Energy and Environment
As the Copenhagen climate conference winds down, Andrew Light argued that if the negotiations fail, the process should be blamed and not the parties. Tom Hilde explained that it was unclear what the outcome of the Copenhagen talks could be, but the arrival or President Barack Obama and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at the end of this week could be decisive. Also, Bracken Hendricks sent his latest dispatch from Copenhagen on why financing a global transition to a low-carbon economy could be the United States’ opportunity to show leadership.
In an “Ask the Expert” video, Hendricks discussed what Property Assessed Clean Energy or PACE financing means and how its program can create savings for homeowners.
Light also discussed preliminary data from CAP’s carbon cap equivalent project, which shows that countries are taking into account carbon-reducing initiatives while helping to curb global warming. In an “Ask the Expert” video he outlined what carbon cap equivalents are and how achievable global emission reduction goals are.
Domestic
In a new report Lesley Russell suggested that Congress has a unique opportunity to address the disparities in access to health services and quality that many racial and ethnic minorities in the United States experience. Sonia Sekhar provided an accompanying fact sheet showing that racial and ethnic minorities living in the United States are particularly vulnerable in a health care system that has left over 46 million of its residents uninsured.
Meanwhile, Marshall Fitz and Angela Kelley underscored why we can’t build a strong economy on to of a broken immigration system, and Maria Echaveste, contributing author to “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything,” discussed the immigrant women who are invisible yet essential.
Economy
Michael Ettlinger, Michael Linden, and Lauren D. Bazel outlined a strategy to align the federal budget and to reach the ultimate goal of a fully balanced budget in 2020. Jitinder Kohli pushed for better information on banks’ lending to small businesses. And Christian Weller pointed out in his economic snapshot for December 2009 that our economy is in recovery, but we must work to ensure strong job gains and durable economic growth.
National Security
Human Rights Watch recently highlighted major challenges faced by Afghan women, including sexual violence and lack of access to justice. Peter Juul introduced five steps to protect and improve Afghan women’s rights as the United States begins its new strategy there. Samuel Charap and Yekaterina Chertova advised the Obama administration to not neglect Moldova during its political crisis and to increase U.S. engagement in the Eastern European nation.