Democrats: Green Chemistry Bill a "Missed Opportunity"
Today, the Science Committee passed H.R. 3970, the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2004, after rejecting Democratic amendments dealing with education and training, government purchase incentives, barriers to commercialization, environmental concerns, homeland security, and adequate levels of funding.
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), Ranking Member of the Committee, noted: "Passage of this bill is a missed opportunity. The Committee should have taken the time to increase and carefully target Federal efforts in a science that can not only reduce hazardous waste, but also protect workers, the public, and our homeland security. Instead, we moved a bill that has many holes and has yet to mature. There is no logic in authorizing research and development without facilitating the application of its results to real problems.
"Over the last two days, Democratic Members of the Committee offered 12 amendments that would have added real meat to the bare bones of H.R. 3970. Not one of these amendments was opposed on substantive grounds. Although we were able to work out a few of these amendments, the Majority opposed most of them because of an overriding interest in moving a bill to the Floor quickly. I would be more comfortable with this hurry-up strategy if I knew that we would be allowed to offer these important amendments in the whole House. Unfortunately, we are not likely to be given that opportunity, and we will end up passing a bill that won't do nearly as much for health, safety, and the environment as it should."
A list of some of the rejected Democratic amendments follows:
- An amendment by Rep. Gordon to provide for Federal procurement of environmentally preferable products
- An amendment by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) to utilize green chemistry to reduce vulnerabilities to terrorism
- Amendments by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) to restore full funding for the National Science Foundation's green chemistry program and to study barriers to commercialization of green chemistry
- An amendment by Rep. Gordon to provide funding for Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers to establish a green suppliers network
- An amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to establish a community green chemistry grant program
- An amendment by Rep. Gordon to fund a program developing undergraduate green chemistry curricula in chemistry and chemical engineering
- An amendment by Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) to provide for research on ethical, legal, environmental and other societal concerns
Related Subcommittees
Next Article Previous Article