{"id":127,"date":"2008-05-23T16:04:38","date_gmt":"2008-05-23T20:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=127"},"modified":"2008-05-23T16:04:38","modified_gmt":"2008-05-23T20:04:38","slug":"policy-news-from-esas-public-affairs-office-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2008\/05\/23\/policy-news-from-esas-public-affairs-office-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy News from ESA&#8217;s Public Affairs Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>AGRICULTURE: Farm bill veto override process continues amidst clerical  blunder<\/li>\n<li>CLIMATE: Boxer substitute offers states a soft landing to give up  cap-and-trade programs<\/li>\n<li>ENDANGERED SPECIES: Interior lists polar bears as threatened<\/li>\n<li>ENDANGERED SPECIES: Political influence on species listings may be wider  than previously thought<\/li>\n<li>NOAA: Agency planning \u2018National Climate Service\u2019<\/li>\n<li>EDUCATION: eSTEM Education bill introduced<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>AGRICULTURE: Farm bill veto override process continues amidst clerical  blunder<\/strong>The Senate joined the House May 22 in voting to overturn the  President\u2019s veto of the five-year farm bill, despite questions over a missing  section of the bill.The 82-13 vote in the Senate enacted more than 90 percent of  the five-year farm bill into law. Left out of the mix was assistance for the  U.S. softwood lumber industry \u2014 part of the trade title Democrats said they  inadvertently omitted due to a clerical error when the bill was originally sent  to the President.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to make sure there\u2019s no doubt in anyone\u2019s mind,\u201d Senate Agriculture  Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) said on the floor at the conclusion of the vote.  \u201cFourteen of the fifteen titles in this farm bill are now law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Congress approved the 34-page trade title as part of the mammoth farm bill  conference report the week of May 12, but it was missing from the version that  Bush vetoed. The omission will require lawmakers to send another bill to Bush  next month to enact the international food aid program and the certification  program for softwood lumber that were included in the trade title.<\/p>\n<p>Despite complaints from some Republicans that the action could violate the  Constitution and invite legal challenges, the farm bill veto override saw strong  votes of support in both the House and Senate. The House voted 316-108 on May 21  to override the veto. Both chambers were well above the two-thirds margin needed  to overturn a veto.<\/p>\n<p>The farm bill vote was the second time lawmakers have been able to outweigh  Bush in the past eight years. The only other override came for the Water  Resources Development Act last year.<\/p>\n<p>More than half of farm bill funding goes to food stamps and other nutrition  programs. It also includes more than $4 billion in new investment for  conservation programs, new support programs for fruit and vegetable growers and  organic farmers, incentives intended to spur cellulosic ethanol and the  extension of most crop support programs.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers will now seek to take up the trade title on its own or vote again  on the entire farm bill when they return from the Memorial Day recess. The House  voted again May 22 and passed all 15 titles of the farm bill \u2014 sending that bill  to the Senate as an option to fix the error.<\/p>\n<p>Re-passage of the farm bill may force them to go through the motions of the  veto and override process again, but this time with all of the papers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLIMATE: Boxer substitute offers states a soft landing to give up  cap-and-trade programs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>New Senate global warming legislation released May 21 includes several  incentives aimed at encouraging more than a dozen states to disband their own  climate efforts and join the federal program.<\/p>\n<p>The substitute climate bill from Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Joe Lieberman  (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA) offers a soft landing to the states that have  taken a leadership role on the issue, including California, New York and  Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Among other things, the states would have access to more than $560 billion in  free allowances over the next four decades if they discontinue their own  cap-and-trade programs in deference to a similar federal system that would be up  and running in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Also, companies that are holding allowances or have purchased offset project  credits for compliance with a state program could redeem those credits in the  federal program.<\/p>\n<p>No state would be allowed to set greenhouse gas limits weaker than the  federal policy. Boxer has been an outspoken advocate of states\u2019 rights but also  is under pressure to unravel the growing patchwork of policies that have many  industries concerned about doing business across state lines.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ENDANGERED SPECIES: Interior lists polar bears as  threatened<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species May 14,  blaming the loss of sea ice for the species\u2019 decline.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling will allow the United States to \u201creduce avoidable losses of polar  bears\u201d but will not allow the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions linked to  warming temperatures, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would be a totally inappropriate use of the Endangered Species Act,\u201d  Kempthorne said. \u201cESA is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To prevent misuse of the law, Kempthorne said he would impose a rule that he  said would protect the bear but allow continued development of natural resources  in the Arctic.<\/p>\n<p>But Kassie Siegel, Climate Program Director with the Center for Biological  Diversity, said the Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to protect  the listed species and their habitats, making sure nothing they authorize, fund  or carry out harms the species \u2014 such as allowing for continued greenhouse gas  emissions at high levels.<\/p>\n<p>Encouraging the Fish and Wildlife Service to use the \u201cbest scientific data  available today,\u201d Kempthorne said the agency would not make connections between  the decline of the species and its habitat and greenhouse gas emissions from  specific facilities, development projects or government actions.<\/p>\n<p>The Fish and Wildlife Service was under a court-imposed deadline to decide on  the polar bear listing after the agency missed the original deadline for a  decision in January. Kempthorne said the January postponement was necessary  because the agency needed time to complete its analysis of the scientific  data.<\/p>\n<p>Kempthorne said the decision was not postponed to allow time for the February  oil-and-gas lease sale to take place in polar bear habitat, the Chukchi Sea  basin.<\/p>\n<p>The new ruling accompanies a Canadian draft proposal to list polar bears as a  species of special concern, a category of protection that the United States does  not have. The Canadian ruling will allow for continued polar bear hunting by  subsistence and commercial hunters in Canada. Polar bear hunting in Alaska is  illegal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ENDANGERED SPECIES: Political influence on species listings may be  wider than previously thought<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Problems with political influence on endangered species decisions may be  bigger than the Interior Department has recognized, despite efforts made to  clean up corruption at the agency, according to a new federal investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found Interior has come up short  in its effort to try to crack down on political meddling in scientific  decisions.<\/p>\n<p>The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has been reviewing several Endangered  Species Act decisions that may have been inappropriately influenced by former  Interior political appointee Julie MacDonald.<\/p>\n<p>FWS decided to revisit seven endangered species-related decisions in the wake  of the scandal caused by MacDonald, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for  Fish and Wildlife and Parks.<\/p>\n<p>MacDonald resigned one year ago, after Interior Inspector General Earl  Devaney issued a report that found she had violated ethics rules, edited  scientific decisions on endangered species issues and passed internal agency  information to outside parties suing the department.<\/p>\n<p>But the scope of that review was likely too small, according to Robin  Nazzaro, the head of GAO\u2019s Natural Resources and Environment division.  MacDonald\u2019s imprint may be on many other species decisions not studied. Also,  other political appointees still employed at the Department could be exerting  undue political influence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuestions remain about the extent to which Interior officials other than Ms.  MacDonald may have inappropriately influenced ESA decisions and whether broader  ESA policies should be revisited,\u201d Nazzaro told the House Natural Resources  Committee on May 21.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans argued that the greater flaw is with the Endangered Species Act  itself and blamed Democrats for blocking previous efforts in the GOP Congress to  revise the act.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOAA: Agency planning \u2018National Climate Service\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To relieve a climate research tangle involving 13 federal agencies, the head  of the nation\u2019s weather agency is weighing the idea of consolidating some of it  in a new \u201cNational Climate Service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new office would support climate modeling and research now handled by  several federal agencies, serving as the \u201cgovernment spokesman\u201d on climate  change. Conrad Lautenbacher, Administrator of the National Oceanic and  Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told reporters that it would not have the  ability to create or enforce federal regulations. Lautenbacher said his model  for the climate service is the National Weather Service, which is part of  NOAA.<\/p>\n<p>The NOAA Chief said his enthusiasm for a National Climate Service stems in  part from his frustration with the $1.7 billion Climate Change Science Program,  which spans 13 federal agencies.<\/p>\n<p>A key difference between it and the National Weather Service is that NOAA  officials do not believe the National Climate Service should be exempt from the  Data Quality Act, a controversial statute that requires agencies to ensure the  integrity of information they use and distribute. The law allows outside parties  to petition to force the correction of information they believe is wrong.<\/p>\n<p>The National Weather Service is exempt from the law because it provides  critical \u201creal-time\u201d information.<\/p>\n<p>Federal employees of the existing Climate Change Science Program cited  difficulty complying with the law as one reason for a massive delay in issuing  21 planned reports on climate change, according to a National Academy of  Sciences report issued last year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>EDUCATION: eSTEM Education bill introduced<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On May 21, Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), along with Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL),  introduced the \u201cEnhancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics  Education (eSTEM) Act of 2008.<\/p>\n<p>The eSTEM Act of 2008 is a response to findings of the Academic  Competitiveness Council\u2019s (ACC) May 2007 report, which stated that in 2006 the  U.S. sponsored 105 STEM education programs at a dozen different federal  agencies. These programs devote approximately $3.12 billion to STEM education  activities spanning pre-kindergarten through postgraduate education and  outreach. The report showed that many of these agencies do not share information  or work collaboratively on similar programs.<\/p>\n<p>The House (H.R. 6104) and Senate (S. 3047) versions of the bill are very  similar according to both Honda and Obama\u2019s offices. Both would aim to, as  stated in the full title of Honda\u2019s version, \u201cprovide for the coordination of  the Nation\u2019s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education  initiatives.\u201d The legislation would attempt to do this through the development  of the following four initiatives:<\/p>\n<p>-\u201cCommittee on STEM Education\u201d at the Office of Science and Technology Policy  (OSTP) to oversee coordination of Federal STEM education programs;<\/p>\n<p>-\u201cOffice of STEM Education\u201d and new Assistant Secretary for STEM Education  position at Department of Education;<\/p>\n<p>-\u201cState Consortium on STEM Education\u201d to bring together stakeholders to  better coordinate STEM education between participating states; and<\/p>\n<p>-\u201cNational STEM Education Research Repository\u201d to improve dissemination of  research and promising practices for STEM education.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Sources: Environment and Energy Daily, Greenwire, Land Letter, and the Triangle  Coalition for Science and Technology Education Legislative News.<\/p>\n<p>Send questions or comments to Nadine Lymn, ESA Director of Public Affairs, <a href=\"mailto:Nadine@esa.org\">Nadine@esa.org<\/a> or Colleen Fahey, Science Policy  Analyst, <a href=\"mailto:Colleen@esa.org\">Colleen@esa.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you received Policy News from a friend and would like to receive it  directly, please send an e-mail to <a href=\"mailto:listserv@listserv.umd.edu\">listserv@listserv.umd.edu<\/a> with the  following in the body of the message: sub ESANEWS {your first and last name}<\/p>\n<p>If you wish to unsubscribe to ESANEWS and your biweekly Policy News, send the  command \u201csignoff ESANEWS\u201d to <a href=\"mailto:listserv@listserv.umd.edu\">listserv@listserv.umd.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Visit ESA\u2019s website at <a href=\"..\/..\/\">www.esa.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>See past editions of ESA\u2019s Policy News at <a href=\"..\/..\/pao\/policyNews\/\">https:\/\/esa.org\/pao\/policyNews\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read the latest biweekly Policy News from ESA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Public Affairs Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecology-in-policy","category-policy-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}