement of the Nation’s civil Earth observation capabilities. These activities include re-instating key climate measurement capabilities that once were part of the tri-agency National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) effort (but were removed from the future planned satellites during the 2006 restructuring of NPOESS) and also funding a new series of space research missions that will significantly advance our understanding of changes in the Earth’s climate, oceans and land surfaces.
“These activities reflect President Bush’s commitment to understanding causes and trends with regard to changes in the Earth’s climate, oceans, and land surfaces,” said John H. Marburger, Science Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). “Such measurements are crucial to the ongoing research regarding global climate change and to our efforts to understand potential technological advances and behavioral changes to help address this challenge. These satellite-based programs in the President’s FY2009 budget are a very important step forward in that process.”
A Feb. 4 NASA press release states:
“In Earth science, NASA’s investments in measuring the forces and effects of climate change are allowing policymakers and the public to better understand its implications to our home planet,” Dale [,Shana, NASA Deputy Administrator] said.
A recently completed decadal survey for Earth science includes views of the scientific community that will help the agency set priorities for new missions to add to humanity’s knowledge of Earth and its climate and ecosystems. NASA will dedicate $910 million during the next five years to develop new missions to add to our Earth-observing fleet of spacecraft.
A Feb. 4 USGS press release states:
Land Remote Sensing is funded at $62.6 million, including a programmatic increase of $2.0 million to develop a National Land Imaging Program. This program will assess the future need for civil, operational land imaging data and develop a blueprint to determine future needs for acquisition of satellite data to supplement Landsat 7 imagery.
Further information:
+ U.S. Announces New Space-based Earth Observation Activities
+ NASA Unveils $17.6 Billion Budget
+ The President’s FY 2009 Budget Request for USGS
+ NASA Earth Science Budget