President Bush Signs Energy Independence and Security Act

The "Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007" (H.R. 6), which was approved by the Senate on a vote of 86-8 and by the House by a margin of 314-100, has been signed into law by the president.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., saluted the passage of the bill by saying in part, "With one stroke of the pen, America can be on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 25 percent of what we need to do to save the planet. With one stroke of the pen, we set America on a path to produce $22 billion in annual savings to our consumers. With one stroke of the pen, we take America down a path to create hundreds of thousands of new green jobs and train 3 million workers for new green jobs."

Speaker Pelosi's complete statement is available at http://speaker.house.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=0458.

After the bill's signing ceremony at the Energy Department, President Bush said, "We make a major step... toward reducing our dependence on oil, fighting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations... a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."

Highlights of the bill include the following:

• Raising the CAFE standards for cars and light trucks — including SUVs — to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020;

• Using 36 billion gallons annually of ethanol and other biofuels by 2022; and

• Phasing out the most inefficient incandescent light bulbs over the next four to six years.

To review the bill, visit the Library of Congress Web site at http://thomas.loc.gov and search by bill number or by title.

ASME Division Urges Congress to Acknowledge Solid Waste Processing to Energy Bill

The ASME Solid Waste Processing Division (SWPD) recently drafted and sent a letter to Congress urging recognition of solid waste processing (SWP) as a renewable source of energy that would qualify under the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) contained in H.R. 6, the "Energy Independence and Security Act."

The letter stated that "(solid waste processing) technology has been proven to be an invaluable source of energy, renewed on a daily basis, in the quest to reduce our nation's dependence upon fossil fuels." The RPS was later removed from the energy bill before being signed into law by the administration.

To review the bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov and search by bill number or by title.

 

Omnibus Spending Bill Sent to White House

Congress approved an approximately $560 billion omnibus spending package (H.R. 2764) to fund all of the domestic agencies and the war in Iraq. President Bush signed the bill into law before the current continuing resolution on the matter expired at the end of the year.

Last month, the White House issued a statement of administration policy (SAP) stating that without the additional funding for the Iraq war, the president would veto the omnibus measure.

To view this SAP, visit www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/sap/110-1/hr2764sap-r.pdf.

More information about this bill, including a section-by-section review of H.R. 2764, is available on both the Senate and House Appropriations Web site, which can be found at http://appropriations.senate.gov/amendment.cfm and http://appropriations.house.gov, respectively.

 

ASME Co-Sponsors "America, We Have a Problem" Briefing

On Dec. 12, 2007, the Task Force for the Future of American Innovation held a Congressional briefing entitled "America, We Have a Problem." The task force is comprised of representatives from industry, academia, and nongovernmental organizations who support increased federal support for research in the physical sciences and engineering. ASME was one of this briefing's co-sponsors.

Norm Augustine, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp., was the briefing's primary speaker. In 2005, Augustine chaired the National Academies Committee that produced the highly regarded "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" report.

Having recently authored a follow-up report entitled "Is America Falling Off the Flat Earth?" Augustine discussed America's competitiveness challenges and actions that have been taken to address concerns raised in the "Gathering Storm" report. Charles Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering, served as the briefing moderator, while Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., provided opening remarks.

For more information about the Task Force for the Future of American Innovation, visit www.futureofinnovation.org.

 

Hearing Focuses on Issues Facing U.S. Space Program After the Space Shuttle

The Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics, and Related Sciences of the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation recently held a hearing to address various issues facing the U.S. space program after the retirement of the Space Shuttle.

Subcommittee Chairman Bill Nelson, D-Fla., opened the hearing by saying, "We are all aware that NASA is being asked to do much with too little. The president has not provided the funding necessary to implement his own Vision for Space Exploration. However, we must plan responsibly for the future, protecting and utilizing our current assets while developing new capabilities for the next generation of explorers."

Nelson asked witnesses to address three areas regarding the pending transition:

• The concern that NASA may be improperly planning to retire the Space Shuttle on an arbitrary date in 2010, in lieu of completing the current manifest as required by both the president's Vision document and the authorization act;

• The perception that NASA's plan for cargo and human transportation to the International Space Station is currently inadequate; and,

• The possible effects of the upcoming changes on NASA's workforce, both civil servants and contractors defined in specific numbers.

In his testimony, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin said, "Retirement of the Space Shuttle is on schedule for 2010 and critical to future Exploration plans. As we approach this date, we are hopeful that we can complete the 10 remaining Space Station assembly flights, the servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, and the two contingency Shuttle missions to the ISS within this time frame. If it becomes clear that we will not complete the flight manifest by 2010, NASA will evaluate options and make adjustments consistent with not flying any flights beyond 2010. Continuing to fly the Shuttle beyond 2010 does not enhance U.S. human spaceflight capability, but rather delays the time until a new capability exists and increases the total life cycle cost to bring the new capability on line."

More information about the hearing, including Chairman Nelson's opening statement and Griffin's testimony, can be found at http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?
FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1916.

 

NSF Hosts STEM Summit

In mid-December 2007, the National Science Foundation (NSF) hosted a summit for math and science faculty from institutions around the United States. The purpose was to share strategies for promoting student success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from the elementary grades through higher education.

Among the topics covered were approaches to working with teachers to deepen their scientific and mathematical content knowledge, so they can be increasingly effective in working with their K-12 students, as well as providing incentives to STEM faculty for the work they do with K-12 teachers.

NSF's Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program has been partnering STEM faculty with K-12 teachers since 2002, helping teachers improve their content knowledge while receiving mentoring and professional development opportunities in their field. A complementary MSP Program at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has been providing funding to each state since 2003, focusing on partnership and professional development opportunities.

"This is the first time that STEM faculty involved in the NSF and ED programs have been together to share their observations and ideas," said Kathleen Bergin, MSP program director. "We expect this to benefit them, the partnerships, and, ultimately, the students involved."

For additional information, including the agenda and list of speakers, go to www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=110816.

 

Contact ASME Government Relations for more information:

Kathryn Holmes, director, ASME Government Relations: (202) 785-7390; e-mail holmesk@asme.org.

Melissa Carl, government relations representative: (202) 785-7380; e-mail carlm@asme.org.

Anthony Quinn, government relations representative: (202) 785-7392; e-mail quinna@asme.org.

Robert Rains, government relations associate: (202) 785-7483; e-mail rainsr@asme.org.

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