GOVERNMENT & POLICY CONCENTRATES
COLLABORATIONS ACROSS BORDERS EXAMINED
NEONICOTINOIDS THREATEN WATER, ACTIVISTS CLAIM
International collaborations are an important part of research, but they haven’t been thoroughly studied. A new paper looks at international collaborations in different fields—including chemistry—over time (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2016, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1510820113). Authors Mario Coccia of Arizona State University and the National Research Council of Italy and Lili Wang of the United Nations University in the Netherlands examined an NSF database of research publications in different fields from 1997 to 2012. They calculated the percentage of papers that have international coauthors then compared it with previous studies of collaborations starting in the 1970s. The total number of international collaborations has increased in all fields, the authors found. However, the ranking of different research fields based on the number of international collaborations has remained surprisingly stable over the decades. Astronomy and physics have had the highest percentage of international collaborations since the 1970s. Chemistry sits toward the bottom of the fields studied, and the percentage of international collaborations has remained steady. Though basic research fields used to perform much more international collaborative research, the authors found that basic and applied fields are converging in this area.—AW
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) is urging EPA to adopt more stringent thresholds to better protect U.S. waters and aquatic organisms from neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides under scrutiny for their potential to harm bees. In a Feb. 2 petition, the advocacy group warns that widespread contamination of waters with neonicotinoids threatens aquatic invertebrates, including crabs and insects. “This petition formally urges EPA to respond to this unrecognized threat to our waters, the toxic effects of which will harm entire food chains and ecosystems,” says CFS attorney Peter T. Jenkins, the petition’s author. “Evidence of extensive and high-level neonicotinoid water contamination raises the alarm that we are approaching an ecological crisis,” he says. Neonicotinoids are applied on more than 150 million acres of cropland annually, according to CFS. The group is urging EPA to stop classifying neonicotinoids as “reduced risk” pesticides and to require safety data from manufacturers before the pesticides are allowed on the market.—BEE
SHUTTERSTOCK
U.S. ELECTRICITY FROM RENEWABLES FORECAST TO RISE Generation of electricity from utility-scale renewable energy facilities in the U.S. is expected to increase by 9% in 2016 over last year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. These sources are anticipated to provide about 14% of the electricity generated in the U.S. this year, EIA adds. Much of this year’s growth in renewable power will Solar panels like these will help the U.S. provide 14% of its electricity by renewables this year.
come from new wind and solar installations and increased hydroelectric generation, EIA says in its newest report on the nation’s short-term energy outlook. Hydropower generation is expected to increase because of high precipitation during the current El Niño event, boosting surface water levels in areas of the West suffering from drought. The outlook for electricity from other renewable energy sources is less bright, with biomass generation expected to stay flat and geothermal power forecast to rise 5% this year, according to the agency.—CH
SENATE PANEL APPROVES TRADE-SECRETS BILL Bipartisan legislation recently adopted by the Senate Judiciary Committee would provide new recourse for U.S. companies victimized by theft of their corporate trade secrets. The measure is backed by a broad industry coalition that includes DuPont, Boston Scientific, Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a biotech industry trade group. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), coauthor of the proposed Defend Trade Secrets Act (S. 1890), says the bill would give businesses more consistent legal protections when their trade secrets are stolen. The legislation would allow companies to file civil complaints in federal court alleging trade-secret misappropriation. Currently, companies have to rely on state courts or federal prosecutors to bring legal action— and the U.S. Department of Justice lacks the CEN.ACS.ORG
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resources to prosecute all trade-secret theft cases. Federal courts are better equipped to address the interstate and international nature of trade-secret theft than are state courts, the bill’s supporters argue. Similar legislation (H.R. 3326) has been introduced in the House of Representatives and has 107 cosponsors.—GLENN HESS, special to C&EN
GROUPS CHALLENGE EPA’S REFINERY RULE Environmental groups are challenging a new EPA regulation that aims to limit air pollution from petroleum refineries. They charge that it includes illegal exemptions that will expose nearby communities to cancer-causing pollution. In September 2015, EPA issued a final rule that for the first time requires refineries to continually monitor benzene concentrations at the fence line to ensure that they “appropriately manage” toxic emissions. But in a petition to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, the 11 organizations say the agency modified the rule at the last minute to allow the facilities to emit unlimited amounts of pollution when a plant malfunctions because of a power outage or equipment failure. “We call on EPA to recognize the need to reconsider and remove these harmful exemptions, which were put in place without notice and comment,” says Earthjustice, a law firm representing the 11 groups. They also filed a lawsuit that alleges the late EPA rule modifications amount to unlawful violations of the Clean Air Act.— GLENN HESS, special to C&EN
