Congress — Page 2

ESA Policy News July 15: Flag debate stifles Interior funding bill, Senate seeks science community input for new COMPETES bill, Obama designates new monuments

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. APPROPRIATIONS: BILL FUNDING INTERIOR, EPA STALLS IN HOUSE On July 9, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) pulled the Fiscal Year 2016 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill over a contentious amendment related to the confederate flag. The appropriations bill…

ESA Policy News July 1: White House voices concern with Senate CJS funding bill, Supreme Court rebuffs air pollution rule, ESA commends pope for climate emphasis

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. APPROPRIATIONS: WHITE HOUSE VOICES CONCERN WITH SENATE CJS BILL On June 24, the White House Office of Management and Budget submitted a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee expressing concern with the Senate Commerce Justice and Science Appropriations Act of…

ESA Policy News June 17: Congress advances bills funding NSF, Interior appropriations, Captive chimpanzees get endangered species protections

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. APPROPRIATIONS: HOUSE, SENATE CJS BILLS ADVANCE Over the past few weeks, the House and Senate have moved their Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) appropriations bills, which include funding for key science agencies. The House FY 2016 CJS…

ESA Policy News June 3: America COMPETES narrowly passes, Clean Water Rule finalized, Sage grouse protection plan released

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. RESEARCH: AMERICA COMPETES REAUTHORIZATION NARROWLY PASSES HOUSE On May 20, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 1806, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, by a vote of 217-205. No Democrats supported the bill and 23 Republicans broke with party leaders…

ESA Policy News April 29: Scientific societies weigh in on America COMPETES reauthorization, relay support for federal participation at conferences, oppose ‘climate riders’

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. HOUSE: SCIENCE COMMITTEE APPROVES AMERICA COMPETES REAUTHORIZATION On April 22, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee passed Chairman Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) bill to reauthorize the America COMPETES Act. The bill passed by a party-line vote of 19-16. H.R. 1806,…

ESA Policy News April 15: California orders new water restrictions, EPA moves to protect pollinators, NOAA initiates algal bloom ‘early warning system’

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. DROUGHT: CALIFORNIA ORDERS MANDATORY CUTS IN WATER USAGE On April 1, California Gov. Jerry Brown issued a landmark executive order requiring state residents to cut their water usage by 25 percent through February 28, 2016. The first-ever water restrictions…

ESA Announces 2015 Graduate Student Policy Award Recipients

Graduate students from University of Illinois at Chicago, Princeton University, Oregon State University and University of Texas at Austin will speak with federal lawmakers about sustaining support for science WASHINGTON, DC – The Ecological Society of America (ESA), the world’s largest professional society of ecological scientists, is pleased to announce this year’s Graduate Student Policy Award winners. The award affords…

ESA Policy News January 28: State of the Union, Senate votes on climate science, NMFS releases climate strategy

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. STATE OF THE UNION: OBAMA URGES ACTION ON CLIMATE, EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY In the wake of a mid-term election with considerably low voter turnout, President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address focused on issues that energized various Democratic constituencies. Central…

State of the Union 2015: Obama calls out climate skeptics, urges expansion of educational opportunity, civility

A common refrain from skeptics of the severity of humanity’s contribution to climate change over the past year is “I’m not a scientist.” During his 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama responded to that sentiment head on, suggesting climate skeptics should actually get to know some scientists and suggested a few places they could go to find them,…

ESA Policy News January 15: Congressional action on Keystone, Boxer retires, House, Senate committees take shape

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. KEYSTONE: CONGRESS MOVES ON PIPELINE BILLS, STATE COURT UPHOLDS PROJECT On Jan. 9, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, which would approve construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. The bill passed…

ESA Policy News December 17: Congress passes “CRomnibus” spending bill, Senate committee chairs announced, US Census public comment opportunity

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS PASSES FY 2015 ‘CROMNIBUS’ FUNDING PACKAGE On Dec. 11, the US House of Representatives passed an omnibus bill to continue funding for most federal agencies through the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. The Senate then passed a…

Congressional briefing brings together former lawmaker, scientists to consider climate engineering options

On Dec. 4, 2014 the Ecological Society of America (ESA) co-organized a congressional briefing entitled “Climate Engineering: Future Guiding Principles and Ethics.” The briefing was also sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America. The briefing featured former House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), who…

Welcome to Sweden

No, not Greg Poehler’s short-lived international sitcom by the same name, but very literally what the hotel clerk said when I checked in. He smiled; since I’d been practicing on Duolingo for a few weeks and had hoped to proudly correctly pronounce Tack så mycket and instead replied (translated) “you’re welcome,” I did not. Blame the jet lag. Nonetheless, greetings from…

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Call for Nominations: ESA Regional Policy Award

ESA seeks nominations for its Regional Policy Award to recognize a policymaker who has integrated environmental science and policy in initiatives that foster more sustainable communities.

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Ecology Doesn’t Stop at the Coast: ESA at the Ocean Sciences Meeting

By Adrienne Sponberg ESA recently joined more than 6,000 ocean scientists from around the world at the bi-annual Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) in New Orleans. OSM is a joint meeting between the American Geophysical Union, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography and the Oceanography Society. Executive Director Catherine O’Riordan and Director of Society Programs Adrienne Sponberg staffed the ESA…

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Give and Help Us Take Our Next Great Stride Forward

By ESA President Shahid Naeem It’s now February and, as ESA’s President, I realize that my term is almost half over. It is a good time to reflect on our accomplishments from the past few months, while realizing that these have been possible because of the hard work of ESA members over many years. I’ve been with ESA since 1984,…

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