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April 12, 2016
New Landslide Legislation to Help Alleviate Hazard Risks
On 3 March, 2016, the National Landslide Loss Reduction Act (H.R. 4776) was introduced by Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01) to establish a National Landslide Hazards Reduction Program and two competitive landslide grant programs. According to Representative DelBene; “Substantial work needs to be done to gain better knowledge of landslides and their potential impacts in order to reduce losses of life and property. While various areas across the country have been …
November 2, 2015
Visiting My Legislators Was a Bit Like ‘The West Wing’
This blog post was written by Ryan J. Haupt, a paleoecologist working on his Ph.D. in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. Ryan notes “I am not an expert in science policy but it is something I am deeply interested in it as a science communicator via my podcast and as a citizen reliant on the U.S. producing the cutting edge of scientific research.” Recently, I had the …
August 4, 2015
Make the Most of Recess
Every August, Washington D.C. shuts down as members of both chambers of Congress return to their districts and everyone else in politics takes vacation; this is known as August recess. During August recess members will be focused on spending time with their families, visiting important sites in their district, and making themselves available to their constituents through coffeehouse chats, town halls, and other public events. August recess is a time …
June 8, 2015
AGU Members Share Their Science on Capitol Hill
Even April showers couldn’t keep American Geophysical Union (AGU) scientists away from the first-ever AGU-only Congressional Visits Day in Washington, D. C., on 13–14 April. Twenty scientists, from nine states whose legislators play leadership roles on science and funding committees, were invited to meet with lawmakers and describe the positive impacts of federal research funding on American jobs, infrastructure, and quality of life. The states represented were Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, …
May 27, 2015
Should NASA be Studying the Earth?
This past spring, Congress took a number of steps that seemed to imply that NASA should be reprioritizing its focus away from the Earth Sciences. For example, during a hearing on March 12, 2015, some members of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness suggested to NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. that NASA should shift its attention from Earth Science to space exploration and research, which they suggested …
May 14, 2015
Making My CASE
This blog post was written by Annie Putman, a Ph.D. student in the Geology and Geophysics Department at the University of Utah. Once the excitement of receiving my acceptance from AGU to attend the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering (CASE) Workshop in Washington subsided, I faced up to the next hurdle: a trip to the mall to supplement the flannels in my …
January 26, 2015
The State of the Climate, According to Obama
On Tuesday night, the president carried on the time-honored tradition of appearing before Congress and delivering the State of the Union address. So what exactly did he say? The President spent a full two minutes discussing the topic of climate change, which is pretty lengthy considering the totality of individual issues mentioned in a typical SOTU address. Notably, the president called out United States leadership in combating climate change: “In …
January 15, 2015
Top Five Science Policy Issues in 2015
Earlier this week, we took look at the top five science policy issues of 2014. Now comes the fun part – reading the tea leaves in search of what we think will be the top five science policy issues going forward. Some will be trends carried over from the year previous, and some will be entirely new.
January 12, 2015
Top 5 Science Policy Stories of 2014
From “secret science” and “I’m not a scientist” to executive actions and appropriations, 2014 was packed with a variety of science policy news. In a year chockfull of ups, downs, twists, and turns, AGU Public Affairs combed through the news clippings, emails, and tweets to compile a list of our top five Earth and space science policy stories from 2014.
December 12, 2014
FY15 Omnibus – A Close Shave
For the past several months those inside the beltway have nervously watched with bated breath as House and Senate appropriators quietly negotiated a spending bill that funds the government through the remainder of fiscal year 2015 (FY15). Late Tuesday night, the long-awaited bill was unveiled.
