Charlie Mitchell

During the week of June 9, 2026, we enjoy reports of porcupines, leafcutter bees, and loon eggs. Staff phenologist John Latimer responds.

During the Phenology Report for the week of June 9, 2026 Staff Phenologist John Latimer remarks on fledging robins, flowering plants, and turtles crossing the road.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) have reintroduced a bill that would compel AI data centers to report on energy and environmental impacts from operations at their facilities, while directing the National Institute of Standards and Technology to convene an expert panel to craft measurement standards.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in a June 10 essay says mandatory third-party testing of frontier artificial intelligence models is necessary to address a trio of risks -- cyber, biological, and uncontrolled autonomy -- as his firm offers new policy frameworks to address both security and economic risks related to advanced AI.

Congress has a key role to play in addressing AI issues ranging from export controls to frontier model regulation, Mike Flynn of the Information Technology Industry Council testified before the Senate Banking Committee, but must be mindful of the complex interactions within the AI technology stack that raise a series of very different policy questions.

Taxpayers have spent around $6 million over the past decade subsidising travel for retired politicians and their spouses, including overseas business-class flights years after recipients left public office.

Sarah Myers West, co-executive director of the public interest research group AI Now, testified before the Senate Banking Committee that a “bailout” for major artificial intelligence developers is already underway and urged lawmakers to investigate the public assistance provided in various forms to the AI industry and “shed light” on its financial practices.

Senior Senate labor committee member Edward Markey (D-MA) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) have introduced a pair of bills targeting potential AI-related risks to employees, setting definitions, usage and disclosure requirements that establish a Democratic marker in advance of the mid-term elections and are likely to spur intense industry pushback.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and ranking member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) have released legislative text of their compromise Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, including a title on AI chatbot safety and setting the stage – some believe – for action on a broader artificial intelligence framework.

The House Science Committee on June 25 will mark up 10 artificial intelligence-related measures on security, federal data guidelines, research, consumer protection, workforce and education, including bills to codify the AI center at NIST and the research resource at the National Science Foundation that have endured across administrations with bipartisan support.