This concept of "drop everything and study only the most 'important' areas" is misguided. Research doesn't work that way.
There are already an enormous number of talent scientists studying climate change, how would putting nuclear battery scientists on this project help? Are climate scientists short on resources? Better yet are they short on resources because NASA wants to produce nuclear batteries.
Finally there is the concept of cross pollination and random discovery. For example, CERN scientists invented the modern cell phone touch screen, super conductivity was discovered by accident, methods developed by materials scientists to study liquids is used in robotics. You kill off this kind of creativity and random advancement as you narrow the scope of scientists.
There are already an enormous number of talent scientists studying climate change, how would putting nuclear battery scientists on this project help? Are climate scientists short on resources? Better yet are they short on resources because NASA wants to produce nuclear batteries.
Finally there is the concept of cross pollination and random discovery. For example, CERN scientists invented the modern cell phone touch screen, super conductivity was discovered by accident, methods developed by materials scientists to study liquids is used in robotics. You kill off this kind of creativity and random advancement as you narrow the scope of scientists.