Government & Policy Roundup

The Department of Homeland Security and EPA are jointly funding the establishment of the Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment at Michigan State University. MSU was awarded $10 million for five years. One objective is to build a national network for transferring information about microbial risk assessment to academia, government, and the private sector.

The Senate has delayed voting on a bill to expand the federal stem cell policy (S. 471) until early next year. Prior to this announcement, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) had threatened to attach the legislation as an amendment to the Health & Human Services appropriations bill.

Purchases of “green” electric power generated from wind, biomass, and other renewable sources have grown more than 1,000% since 2000, with capacity jumping from 167 MW to 2,233 MW at the end of 2004, the Energy Department reported last week. Renewable power accounts for about 2% of the nation's electricity supply, but is increasing steadily as demand rises.