February 28, 2015

BUDGET GETS CHILLY RECEPTION

The Obama administration's clean-energy, applied research, and advanced manufacturing priorities drew a frosty GOP reaction during budget hearings. House Science, Space, and Technology Chair Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) faulted "short-term, expensive commercialization activities and energy subsidies" in the Department of Energy budget and "stagnant" funding for fossil fuel and nuclear energy research. House Appropriations Chair Harold Rogers complained that carbon capture and storage technologies and other fossil fuel programs “are being handed the short end of the stick.” according to ScienceInsider.  The big increase for DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy also drew fire. Although the House has authoritized the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, allotting $150 million -- thus inflating the National Institute of Standards and Technology budget -- was deemed unrealistic.

BURYING THE HATCHET? Lamar Smith applauded the National Science Foundation's steps "to improve transparency and accountability," saying the policy issued late last year  parallels provisions in his FIRST Act, which he will try again to get passed. 

GOP SPLIT ON CAPS: House Armed Services Committee Republicans are making a strong push to lift caps on the Pentagon budget imposed as a result of the 2011 Budget Control Act. But they don't appear to have won over enough of the GOP caucus to carry the day. CQ reports a warning from House Defense Appropriations Chair Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) during a hearing on the Air Force budget. "Make no mistake," he said, "we do have to cut $10 billion with you, or we will cut $10 billion without you, but we need to do it.”

PAPERWORK VS. GRANTS: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) opened his first hearing on Higher Education Act reauthorization by spotlighting a new report on red tape from the Task Force on Federal Regulation of Higher Education. While the report focuses on Department of Education regs, Alexander noted the federal paperwork burden on researchers, which is the subject of a separate study by the National Academies. Citing surveys that principal researchers spend 42 percent of their time on administrative tasks, "I asked the head of the National Academies what a reasonable percent of time would be," Alexander recounted. "He replied: perhaps 10 percent or even less." Cutting spending on red tape by $1 billion could fund "more than a thousand multi-year grants."

LAWMAKING & ENGINEERING: How do you explain a congressional bill as complex as the Educating Tomorrow’s Engineers Act (ETEA) to third graders? Our colleague Mary Lord reports that  co-author Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), an engineer, described his proposal as “creating dollars and programs” so students – like those at a Capitol Hill elementary school he visited to mark Engineers Week – could “explore, discover, create, design” and invent things “that serve all of us.” If “engineers make the world spin,” as Tonko told the youngsters at Maury Elementary, the bill should be a slam dunk. Its noble goal: Boost student achievement, diversity, and interest in engineering by supporting states in incorporating engineering design into K-12 STEM education. It has bipartisan support, but will need to navigate a political minefield. Yesterday, amid opposition from both Democrats and conservative Republicans, the House postponed action on the Student Success Act, its rewrite of No Child Left Behind. A remedy for political gridlock may be one of engineering’s grand challenges this year.

COLLEGE SAVINGS PLANS: A bill to extend and expand the tax break for 529 savings plans easily passed the House and also has bipartisan support in the Senate.

UPCOMING: The House Energy and Commerce Committee will webcast a March 4 hearing, “The 21st Century Electricity Challenge: Ensuring a Secure, Reliable, and Modern Electricity System.”

Source: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NSF)

A CAUTIONARY TALE: Even with its FY 2015 funding in limbo, the Department of Homeland Security has launched "a series of online and in-person discussions designed to get people talking about how to innovate solutions for the Nation’s homeland security challenges." It seems a worthy effort. But today's Washington Post describes the difficulties encountered by a product created to meet one such challenge. NVS Technologies came up with "a device the size of a ski boot that could test for tiny microorganisms at rapid speed, helping to safeguard the nation from bio-threats." But six months before the firm was to deliver prototypes, DHS suddenly canceled its contract. "According to a draft audit report and government scientists familiar with the project, the decision was improperly made by a single agency official, without supporting evidence and over the objections of numerous experts within DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate."

WISH LISTS: Whether Congress will support specific programs remains to be seen, but written testimony submitted by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, National Science Foundation Director  France A. Córdova, National Science Board Chairman Dan E. Arvizu, and Willie May, acting director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shed important light on their thinking.

FUEL CELLS AND NATURAL GAS: See a workshop report from Sandia National Laboratories, "Transitioning the Transportation Sector: Exploring the Intersection of Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Natural Gas Vehicles."

 

COMING MONDAY: The Academies will release "Making Value for America," containing real-life examples and recommendations for "collaborative actions between government, industry, and education institutions to help ensure that the U.S. thrives amid global economic changes and remains a leading environment for innovation." You can download the report and watch a webcast of the rollout. See also Making Things: 21st Century Manufacturing and Design, summary of a previous forum.

NEW APPROACH FOR NIH: With funding for the National Institutes of Health having fallen by 22 percent in real terms over the past decade, a report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and United for Medical Research says policymakers "should consider separating NIH’s budget from the broader deficit battles.” They suggest ways to do that, including multi-year budgeting.

 

“Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology” - conference July 7
to 10, 2015 at Surrey University, U.K., sponsored by International Society for Industrial Ecology. More information at http://www.is4ie.org/

YEAR OF ACTION ON DIVERSITY: Read the latest issue of the ASEE Diversity Committee's semi-annual newsletter, including its call for nominations for Best Diversity Paper.