Government & Policy Roundup

The National Science Board agreed to set up a Board Commission on 21st Century Education in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM). The commission is charged with developing a "bold new national action plan" for pre-K-16 STEM education. The final report is expected 12 months after the first meeting.

NASA scientists are now allowed to discuss their views about ongoing research as long as they are clear that they are not speaking for the agency, according to a new public policy released by the agency. The policy aims to improve NASA's communication process and comes in response to an incident involving the censoring of an agency scientist earlier this year (C&EN, Feb. 6, page 19).

A high-level task force appointed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a 1,300-page report that lays out strategies California can use to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of an 11% cut by 2010 and a 30% reduction by 2020.