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News and updates

US Department of Energy Announces Key Administrtation Post

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The President made the following announcement this afternoon regarding Department of Energy nominations.

Cathy Zoi, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy

In January 2007, Cathy Zoi joined the Alliance for Climate Protection as its founding CEO. Established and chaired by former Vice President Al Gore, the Alliance is a non-profit organization  spearheading a multi-year, multimillion dollar effort aimed at persuading Americans of both the urgency and solvability of global warming. From 2003 until joining the Alliance, Zoi served as Group Executive Director at the Bayard Group. The firm, recently renamed Landis+Gyr Holdings, is a world leader in energy measurement technologies and systems, with operations in 30 countries and revenues in excess of $1.2 billion. Her work focused on the key role of smart metering to improving energy efficiency in markets in North America, Europe, India, China , Brazil and Australia. Prior to joining Bayard, Cathy was Assistant Director General of the New South Wales EPA in Sydney, Australia. She was also the founding CEO of the NSW Sustainable Energy Development Authority, a $50 million fund to commercialize greenhouse-friendly technology, from 1996-1999. Under her leadership, SEDA launched the world’s first nationwide Green Power program (1997) and the world¹s largest solar-powered suburb (1998). Cathy has served on boards and advisory committees of a variety of companies in the clean technology sector. Cathy was Chief of Staff in the White House Office on Environmental Policy in the Clinton-Gore administration, where she managed the team working on environmental and energy issues (1993-95). She was also a manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where she pioneered the Energy Star Program. Ms. Zoi earned a B.S. in Geology from Duke University and an M.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth College.

FY10 Budget Resolution Moves Forward

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Yesterday, the Senate Budget Committee approved its FY10 budget resolution following similar action in the House the day before.  The White House Budget Director applauded House and Senate committee approval of their budgets, noting they include the administration’s top priorities.   Both the House and Senate will take floor action on their proposals sometime next week.  Unlike the version approved by the House Budget panel on Wednesday, the Senate resolution includes no reconciliation instructions for legislation to implement Obama’s health and education policies. Such provisions would allow those bills to move without the threat of a Senate filibuster.  The decision of whether to include reconciliation will be made in April during a House-Senate conference on the budget.  Democrats are hopeful bipartisan support can be found for an overhaul of the health care system, but many want reconciliation as a backup to move a bill if negotiations break down.

First Confirmation Hearing Set for Sebelius

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The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee scheduled the first of two confirmation hearings on the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.  That hearing will take place on March 31.  The second hearing will be in the Senate Finance Committee, which also has jurisdiction over the nomination.  This hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Senator Murray Will Introduce Bill to Aid Trauma Centers

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Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) held a press conference today to announce the introduction of the National Trauma Center Stabilization Act.  She was accompanied by two representatives from the National Foundation for Trauma Care, Dr. Ronald Maier from Harborview Hospital in Seattle, and trauma surgeons from the Medical College of South Carolina, Ohio State University, University of Tennessee, Yale Medical Center and Med Star of the DC metropolitan area.

The cost for providing trauma care has increased, often trauma centers provide care for which they are not paid for by either insurance or the patient, and the economy has affected their ability to provide service.  The bill will provide assistance for trauma centers that are facing economic hardships by reauthorizing federal funding for those centers facing the highest uncompensated costs, provide emergency funding to those centers facing closure, and provide financial support for core mission services.

The House companion bill, HR 936, was introduced on February 10, 2009.  It establishes four programs to award grants to public or nonprofit trauma centers across the nation that are facing downgrades or closure.  The bill authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY 2010 – FY 2015 and specifies percentages to be reserved for the different types of grants.

Omnibus Lands Measure Ready for Obama’s Signature

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The House yesterday passed HR 146, which contains more than 150 measures to designate more than 2 million acres of new wilderness areas, including wild and scenic rivers, historic sites, scenic trails and protected lands.  This should have been a non-controversial bill, but disagreement arose over the issue of gun rights in national parks. 

 The bill contains two measures that affect the state of Washington.  The first measure amends the National Trails System Act to designate the trail extending from the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, Montana, to the Pacific Ocean coast in Olympic National Park, Washington, as the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail.  The second measure allows Douglas County to purchase land currently owned by the federal government, but they must pay an amount equal to the appraised value of the land.  The proceeds will be deposited in the Federal Land Disposal Account and are to be used solely for improving access to public lands in the state of Washington.

 In addition to these measures, there are some interesting “add-ons” to the bill which may affect the university if it is eligible to participate in the research.  Under Section F:  Secure Water, the Secretary of Agriculture is allowed to enter into agreement with any university (among other organizations) to fund research on the conservation, increased efficiency, or enhancement of water management resources, including use of renewable energy in the management and delivery of water.   It also establishes an intragovernmental panel to work with research and nongovernmental organizations on the impact of climate change on the quantity and quality of US water resources.

 Title XII of the bill establishes: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Uundersea Research Program Act of 2009; the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009; and the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009. 

 Title XIV requires the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop mechanisms to coordinate paralysis research and rehabilitation activities to advance and avoid duplication of such activities.  This is titled the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.

 The bill (H.R. 146) passed by a vote of 285-140 in the House.  The Senate version passed by a vote of 77-20 on March 19.