In the News
Some local members of Congress are raising the alarm about proposed job and funding cuts at the Fermi Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Lab — and there's some political jabbing going on, too.
Democratic Congressman Bill Foster, the physicist, has Argonne Lab in his district. He says Democrats in Illinois' Congressional delegation sent Energy Secretary Rick Perry a letter seeking details of the proposed lab cuts, but couldn't get Republican colleagues to sign on.
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster blasted President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement and said it will financially hurt suburban companies.
Those at risk include Argonne National Laboratory near Lemont, which researches long-lasting batteries for electric vehicles to reduce emissions, and Ecolab. Nalco Holding Co., which has operations in Naperville, is a subsidiary of Ecolab and makes technologies for water and food safety and energy efficiency.
Members of the House of Representative Committee on Science, Space & Technology—including representative Don Beyer (VA), Jacky Rosen (NV), Mark Takano (CA), and a number of other Democrats—have signed and submitted a letter to President Trump expressing concern over the President's methods of receiving scientific information.
Rep. Bill Foster stood before 17 graduates of the Kane County Drug Rehabilitation Court and congratulated them for not letting addiction define their lives.
"You have made overcoming your struggle a defining moment in your life," said Foster (District 11). "You should be proud that you have not let drug addiction define who you are. You have made a decision to take your life back, to fight back. It is a decision we are all proud you made. We are all here to support you."
A panel featuring WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling and physicist-turned-congressman Bill Foster told a supportive audience Saturday at North Central College that deniers of human-caused climate change are the equivalent of the people who caused thousands of deaths by denying the science on cigarettes decades ago.
Foster, a Naperville Democrat, helped organize the panel as President Donald Trump weighs a decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
One of Chicago's most venerated meteorologists joined a Naperville congressman, several scientists and a former EPA regulator at North Central College Saturday to discuss climate change data and urge individuals to take action.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On a day when tens of thousands of people crowded the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to march for science, a Congressman who canboast the only science PhD on Capitol Hill is something of a celebrity.
This Saturday thousands will join the March for Science in Washington, D.C. in the name of evidence-based decision-making in all levels of government. The planned demonstration, which falls on Earth Day, was inspired by the successful Women's March that took place this past January, which drew hundreds of thousands to the National Mall and cities across the globe.
This Saturday, scientists and science advocates from all walks of life will converge on Washington, D.C. and in cities throughout the country to draw attention to the need for evidence-based policies. As the only PhD physicist in Congress, I will march as a concerned member of the scientific community, not as a congressman. Science, logic, and truth should not be partisan issues; they are the cornerstones of fields that have made the United States a leader in innovation and a better place for everyone to live.
President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts would not only be felt by local theaters, arts organizations and museums, but by local businesses and community members, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster and local art leaders said.