Secretary Steven Chu of the Department of Energy and Secretary Ken Salazar of the Department of Interior traveled to Houston, Texas, earlier this week to meet with scientists, industry officials and engineers. They were sent by President Barack Obama to seek solutions to the oil-spill disaster. Their mission? Containment of the oil spill. According to [...]
After considerable research and about 450,000 public comments, the Environmental Protection Agency has established thresholds for greenhouse gases. The EPA yesterday announced a final rule to address greenhouse gases emissions. The approach will consider large facilities such as power plants and other stationary sources, which are responsible for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. This [...]
Whether it is natural disasters or terrorist attacks, the United States will continue to see threats and persist confronting them, said Northcom and NORAD Commander Air Force Gen. Victor E. “Gene” Renuart at a press conference. “Mother Nature, she is going to continue,” he said. “But even more importantly, the threats to the defense of [...]
The FCC has made a step toward a nationwide interoperable network. The agency yesterday granted approval of 21 petitions from different states, counties and cities seeking construction of interoperable wireless broadband networks for public safety. “Today’s action brings America significantly closer to creating a nationwide public safety broadband network that will enable first responders to [...]
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the fiscal year 2010 Preparedness Grants, which awards almost $790 million to state, local and tribal governments and the private sector to strengthen preparedness for acts of terrorism, major disasters and other emergencies. “These grants play a major role in our efforts to work with our [...]
Adopting cybersecurity measures presents significant challenges for the Department of Defense, the government and for critical infrastructure, a senior DoD official said Tuesday. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy James N. Miller said the issue of cybersecurity has the attention of all defense leaders, and progress is being made. The confirmation of Army [...]
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis discussed their vision and goals yesterday, May 12, 2010. Under Secretary and CIO for DHS Caryn Wagner and the Principal Deputy Under Secretary Bart Johnson appeared before the House Committee on Homeland Security. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis has an “overarching vision to be [...]
A team of students from Virginia Tech has won federal funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a project that could potentially help scientists keep water ecosystems clean and healthy. EPA awarded a $9,927 P3 grant–People, Prosperity and the Planet–to the Virginia Tech team to further design its project for possible implementation in the [...]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Monday that Maryland’s Medicaid program will receive approximately $1.37 million in federal matching funds for state planning activities necessary to adopt the electronic health record incentive program established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. According to CMS, EHRs will improve the quality of health [...]
Julius Genachowski, FCC Chairman, and Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, will be co-hosting a Clean Technology Showcase next Tuesday. On May 18, 2010 the two departments will present this showcase, which is free and open to the public, at the FCC Headquarters. The showcase will include several leading technology companies exhibiting their solutions for smarter [...]