Arctic research funding of $67M finally announced

The federal government formally announced $67.3 million for research on Arctic climate change Thursday, though the funding has already been flowing for months and an official website has long since divulged it.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the money would keep ArcticNet, a Canada-wide network of mostly university-based researchers, operating through 2018.

The 145 investigators run projects looking at topics as diverse as Inuit access to post-secondary education, to how global warming is affecting marine life on the floor of the Arctic Ocean.

ArcticNet's first round of funding came in 2003, and researchers have known it would be renewed since last fall, when the federal government quietly extended its financial commitment.

The exact amount of the second round of funding was later posted to the federal government's website for the Networks of Centres of Excellence, which supports national research collaborations.

But there was still no formal announcement from the government. The Prime Minister's Office said in August that Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver would make the official announcement in the fall, even as Industry Canada was already at work planning something for that month.

"It's a matter of opportunity," said Louis Fortier, a Laval University marine biologist and ArcticNet's scientific director. "We agreed with the Industry Department that we wanted to do the announcement in the North, and in the wintertime it's impossible, so the first favourable window was in August. We had something planned for the beginning of August in Resolute Bay, but things are always complicated in the North, and this is just one more example."

In the end, Paradis made the announcement Thursday alongside Fortier at Laval University in Quebec City, where he said the funding was the single largest amount Ottawa has doled out as part of the Networks of Centres of Excellence program.

All the machinations haven't been detrimental to ArcticNet's researchers, however, several of them said.

"The research community knew, when we had our last annual scientific meeting in December, that the decision had been made," said David Hik, a University of Alberta biologist and ArcticNet project leader.

"The fact the official announcement was delayed isn't a big deal. It hasn't delayed the flow of the funds, and none of the investigators would have been adversely affected at all. Probably with the election in May, a lot of these timelines got set back."

Fortier agreed there has been no adverse effect. "This is something the 145 of them were expecting. We were confident we would get funding," he said.

He added that the federal contribution is only a part of ArcticNet's budget. The government cash has a "leveraging effect" that allows the program to raise further funds from universities, granting agencies and elsewhere, for a total over the next seven years of between $400 million and $500 million, he said.

About $2.7 million a year of that goes toward operating the Canadian Coast Guard ship Amundsen, a 98-metre-long icebreaker that Arctic researchers use every May to December to travel to the remote North to study Inuit communities and the environment. Accessibility Links

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Furloughs loom for almost 4,000 workers as FAA funding ends

 Air traffic controllers will remain on the job, but the furloughs will affect many other FAA employees.Congress adjourned Friday without passing a measure to reauthorize the agency's fundingTransportation secretary: "The safety of the flying public will not be compromised"Airport construction project grants are on hold, construction jobs could be jeopardizedControllers will remain on the job, but the furloughs will affect many other FAA employees

Washington (CNN) -- Almost 4,000 Federal Aviation Administration workers are facing furloughs after Congress adjourned Friday without passing a measure to reauthorize the agency's funding, according to the Transportation Department.

A $2.5 billion program providing grants for airport construction projects also will shut down, and thousands of construction jobs could be jeopardized.

In a news release, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he was disappointed that lawmakers did not pass a reauthorization and that funding was set to run out at midnight Friday. "Because of their inaction, states and airports won't be able to work on their construction projects, and too many people will have to go without a paycheck," he said. "This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world."

The release goes on to say, "The safety of the flying public will not be compromised."

Air traffic controllers will remain on the job, but the furloughs will affect many FAA engineers, scientists, computer specialists, community planners and others. According to the Department of Transportation, FAA workers could be furloughed in 35 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Efforts to continue funding hit a stumbling block over House Republican efforts to make it harder for airline and rail workers to unionize and over a move to cut subsidies for air service to rural airports.

Rep. John Mica, R-Florida, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, took issue with funding for the Essential Air Service program, which provides subsidies to ensure that small communities have access to passenger air service.

"It is unbelievable that after the House passed the 21st FAA extension, the Senate departed Washington and left the FAA and many of its employees behind," he said. "In light of the nation's pending financial disaster and soaring deficits, they couldn't find a way to cut even a few million dollars by accepting this minor request to reduce outlandish subsidies."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Democratic chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, issued a statement saying that he is concerned about the economic impact at airports in all 50 states and that the furloughs would end research on major new air traffic control technology known as Next Gen. "The House did a disservice this week, and I am hopeful that they will realize the error of their ways and return to the table so we can work out a compromise that restores funding to the FAA," he said.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia, heaped blame on House Republicans. In a news release, Rahall said, "The House Republican leadership is willing to lay off tens of thousands of middle class American construction workers and jeopardize billions of dollars in airport construction simply to score a few political points for Tea Party extremists."

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said the nearly 4,000 workers who will have to be furloughed "perform critical work," and he said they "do not deserve to be put out of work during these tough economic times."

Transportation officials said Congress has extended the FAA's funding almost 20 times without controversy. Without new legislation, the government also will not collect about $200 million a week in airline taxes that normally go to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.

Quoting : CNN.com