Letter from the U.S. Conference of Mayors on the Surface Transportation Bill and the Federal Aviation Administration

Please see attached for a letter signed by U.S. Conference of Mayors urging Congress to move forward to pass a clean extension of the Surface Transportation Bill and the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization.

President Obama Signs North Carolina Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of North Carolina and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by Hurricane Irene beginning on August 25, 2011, and continuing.

The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico, and Tyrrell.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Michael E. Bolch as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT:  FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@DHS.GOV

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Nina M. Archabal - Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Barbara Bluhm-Kaul - Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Regina Blye - Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
Cindy Campbell - Member, American Battle Monuments Commission

President Obama said, “Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles.  I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Dr. Nina M. Archabal, Appointee for Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Dr. Nina M. Archabal is the Director Emerita of the Minnesota Historical Society, having recently retired after 23 years of service as its Director and State Historic Preservation Officer.  She has served as Chair of the boards of the American Association of Museums and of the United States Committee of the International Council of Museums, and is on the board of the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Archaeology and History.  Dr. Archabal received the President’s Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Humanities Medal.  She has been an overseer of Harvard College, a member of the National Council on the Humanities, and received the Harvard Medal for Extraordinary Service to the Harvard Community and the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota.  Dr. Archabal received an A.B. and M.A.T. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Barbara Bluhm-Kaul, Appointee for Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Barbara Bluhm-Kaul is a trustee of The Art Institute in Chicago and the Aspen Art Museum.  She is a benefactor of the Bluhm Family Terrace at the Modern Wing of The Art Institute as well as of the Bluhm Seminar Room.  Ms. Bluhm-Kaul has sponsored art exhibitions at The Art Institute, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the Aspen Art Museum.  She has loaned works from her collection to many major museums throughout the world including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Kunstmuseum in Basel, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.  Ms. Bluhm-Kaul received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Regina Blye, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
Regina Blye is the Executive Director of the Texas State Independent Living Council (SILC).  She is the current Chair of SILC Congress, a national group dedicated to improving the effectiveness of SILCs, the Vice-Chair of the Texas Disability Policy Consortium, a collection of organizations working together to advance the rights of Texans with disabilities, and is also a board member of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, a grassroots advocacy organization.  Ms. Blye graduated from West Texas A&M University and has a degree in Mass Communications with a focus on Broadcasting and Public Relations. 

Cindy Campbell, Appointee for Member, American Battle Monuments Commission
Cindy Campbell is the Vice President for Community Relations and Media Affairs at the Fisher House Foundation, a non-profit that provides temporary housing for military dependents while their family member is treated in military hospitals.  In 2009, Ms. Campbell retired from the Navy after serving 30 years.  She retired as a Lieutenant Commander, qualified as a surface warfare officer.  Her last assignment before retirement was in the East Wing of the White House as the White House Military Office Director of Administration from March 2007 to July 2009.  She has volunteered extensively with the Department of Defense Bone Marrow Donor Program, registering over 150,000 donors onto the national registry, a Department of Defense record.  Ms. Campbell received a B.S. from Chaminade University and a M.S. in education from Old Dominion University.

Vice President Biden Announces New Private Sector Backing for Five Pioneering Energy Companies

ARPA-E Awardees Attract Another $100 Million to Advance Clean Energy Technologies

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Speaking at the National Clean Energy Summit 4.0 today in Las Vegas, Nevada, Vice President Joe Biden announced another promising milestone for the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E): five innovative companies that received seed funding from ARPA-E in 2009 and 2010 have now attracted more than $100 million in outside private capital investment. The private sector financing reflects the progress these companies have made over the past two years toward developing new technologies that could transform the way Americans use and produce energy. This is in addition to six other companies highlighted by Secretary Chu in February that have also attracted more than $100 million in private financing based on the progress of their work.

Today’s announcement by the Vice President covers five companies that received between $1.5 million and $6 million each from ARPA-E to develop advanced grid scale batteries or innovative new approaches to biofuels or waste heat recovery. The White House also released a report (available HERE) today on the United States’ position in the global clean energy race.

“America is at its best when we innovate – and ARPA-E supports the very best of American innovation. These five companies are swinging for the fences, pioneering new technologies that could help answer the energy challenge and create jobs,” said Vice President Biden. “They illustrate how a small but strategic investment by the federal government can pay big dividends down the road and bring into the market groundbreaking new technologies.”

ARPA-E will be making its next round of awards in September, including awards to a series of innovative projects to keep America’s manufacturers competitive by reducing the need for expensive “rare earth” materials from China.  Rare earths are naturally-occurring minerals with unique magnetic properties that are used for many modern necessities like laptops and lasers, as well as clean-energy technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. Up to $30 million will be made available for this program area, in addition to funding for projects in advanced biofuels, thermal storage, grid control technologies and solar power.

The five companies attracting more than $100 million in private financing that were highlighted by the Vice President include:

Phononic Devices (Raleigh, NC) - ARPA-E funding $3 million – private funding $11 million
Phononic Devices is designing devices to capture wasted heat produced by factories, power plants and vehicles, and convert it directly into usable electric power.  These “thermoelectric” devices are also being designed to remove heat so they can be used as efficient cooling systems.

Primus Power (Hayward, CA) - ARPA-E funding $2 million – private funding $11 million
Primus Power has developed a battery using high energy fluids that are pumped throughout the battery. This “flow battery” can store renewable energy such as wind and solar power and then release that energy into the grid during peak load times.

OPX Biotechnologies (Boulder, CO) - ARPA-E funding $6 million – private funding $36.5 million
Scientists at OPX Biotechnologies are developing bacteria to produce a liquid biofuel using electricity and carbon dioxide. This liquid biofuel is being designed to replace petroleum fuel at a competitive cost.  The project combines OPX’s technological capabilities with expertise in bacteria from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Stanford University (Stanford, CA) - ARPA-E funding $1.5 million – private funding $25 million
Professor Fritz Prinz at Stanford University is commercializing a new type of energy storage device that will perform many of the same jobs as a normal battery. It will also deliver greater energy and power and withstand 1,000s of charges without showing a significant drop in performance.

Transphorm (Goleta, CA) - ARPA-E funding $3 million – private funding $25 million
Transphorm is developing compact and efficient semiconductor devices that can quickly switch electrical currents. The aim is to reduce wasted power from electric motors, thereby reducing energy consumption.