The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy

March 9, 2023

AGU’s 2023 Policy Priorities

In 2019, AGU began developing annual policy priorities to help focus our advocacy work and speed up the advancement of important science policy and legislation. Our policy priorities reflect not only AGU’s broader strategic goals and current policy landscape, but also the needs and priorities of our members. To represent the diversity of AGU’s community, all within the Earth and space science community were encouraged to participate in a survey …

November 27, 2019

Funding an Energy Transition

As appropriators are still trying to finalize the 2020 budget, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development sat down last week for a hearing about the DOE’s role in addressing climate change. The main thematic questions of the hearing were: What technologies will help move us into the future sustainably, and how can DOE facilitate the energy transition? This lively and lengthy hearing made a strong case for not …

May 18, 2018

Safeguard Our Infrastructure by Improving Space Weather Forecasts

Today’s post is written by Tai-Yin Huang, Professor of Physics, Penn State University Space weather has become increasingly important due to our heavy dependence on technological infrastructure. Space weather can cause disruptions to telecommunications and GPS navigation, failure or mis-operation of satellites, loss of electricity due to damage to power grids, and damage to pipelines, all of which compromise our personal and national security. Luckily, monitoring space weather conditions and …

July 18, 2017

House Rejects Trump’s Budget, but Still Cuts Science

Appropriations Update: Part 2 Leaders in the House of Representatives have directed the Appropriations Committee to introduce and consider all 12 appropriations bills before the chamber breaks for August recess. Overall, science fared poorly in the House spending bills, although most agencies did not receive the drastic cuts proposed by the President’s budget request. Here’s a recap of the Energy and Water spending bill, which includes funding for the Department …

August 18, 2016

Science Policy and the “Third Parties”

By George Marino, AGU Science Policy Intern I recently received a response to an article I shared on our Twitter account about the science policy positions of the Presidential candidates from the two major U.S. political parties. The person asked where a candidate from one of the other parties stood on the issues. So after some research, I can present the facts that I could find on what “third party” …

August 5, 2014

How Nuclear Waste Disposal Can Help Us Understand Debate Over Fracking

Remember when shale gas was the answer to our energy woes? It was touted as a cheap and plentiful energy source that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Industry experts promised jobs, depressed local economies looked to get boosts; with so much good to be had, extracting natural gas from shale looked to be a no-brainer.

July 1, 2014

The risky business of climate change

This article was originally posted on AGU’s GeoSpace earth and science blog on 24 June 2014. By Alexandra Branscombe WASHINGTON, DC – Up to $106 billion worth of coastal homes and businesses in the U.S. are likely to be underwater by the year 2050 due to rising sea levels, and up to $507 billion in coastal property will likely be below sea level by 2100, according to a new report …

May 14, 2014

4 maps on America’s climate and energy outlook: 2 that will worry you, 2 that will give you hope

Originally posted on the Opower blog On Tuesday, the White House released the most authoritative scientific report ever written about the current and future consequences of climate change in the United States. The findings of the report, known as the National Climate Assessment (NCA), are striking. Average temperatures in the United States have increased by 1.3 to 1.9°F since 1895, and most of that warming has occurred in the last …

April 4, 2014

Cutting back on refrigerants could drop greenhouse gas emissions

By Alexandra Branscombe Originally posted on AGU GeoSpace WASHINGTON, DC – Phasing down powerful climate-damaging greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners could prevent the equivalent of up to three years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions from being released into the atmosphere, according to a new study. Research accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, calculates the environmental impact of phasing down …

June 4, 2013

The Water-Energy Nexus: Challenges to Meet Growing Demands

Water and energy are linked resources in ever-increasing demand in the United States. Energy production requires an abundant, reliable, and predictable source of water, a resource that is unfortunately in short supply already throughout large portions of the U.S. Additionally, developing water supplies can require large amounts of energy to extract, transport, treat, and distribute. As such, the water-energy nexus presents a significant challenge for our country’s water resource and …