ACS NEWS
ACS UPDATES ITS POLICY STATEMENTS Society CALLS FOR ACTION on job creation, chemicals management, and climate change SUSAN J. AINSWORTH, C&EN DALLAS
THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL Society has is-
sued two new official policy statements that outline measures aimed at creating new science jobs and improving chemicals management and regulation. In addition, the society has revised four other statements, including one on climate change, and renewed one statement without revision. Drafting of two of the policy statements—those relating to climate change
and to ensuring a U.S. business climate that empowers innovation and job creation— involved an unprecedented level of input from groups including ACS committees, governance, and members. Representing the interests of the society’s more than 163,000 members, the policy statements “serve as our calling card,” says Ray Garant, assistant director of public policy in the ACS Office of Public
Affairs (OPA), which is part of the Office of the Secretary & General Counsel. “They empower both staff and members to speak on behalf of the society in an informed and detailed way, allowing them to be more effective in the public policy arena.” The policy statements form the basis for advocacy with federal and state governments, says William F. Carroll, chair of the ACS Board Committee on Public Affairs & Public Relations (PA&PR), which has the authority to approve statements. “When OPA issues an alert to the Act4chemistry Network, a group of 15,000 members who have expressed interest in participating in ACS advocacy, it is based on the positions in these statements applied to action currently under consideration by the government.” The 28 current statements, which have extendable three-year lifetimes, are available on the ACS website at www.acs.org/ policy.
POLICY PRIORITIES
Current ACS Position Statements All statements are available online at www.acs.org/policy. All funding statements are related to fiscal 2011, unless otherwise indicated. FOSTERING INNOVATION THROUGH RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY Business Climate: Supports reforms of the U.S. patent and intellectual property framework that promote innovation. Supports policies designed to improve technology transfer and commercialization of breakthroughs spurred by federal research investments. Department of Defense (funding): Supports funding of at least $1.998 billion for basic research. Expresses concern about the proposed decline in the overall science and technology portfolio, particularly for applied research and advanced technology development.
Department of Energy (funding): Supports a 4.4% increase of $217 million for the Office of Science. Energy Science & Technology: Provides a framework for government, industry, and academia to develop a comprehensive energy science and technology policy. Environmental Protection Agency (funding): Supports Office of Research & Development funding to return to $646 million. Calls for a return to the $110 million funding level for Science to Achieve Results extramural research and fellowship programs. Innovation & Competitiveness: Supports investment in a talented workforce through education and training, longterm commitments to basic research and technology development, and the development of a sustainable infrastructure for innovation.
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National Institute of Standards & Technology (funding): Supports, at a minimum, a proposed 7.2% increase to $919 million for the core programs. Calls for a 15.7% increase to $575 million for NIST laboratories. Supports funding the Technology Innovation Program at the authorized level of $140.5 million. National Institutes of Health (funding): Supports funding of $32.1 billion, representing a 3.2% increase. National Science Foundation (funding): Supports a minimum 8.0% increase to $7.4 billion. Supports funding for the NSF Math & Science Partnership program to approach the authorized level of $123 million. Patent Reform: Supports comprehensive reform of the U.S. patent system with 10 detailed recommendations. Science & Technology in the
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Fiscal-Year 2012 Budget: Supports predictable and sustainable increases for the basic science agencies and cautions the Administration to focus on the long-term benefits of basic research rather than shortterm economic impacts such as immediate job creation. Makes specific recommendations for seven agencies. STRENGTHENING SCIENCE EDUCATION & THE SCIENTIFIC WORKFORCE Computer Simulations: Says computer simulations that mimic laboratory procedures have the potential to be a useful supplement to student hands-on activities but not a substitute for them. Department of Education (funding): Supports $477.3 million for four new education initiatives focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Employment Nondiscrimination: Recommends federal legislation to extend employment
Knowing that the ACS position statement on climate change was set to expire at the end of 2010 and that there had been significant changes in the debate around climate change since ACS last considered the subject three years ago, the Joint BoardCouncil Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) began its efforts to update the climate statement early. At the fall 2009 ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C., “we identified a process and an initial writing team,” according to Martin A. Abraham, chair of CEI. “We developed a plan that would allow substantial member input so that we could be fully prepared to complete the update following the fall 2010 ACS national meeting in Boston.” Also during the fall 2009 ACS national meeting, a group of current and former ACS MORE ONLINE
members began soliciting signatures for a petition that proposed new language for a society position and provided input on how they thought the process to revise the climate statement should be structured. The petition urged “the ACS Board of Directors to appoint a group of senior scientists, without vested interest, to revisit the science behind climate change in light of new scientific findings instead of relying on the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” according to Peter Bonk, a former chair of the ACS Division of Small Chemical Businesses, who led the effort to start and circulate the petition. Those behind the petition, which took the form of an open letter to the ACS Board, also felt that ACS should not take “a position on the controversial topic” of cli-
mate change without hearing from members on all sides of the issue, Bonk says. He delivered a final version of the letter, which was signed by 150 people, to ACS Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Madeleine Jacobs on Feb. 1, 2010. Because ACS already has a policy development process that involves experts such as those serving on CEI and because the review was already under way, the board did not appoint an additional group, Garant says. Instead, as it conducted its review and drafted the new climate statement, CEI “went out of its way to add extra steps to the process to make sure that it was seeking the widest possible input from the membership,” he says. During the summer of 2010, CEI collected comments from more than 500
Various ACS committees are updating or creating new position statements. Society members can contribute their thoughts on the statements by clicking on this story at www.cen-online.org.
discrimination protection to include sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity. Evolution: Supports teaching of evolution and opposes alternative, nonscientific theories in the science classroom. Urges states and localities to support highquality science standards and curricula. Health Care Policy: Supports access to affordable, quality health care for all Americans and sets out broad principles to guide policy on association health care plans and other health care options. Science Education: Supports modernizing learning environments and strengthening STEM teacher education programs, and encourages student research opportunities. ADVANCING SCIENCE THROUGH OPENNESS Public Access: Supports using publishing models that are sustainable and provide universal access to scientific research.
Supports the 10 principles outlined in the “Brussels Declaration on STM Publishing,” a document set forth by the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers. Scientific Freedom: Advocates freedom of scientific exchange and stronger scientific collaboration to benefit humankind. Visa Restrictions: Supports timely screening for visiting scientists and students. Commits to assisting federal agencies with technical expertise. PROMOTING SCIENCE & SUSTAINABILITY IN PUBLIC POLICY Biomonitoring: Supports collection of biomonitoring data to better identify, understand, and communicate the potential environmental and human health risks associated with chemical exposures. Encourages continued development of biomonitoring methodology for tracking the fate of chemicals, their exposure pathways and uptake mechanisms, and trends in human exposures.
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Climate: Reviews the science and recommends action on reducing greenhouse gases as well as adaptation strategies for dealing with climate change. Encourages continued research and funding into the effects of climate change, while emphasizing the importance of educating the public on this issue. Chemicals Management: Addresses issues of public confidence, risk assessment, the responsibilities of industry, and sustainability. Makes specific recommendations on incorporation of green chemistry principles; data, testing, and exemptions; and the education and training of chemical scientists. Endocrine Disruption: Endorses expanded endocrine disrupter education and research and the development of more effective science-based decision-making tools and methods for reducing and eliminating exposures of humans and the environment. Inherently Safer Technology: Endorses federal support for
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developing IST and greater use of IST in reducing risk. Regulation of Laboratory Waste: Reviews the pitfalls of regulations intended for largescale chemical manufacturing being applied to laboratories. Scientific Insight & Integrity: Supports the use of insightful and comprehensive scientific and engineering research and analysis to assist the development and evaluation of policy options. Encourages policies—including transparency, openness, empowerment of scientists inside and outside of government, and an appropriate scientific advisory system—that help the government obtain and apply scientific assessments. Sustainability of the Chemical Enterprise: Defines the concept of sustainability in the context of the chemical enterprise. Supports government incentives for sustainable technologies, including regulatory flexibility, tax incentives, and research support.
AS WITH THE REVISED climate-change
policy statement, the drafting of the new statement on ensuring a competitive U.S. business environment involved many within ACS. Working through two board committees—PA&PR and Professional & Member Relations—the ACS Board of Directors asked for input from more than two dozen committees to get ideas for the draft. Responding to the urgency of the situation in light of the current economy,
Garant says, “the board reached out very widely within governance to put together a statement in only six months.” Although the society has had a position statement on innovation and competitiveness “and we have been very active in advocating for research and technology and science education, we have had less to say about ensuring an environment where innovation can thrive,” which is important to creating new jobs, Garant adds. “We knew members were concerned about the ongoing reengineering of the pharmaceutical industry and employment in chemistry generally,” says PA&PR’s Carroll. “We felt that the best way to address that Garant issue was to advocate measures to make the U.S. the best place in the world to locate science work—and that’s what is in the statement.” Indeed, the statement supports investment in a talented workforce through education and training. It also calls for long-term commitments to basic research and technology development and backs development of a sustainable infrastructure for innovation. The statement addresses tax issues, such as “making the tax credit for research permanent and rationalizing corporate tax rates to be more competitive with countries that have an aggressive, business-friendly tax policy, like Ireland,” Carroll says. In addition to the business-climate statement, the society issued another new policy statement, which focuses on chemicals management and regulation. The society has long been interested in the appropriate use of science in the drafting of regulatory policy, and it sensed that it needed to get more involved in this issue as a result of public policy discussions about the Toxic Substances Control Act; environmental, health, and safety issues related to nanotechnology; and concerns related to chemicals such as bisphenol A, Garant says. Consequently, CEI recom-
Representing the interests of the society’s more than 163,000 members, the policy statements “serve as our calling card.” WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
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mended that the board create a statement that would “put the society on record to allow it to play a larger role in these debates.” The effort to draft the chemical management and regulation statement was rigorous. It involved collaboration “between our academic and industrial members to develop a representative position that took into account many of the competing interests within ACS,” including academics, regulators, and those in industry, according to CEI’s Abraham. The statement addresses the issues of public confidence, risk assessment, the responsibilities of industry, and sustainability. It also makes specific recommendations on incorporation of green chemistry principles, on guidelines for the development of data used to assess risk, and on the education and training of chemical scientists to uniformly prepare them to understand toxicity and exposures associated with chemicals. Last year, PA&PR also made significant modifications to the statement concerning access to high-quality science. The updated statement highlights ACS support for using sustainable publishing models to provide universal access to scientific research. It also backs a set of principles related to the practice of scholarly publishing that is outlined in the “Brussels Declaration on STM Publishing,” a document set forth by the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers. In addition, statements relating to biomonitoring and science education policies received minor updates that aligned them better with current policy issues and directions, according to Garant. And the 2007 version of the statement on employment nondiscrimination was extended with no changes. Taken as a whole, the current group of ACS policy statements resulted from an unprecedented level of collaboration not just between society governance and committees, but also with members, Garant says. He encourages ACS members to continue to play a role in shaping future policy statements. “We are certainly looking for input from our members as we begin to work on issues that range from sustainability to the teaching of evolution,” he says. ■ L IN DA WAN G/C& EN
members, including many of the petitioners, via the ACS Network. Those members sent more than 100 references to websites, books, review articles, scientific papers, and reports on the science of climate change, Garant says. Many of the respondents “were concerned about climate change and supported ACS policy involvement,” Garant says. “However, others were skeptical of the science related to climate change and felt ACS should not get involved unless it would be in opposition to the position expressed in the prevailing national and international scientific reviews.” To gather additional information for drafting the new statement, CEI worked with 2010 ACS President Joseph S. Francisco to host a climate-change forum at the fall ACS national meeting in Boston (C&EN, Aug. 30, 2010, page 3). The forum, attended by several hundred ACS members, featured “experts in the field, including a global-warming skeptic,” Abraham says. “The audience participated in a lively discussion to express their views.” Weighing all this input, CEI drafted a new statement on global climate change that calls for action on reducing greenhouse gases and recommends adaptation strategies for dealing with climate change. It also encourages continued funding and research on the effects of climate change and emphasizes the importance of educating the public on the issue. “In the end, we developed a statement that we believe accurately reflects the state of knowledge on the subject, acknowledges the views of a majority of our members, and provides ACS with a clear statement on appropriate actions in response to this complex technical challenge,” Abraham says.
ACS INTRODUCES MIDDLE SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM
WELCOME On Jan.
25, ACS hosted a reception for new officers. Held annually in Washington, D.C., the reception affords ACS governance and key staff members the opportunity to network with guests from the Washington science establishment and funding agencies. Pictured from left are ACS Board Chair Bonnie A. Charpentier, President-Elect Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, President Nancy B. Jackson, Immediate Past-President Joseph S. Francisco, Executive Director & CEO Madeleine Jacobs, and ACS Secretary Flint H. Lewis. Jackson is wrapped in an honorary blanket presented to her that evening by the American Indian Science & Engineering Society. Not pictured is Treasurer Brian A. Bernstein.—LW
THE OFFICE OF K–8 Science in the Ameri-
can Chemical Society’s Education Division has developed a free online middle school chemistry unit that is available to teachers at www.middleschoolchemistry.com. The curriculum offers fully developed lesson plans to teach chemistry concepts at the middle school level. The six chapters of the curriculum cover “Matter—Solids, Liquids & Gases,” “Changes of State,” “Density,” “The Periodic Table & Bonding,” “The Water Molecule & Dissolving,” and “Chemical Change.” Students explore these topics through hands-on experiences and teacher demonstrations. The teacher then uses molecular illustrations and animations to help students understand what is happening at the molecular level. Using the concepts of inquiry-based learning, the new middle school curricu-
lum helps teachers guide their students to ask scientific questions, design and conduct experiments, understand their observations on the molecular level, and record and communicate their results. Manager James H. Kessler says the Office of K–8 Science developed the curriculum in response to the National Academy of Sciences’ newly drafted national science education standards, which encourage teachers, even at the middle school level, to explain phenomena based on atoms and molecules. “A lot of teachers feel very nervous and ill-prepared to teach concepts in middle school chemistry because they’re starting to get into some difficult, more abstract material,” Kessler says. “We include in the curriculum a lot of explanatory informa-
DEVELOPERS
From left: Adam Boyd, Galvan, and Kessler.
tion to help teachers understand the concepts themselves.” The curriculum is designed to be flexible. Any part of a lesson or an entire lesson can be used in conjunction with the curriculum the teacher is already using, or entirely on its own. “You could teach just these six chapters and your students will know what they need to know about chemistry at the middle school level,” says Patricia M. Galvan, education specialist in the Office of K–8 Science. The unit expands the office’s educational offerings, which currently include the book “Inquiry in Action” for third through sixth grades and the companion website (www.inquiryinaction.org), the Science for Kids website (www.acs.org/kids), and “The Best of WonderScience” books. The Office of K–8 Science is continuing to develop resources to support teachers. “It’s important for us to help all students learn fundamental chemistry concepts,” Galvan says, “and the best way to do that is by providing resources for their teachers.”—LW
ACS OFFERS FUNDS FOR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH TRAVEL THE ACS COMMITTEE on International
Activities and the ACS Office of International Activities announce the inaugural call for proposals for the Global Research Experiences, Exchanges & Training Program (GREET). The program aims to support intensive, high-impact international
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chemistry research experience and collaboration opportunities for U.S. researchers by providing travel awards of up to $10,700 for at least five teams. Travel must start and conclude between mid-June and midOctober 2011. Unlike other international travel awards of this type, GREET requires that applicants propose new scientific collaborations and that research teams include both an early- to midcareer faculty mentor and a graduate or undergraduate student mentee. The experience is intended to significantly impact the student’s career path and professional development while catalyzing new global collaborations. Students will spend four to eight weeks engaged in their project at a foreign laboratory, with their faculty mentor participating for a concurrent two- to three-week period. Upon returning to the U.S., team members will serve as ambassadors for global collaboration by engaging the larger community at their home institutions and presenting their results at ACS national meetings. The first GREET program is open to U.S. teams that have identified a host research institution, laboratory, and project in which they would like to participate. Applications will be evaluated for scientific merit as well as collaborative and community-building value. Visit www.acs.org/ greet or e-mail
[email protected] to learn more and obtain an application before the April 10 deadline.—STEVEN MEYERS Announcements of ACS News may be sent to
[email protected].
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