person:bill nelson

  • Trump Orders Establishment of Space Force as Sixth Military Branch - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/us/politics/trump-space-force-sixth-military-branch.html

    WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Monday that he would direct the Pentagon to establish a sixth branch of the armed forces dedicated to protecting American interests in outer space, an idea that has troubled lawmakers and even some members of his administration, who have cautioned that the action could create unnecessary bureaucratic responsibilities for a military already burdened by conflicts.

    During a speech at a meeting of the National Space Council, Mr. Trump announced plans to protect American interests in space through monitoring commercial traffic and debris, initiatives he said would be “great not only in terms of jobs and everything else, it’s great for the psyche of our country.”

    With his interest in space, Mr. Trump appears to be taking a more protective stance than his modern predecessors, who over the years have wrestled with ways — and with rival governments, including Russia and China — to keep military conflicts in space at bay while still protecting American interests, including commercial operations and the current satellite system.

    “At best this is simply the creation of an additional D.O.D. bureaucracy,” Daryl G. Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, said in an interview, referring to the Department of Defense. “At worst, it is the first step in an accelerated competition between the U.S., China and Russia in the space realm that is going to be more difficult to avert without direct talks about responsible rules of the road.”

    The creation of a sixth branch of the military to join the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard would require congressional authorization and approval. Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, who is on the Senate Commerce Committee overseeing the nation’s space program — and who once spent six days in space — said that the president’s order lacked the support of the generals who would be required to carry it out.

    #Militarisme #Espace #Fin_des_communs #Etats_Unis #Guerre

  • Net neutrality will be repealed Monday unless Congress takes action | Ars Technica
    https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/06/net-neutrality-will-be-repealed-monday-unless-congress-takes-action

    With net neutrality rules scheduled to be repealed on Monday, Senate Democrats are calling on House Speaker Paul Ryan to schedule a vote that could preserve the broadband regulations.

    The US Senate voted on May 16 to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules, but a House vote—and President Trump’s signature—is still needed. Today, the entire Senate Democratic Caucus wrote a letter to Ryan urging him to allow a vote on the House floor.
    Further Reading
    Senate votes to overturn Ajit Pai’s net neutrality repeal

    “The rules that this resolution would restore were enacted by the FCC in 2015 to prevent broadband providers from blocking, slowing down, prioritizing, or otherwise unfairly discriminating against Internet traffic that flows across their networks,” the letter said. “Without these protections, broadband providers can decide what content gets through to consumers at what speeds and could use this power to discriminate against their competitors or other content.” The letter was spearheaded by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

    FCC Chairman Ajit Pai led a commission vote to repeal the rules in December 2017, but the rules remain on the books because the repeal was contingent on US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of modified information-collection requirements. The OMB approval came last month, allowing Pai to schedule the repeal for Monday, June 11.

    #Neutralité_Internet

  • Trump names climate science denier to run NASA – ThinkProgress
    https://thinkprogress.org/trump-names-climate-science-denier-to-run-nasa-c9a46a6f4a52

    n a Friday night news dump, the White House announced that President Donald Trump Plans to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), a climate science denier to be administrator of NASA.

    Bridenstine is a politician without any scientific credentials, unlike previous NASA chiefs, and for that reason his nomination has already been criticized by both Florida’s senators Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D), Politico reports. Rubio said, “I just think [his nomination] could be devastating for the space program.”

    #climat #nasa #trump #états-unis

  • Senate hearing hears more dire Zika warnings | Miami Herald
    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article89422647.html

    • 40 countries, territories in Western Hemisphere have mosquito-born transmission
    •7 microcephalic infants have been born in the United States
    •CDC head says health agency diverting funds from other needs to fight Zika

    […]
    Republicans, who hold majorities in both the House and Senate, have blocked a $1.9 billion emergency Zika-prevention package President Barack Obama sent to Congress in February.

    The Senate overwhelmingly approved a compromise $1.1 billion bill in May, but when it was returned to the chamber last month, House Republicans in a conference committee had inserted provisions unrelated to Zika that Democrats have long opposed.

    Among the provisions are limits on Obamacare, restrictions on abortions, funding cuts for birth control and the lifting of key environmental controls.

    Branding those provisions “poisons pills,” Senate Democrats last month voted down the altered Zika measure, leaving it at an impasse. Rubio and Sen. Bill Nelson, an Orlando Democrat, want a new vote on a clean bill limited to the Zika response.
    […]
    Florida, [Rubio, a Miami Republican] said, reported 13 new infections Monday. With those, the state had a total 282 known cases – 129 of them in South Florida – more than any other state except New York.
    […]
    Pregnant women are most at risk because Zika can cause birth defects such as microcephaly, a congenital condition marked by abnormally small heads and stunted brain development in infants.

    There have been 599 cases of Zika among pregnant women in the United States and its territories, Frieden said Wednesday. Seven infants have been born with Zika-related birth defects, he said.
    […]
    The vast majority of the almost 1,200 Zika cases in the continental United States and Hawaii have come through contact among people who have traveled in Puerto Rico, Brazil or other heavily infected places.

  • Montée du niveau des océans : la Floride en première ligne - Sciences et Avenir
    http://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/nature-environnement/20140422.AFP5425/montee-du-niveau-des-oceans-la-floride-en-premiere-ligne.html

    Lors d’une audition du Sénat américain exceptionnellement organisée à Miami, le sénateur Bill Nelson a même qualifié le sud de la Floride de « Ground Zero » du changement climatique.

    Selon l’élu, les trois-quarts des 20 millions d’habitants de la Floride vivent sur la côte. Et la mer se rapproche dangereusement. A en croire l’ONG World Resources Institute, la Floride a perdu 30 cm de côtes depuis 1870. Et d’ici 2060, la mer devrait avoir encore gagné de 23 à 61 cm.

    Plus inquiétant : la ville de Miami se trouve à seulement 1,22 m d’altitude.

    « Nous nous trouvons sur un sol constitué de roche sédimentaire calcaire qui est poreuse et imbibée d’eau », a souligné le sénateur Nelson. « Construire des digues ne servirait à rien », car le sous-sol est « comme du gruyère ».

    « Nous devons trouver des solutions innovantes » pour protéger les biens immobiliers situés au bord de l’océan qui, à Miami, ont une valeur totale de 14,7 milliards de dollars, a expliqué M. Nelson, un élu démocrate.