Science

Statement by Francesca Grifo, Union of Concerned Scientists

May 21, 2009 -- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson today announced the agency is reversing controversial changes to how science is used to set air pollution standards.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for harmful pollutants using the best available science. For decades, EPA staff scientists worked with the independent Clean Air Science Advisory Committee to review the latest studies and recommend appropriate standards.    » read more »

UCS cautions that other federal agencies could still corrupt process

May 21, 2009 -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced significant changes to the way the government assesses toxic chemicals, greatly increasing transparency, accountability and efficiency to better protect the public. However, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warns that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may still wield the authority to interfere in the agency's scientific analysis.    » read more »

May 22, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) applauded the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement yesterday that it would revamp the process by which it determines the toxicity of chemicals.

EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assesses the impact on human health of exposure to chemical substances, to help keep people informed about risks to public health in the air, water, and soil.

"We depend on EPA to give the American people the information they need to avoid health risks from dangerous chemicals," said Whitehouse, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight.    » read more »

May 21, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today introduced legislation to ensure the biofuels industry is not penalized for the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of non-scientific data when determining greenhouse gas emissions. Grassley’s bill improves several provisions with the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard that were enacted in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.

Grassley’s bill is a companion to legislation introduced last week by Collin Peterson, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.    » read more »

May 21, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Responding to today’s announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will reinstate the role of agency scientists in determining new national air quality standards, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) said:

“The Air Quality Division of the EPA has some of the best and brightest employees who share my commitment to scientific integrity and cleaning up our nation’s air. It is just common sense to let these scientists again play key role in shaping our nation’s air quality standards.

“As we learn more about the links between dirty air and bad health, it is crucial our nation’s air quality standards are based on the very best science available so that we know our government is doing everything it can to better protect public health.    » read more »

May 18, 2009 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has completed a study comparing three proposed national renewable electricity standards, also known as renewable portfolio standards.

To assess the potential impacts of the three proposed standards on the U.S. electricity sector, a team of senior NREL energy analysts used the Laboratory's Regional Energy Deployment System, a detailed least-cost optimization model capable of simulating the special attributes of variable sources like wind and solar power.

The NREL report, "A Comparative Analysis of Three Proposed Federal Renewable Electricity Standards," is available online at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/45877.pdf .    » read more »

Udall Resolution to Raise Awareness of CCM Clears Senate

May 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed legislation introduced by Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M., to take a first step towards boosting research and education efforts related to Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM), a relatively unknown illness more prevalent among New Mexico Hispanics than any other group.

Udall's resolution expresses the U.S. Senate’s recognition of the critical need to increase research, awareness and education about CCM. Udall was joined by Senator Jeff Bingaman in introducing the resolution.    » read more »

Funds to Advance Research, Development and Deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies and Infrastructure

May 15, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced at the National Coal Council that $2.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to expand and accelerate the commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

The funding is part of the Obama Administration’s ongoing effort to develop technologies to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas and contributor to global climate change, into the atmosphere while creating new jobs.    » read more »

Prevent Consumers from Economic Benefits of Fuel Efficiency and Clean Car Standards

WASHINGTON (May 15, 2009) — Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) today released details (pdf) of an agreement on auctioning and allocating emissions allowances in their proposed climate and energy legislation. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) congratulated the two congressmen for steering this landmark piece of legislation toward passage. But experts at the science group cautioned that the some of the most recent draft allocation categories should be strengthened before finalizing the bill.    » read more »

Finding May Lead to Better Understanding of How Body Responds to Mechanical Stimuli

LA JOLLA, CA, May 13, 2009 -- Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have elucidated the action of a protein, harmonin, which is involved in the mechanics of hearing. This finding sheds new light on the workings of mechanotransduction, the process by which cells convert mechanical stimuli into electrical activity.

Defects in mechanotransduction genes can cause devastating diseases, such as Usher's syndrome, which is characterized by deafness, gradual vision loss, and kidney disease, which can lead to kidney failure.

The research, led by Scripps Research Professor Ulrich Mueller, was published in the May 14, 2009 issue of the journal Neuron.    » read more »

May 11, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today asked the Department of Justice to seek clarification from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on the scope of its April 17, 2009 decision that Bush Administration officials did not conduct sufficient scientific and environmental analysis before scheduling oil and gas lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf off Alaska.    » read more »

By Earl Lane -- 12 May 2009 -- While efforts to address U.S. energy needs often focus on developing non-carbon power sources and new "green" modes of transportation, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird told a AAAS audience that changing consumer behavior could reduce energy consumption by as much as 20%—in a matter of months.

In fact, Baird (D-Wash.) told the recent AAAS Forum on Science & Technology Policy, changing consumer behavior is "the single most immediate thing we can do" to reduce energy consumption.    » read more »

Simpler, less expensive design could make precision particle therapy available to more patients

May 12, 2009 -- UPTON, NY — As part of an effort to make high-precision particle cancer therapy accessible to more patients, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory has developed a simpler, less-expensive gantry design for delivering tumor-killing particle beams. Brookhaven Science Associates, the company that manages the Lab for DOE, has applied for a U.S. non-provisional patent on the design, which is now available for licensing and commercial development.    » read more »

May 11, 2009 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis with its seven-member crew launched at 2:01 p.m. EDT Monday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

Atlantis' 11-day mission will include five spacewalks to refurbish Hubble with state-of-the-art science instruments designed to improve the telescope's discovery capabilities by up to 70 times while extending its lifetime through at least 2014.

Shortly before liftoff, Commander Scott Altman thanked the teams that helped make the launch possible.

"At last our launch has come along," said Altman. "...Getting to this point has been challenging, but the whole team, everyone, has pulled together to take us into space."    » read more »

May 11, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Advances in neuroscience research could benefit the Army, particularly in areas of soldier training and education. However, an emerging trend of using individual variability in neural processes such as cognition, stress response, and decision making to improve group performance is likely to challenge conventional approaches to training and educating soldiers, says a new report from the National Research Council.    » read more »