NEWS OF THE WEEK ENERGY
POLICY
BUSH CHANGES COURSE ON C02 President now says capping emissions from power plants would be wrong BACK IN VOGUE U.S. coal industry hopes Bush's decision will cause sales of its product to soar.
'My Administration takes the issue of global climate change very seriously" George W. Bush, March 13, 2001
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speech, George W. Bush said carbon dioxide is a pollutant and that he would support legislation to reduce C 0 2 emissions from power plants. But last week, President Bush said he would not seek to impose mandatory reductions in C 0 2 emissions from power plants that burn fossil fuels, such as coal, to produce electricity The move pleased coal, mining, and chemical industry associations, whose spokesmen say Bush's campaign promise was a "mistake."
R&D
Taking 9th place and a $20,000 scholarship in the 2001 Intel Science Talent Search is Robert A. Horch,18,of Weatherford, Texas, who designed and constructed a new type of electrochemical cell to synthesize polymerized montmorillonite nanocomposites. 10
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LEAN TIMES IN THE GOLDEN STATE Need for funds to ameliorate energy crisis squeezes science institutes
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But it angered environmental activists and a bipartisan group of legislators who have introduced legislation that would reduce C 0 2 emissions from power plants. In a March 13 letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Bush wrote: "I do not believe... the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant.' " He cited a Department of Energy report which concludes that caps on C 0 2 emissions would lead to a shift from coal to natural gas for electric power generation and "significantly higher electricity prices."
HE CALIFORNIA GOVERN-
ment's struggle to deal with the state's energy crisis has endangered funding for a set of new University of Californiabased science institutes. Earlier this month, a state Senate budget committee cut $2 billionfromthe proposed budget, including more than $100 million that had been earmarked for the first year of operation of the California Institutes for Science & Innovation. UC officials breathed a sigh of relief last week when the Senate's Subcommittee on Education voted to reinstate the funding. But the budget faces more mas-
2001
saging from both houses before it's sent to Gov Gray Davis. The multidisciplinary institutes were born out of a conversation between Scripps Research Institute President Richard A. Lerner, U C Regent John J. Moores, and Davis (C&EN, Jan. 31, 2000, page 37). Three institutes were ultimately given the green light, including QB3, an institute for bioengineering and biotechnology at UC San Francisco; Cal-IT 2 , a center for telecommunications technology at UC San Diego; and the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.
Bush also expressed opposition to the Kyoto protocol, claiming it "would cause serious harm to the U.S. economy" Frederick L. Webber, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, characterized Bush's move as "an important element of a sound, longrange national energy strategy," which will help achieve a reliable and affordable energy supply "Without U.S. leadership, effective global action on climate change may not be possible," noted United Nations Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Tôpfer. Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert (RN. Y), chairman of the House Science Committee who has introduced bipartisan legislation to control C 0 2 emissions from power plants, said: "I am profoundly disappointed. Capping C 0 2 was in Bush's campaign energy plan, and I would like to know what happened in the interim."—BETTE HILEMAN
Although the loss of the money would be dire, UCLA chemistry professor James R. Heath, director of the NanoSystems Institute, expects the money for the institutes to be put back permanently later in the budget process. "I doubt very much that the funding will actually be cut," he says. Even so, the energy crisis may yet affect California universities. The UC and California State University systems have asked a federal court to issue a preliminary injunction against their power provider, Enron Energy Services, with which they have a four-year contract ending in 2002. Enron is seeking to get out of its contract a year early, which would free it to sell its power elsewhere at higher prices. The universities would then be forced to buy power from the ailing, unstable Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison. — ELIZABETH WILSON
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