Energy
All eyes were on Copenhagen this week as the U.N. climate conference kicked off, and CAP put out several products focusing on different aspects of the negotiations. A 101 on the summit gave the basics on what the United States and international community are doing to get us on track for an agreement, and a memo by Andrew Light, Julian L. Wong, Kari Manlove, and Saya Kitasei showed that America is serious about climate action. Andrew Light, Rebecca Lefton, and Daniel J. Weiss fought back common myths on the conference with facts from the ground, and Bracken Hendricks sent a dispatch from Copenhagen on the American ingenuity on renewable energy he’s encountering at the summit.
Andrew Light also detailed how an approach that considers the United States’ full contribution to emission reductions could trigger greater reductions by Europe at Copenhagen. And CAP and the Global Climate Network released a report on using good domestic policies to generate clean-energy jobs.
Climate change threatens global security by exacerbating existing migration problems and increasing conflict over scarce resources. Michael Werz and Kari Manlove proposed using a sustainable security framework to deal with global warming’s effects on migration.
Finally, in an "Ask the Expert" video, Bracken Hendricks explained the HOME STAR program, which provides incentives to make homes and offices energy efficient while creating jobs.
Domestic
Marshall Fitz showed how to welcome the world’s best educated, boost economic growth, and create jobs in a new immigration report.
A video demonstrated why we can’t afford not to reform our health care system, and a by-the-numbers piece revealed how the health care system comes up short for Americans nearing retirement.
Ian Millhiser commented on Obama’s Open Government Directive and its potential for making government more transparent.
And as the world celebrated Human Rights Day Ken Gude argued that the Obama administration is struggling to regain public confidence on torture transparency, while Bill Schulz observed that the norms and values we celebrate on Human Rights Day still hold governments accountable.
Education
Several CAP reports this week addressed challenges in our education system, particularly those facing community colleges. Brian Pusser and John Levin’s report, "Re-imagining Community Colleges in the 21st Century," proposed a student-centered approach to higher education. "Training Tomorrow’s Workforce" by Robert Lerman focused on how community colleges and apprenticeship programs can serve as collaborative routes to rewarding careers. And "Strong Students, Strong Workers" by Harry J. Holzer and Demetra S. Nightingale offered models for student success through workforce development and community college partnerships.
Jessica L. Lewis and Matthew G. Springer investigated technical assistance used in three teacher performance pay programs and gave recommendations for technical assistance providers.
And Raegen Miller suggested a new term for discussing systems that estimate teachers’ impact on student learning and inform efforts to improve public schools.