AAAS Policy Alert -- February 25, 2010
Budget News
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) both held
snow-delayed budget briefings last week while Congress was on recess.
NOAA's proposed budget
would increase by $806 million (17%) to $5.6
billion. . Much of this increase would be for the new Joint Polar
Satellite System (the restructured NOAA portion of the beleaguered
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System,
NPOESS) which would receive an additional $679 million over FY 2010
($1.1 billion in FY 2011) to continue the development of
instrumentation and spacecraft for near-term and mid-term weather
prediction. The NOAA budget would include $949 million in R&D
overall, 22.0% over FY 2010.
NIST's request would
increase its overall
budget by $62.3 million (7.3%) to $919 million. Scientific and
Technical Research and Services (STRS) would see the biggest increase,
$69.5 million (13.5%). STRS initiatives include scalable cybersecurity
($10 million), green manufacturing ($10 million), high-tech
manufacturing ($10 million), and standards for manufacturing and
regulatory approval of biologic drugs ($10 million). Industrial
Technology Services (ITS) would receive a $14.6 (7.7%) million
increase, with $10 million of that increase going to the Technology
Innovation Program (TIP) which funds high-risk, high-reward extramural
research. That increase would bring the TIP total budget to $79.9
million, a 14.3% increase over FY 2010.
For up-to-date news on the FY
2011 budget, visit the AAAS
R&D Budget and Policy Program Website.
Detailed coverage of the major R&D funding agencies and historical
trends will appear in the AAAS
Report XXXV: Research and Development FY
2011, to be published in April 2010.
Other
Congressional News
NCLB Overhaul to Consider Administration Proposal to Raise States' Academic Standards. As part of congressional efforts underway to re-authorize and overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (better known as No Child Left Behind), the Administration is proposing that states be required to adopt "college- and career-ready standards" in reading and mathematics in order to qualify for Title I funding (concentrated on impoverished students). President Obama announced the proposal February 22 at the annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association.
Executive
Branch
OSTP Seeks Public Comments on
Initiatives. The White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is soliciting views and
comments on "Grand
Challenges of the 21st Century" and how science and
technology may contribute to addressing them. Responses are due by
April 15. A key input mechanism for this endeavor will be Expert Labs,
a AAAS program designed to help federal policy makers make use of the
broader public's expertise, and supported by the John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation. Also, as part of OSTP's response to the
Presidential directive for agencies to function more openly and
transparently, an interactive
web site has been created for the general
public to offer, and vote on, ideas on how OSTP can be more
transparent, participatory, and productive. Input on this topic will be
accepted until March 19.
NSB Report Gives New Evidence of
Globalization
of Science. The National Science Board has issued a companion
report to
the 2010 edition of Science and
Engineering Indicators providing clear
confirmation of the growing globalization of science and engineering
research. The eight-page report includes a number of charts showing how
the shares of global R&D expenditures coming from North America and
Europe have declined in the past decade relative to the rest of the
world, especially the Asia-Pacific region. Of particular interest are
four charts indexed to 1996 showing dramatic increases in China's and
other Asian countries' R&D expenditures, articles published,
numbers of researchers, and high tech exports, as compared to far less
growth in the U.S. and European Union.
Administration Wants Senate to
Ratify Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Vice
President Biden announced
in a February 18 speech that the
Administration would ask the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty, a milestone that eluded President Bill Clinton over a
decade ago. The request is one of a series of decisions the
Administration will be making over the next few weeks in developing its
update of the nation's Nuclear Posture Review.
NEPA to Include Climate
Impacts. On February 18 the White House Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) released for public comment new draft
guidance on how
federal agencies should analyze the environmental impacts of greenhouse
gas emissions and climate change when they conduct environmental impact
assessments required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The guidance calls for formal consideration of climate change effects
for projects that would emit at least 25,000 metric tons of carbon
dioxide equivalent. The CEQ will receive public comment on this
guidance for 90 days.
EPA Provides Climate Regulation
Timetable. In
response to queries by Senators, the Environmental Protection Agency
has written a letter
outlining its timetable for regulating greenhouse
gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. In the letter, EPA Administrator
Lisa Jackson states that regulation of large facilities will begin in
2011, with regulations for smaller facilities delayed at least until
2016.
Google Gets Federal Approval to
Buy and Sell Energy. On February
18 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Google
Energy's application to buy and sell energy on the wholesale market.
Data centers, such as those maintained by Google, have become
significant consumers of energy, and the ability of Google to buy
energy on the wholesale market could have a large impact on its future
energy costs. This approval will also improve Google's ability to move
toward renewable energy sources through direct negotiations with
renewable energy providers and to achieve its goal of carbon
neutrality.
Elsewhere
AUTM Releases Latest Survey
of University Licensing. The
Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) released the FY
2008 results of its annual survey of U.S. university licensing
activities. Including output from universities, hospitals, and research
institutions, total license income was $3.4 billion (up substantially
over FY 2007). There were 648 new commercial products introduced and
595 new companies formed, 72% with the primary place of business in the
institution's home state. As the State Science and
Technology Institute
notes in its weekly digest, university technology transfer is
maintaining its pace in contrast to many economic indicators. The full
AUTM report can be purchased from www.autm.net.
Companies Leave Climate
Coalition. Three companies -- ConocoPhillips, Caterpillar Inc.,
and BP
America -- have left the U.S.
Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a
coalition of companies and environmental groups that has played a
critical role in the climate policy debate through its legislative
blueprint for a cap-and-trade program. The companies cited a desire
to
pursue their climate policy interests independently.
Indian Minister
Blocks Sale of GM Crop. India's Environment Minister has blocked
the
commercial release of Bt Brinjal, a genetically modified eggplant and a
joint product of Monsanto and Mahyco (an Indian company). Opposition to
the crop has come from the non-government "Coalition for a GM-Free
India" and a number of state governments within India. The moratorium
will last until independent studies can show that Bt Brinjal would have
no adverse affects on human health, the environment, or biodiversity.
India grows GM crops not affected by the moratorium, including cotton.
People in the News. - Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary
of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, announced that he will
step down on July 1 to become a global climate adviser for the
consultancy group KPMG.
- Sam D. Hamilton,
director of the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, died February 20. A 30-year veteran of the
agency, Hamilton became its director in September 2009. Information is
not yet available on who will be named acting director.
Archived issues
of AAAS Policy Alert can be
found at
http://www.aaas.org/spp/
Publisher: Alan I. Leshner
Editor: Steve Nelson
Contributors: Patrick Clemins, Ed Derrick, Mark
Frankel, Barbara Jasny, Gretchen Seiler, Al Teich, Kasey White, Ric
Weibl
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