Table of Contents
Energy Update
Winter 2011
Forum
Geoengineering research; Health care innovation; Regulating nuclear power worldwide; A smarter look at the smart grid; Storing used nuclear fuel; Early childhood education; Rethink technology assessment; The future of biofuels
From the Hill
R&D funding faces budget cuts; Stem cell research funding in jeopardy; Oil spill investigations continue; Export control reforms announced; Science and technology in brief
Making Stories Visible: The Task for Bioethics Commissions
Meera Lee Sethi, Adam Briggle
Narrative explanations can help us understand difficult scientific issues, but they can also mislead us. Critical skepticism is always appropriate.
Accelerating the Pace of Energy Change
Steven E. Koonin, Avi M. Gopstein
The government's key role in catalyzing a transformation of the energy system is to mitigate risk for the private sector.
Time for Climate Plan B
William B. Bonvillian
With the recent political rejection of cap-and-trade carbon policies, the nation needs a new approach that pushes the development of energy technologies and fosters markets for them.
Renewing Economically Distressed American Communities
Michael Greenstone, Adam Looney
Deep recessions can put some places in a tailspin for decades. Some modest policies can help speed the recovery.
Reducing Barriers to Online Access for People with Disabilities
Jonathan Lazar, Paul Jaeger
The Internet is not living up to its enormous potential to enhance and broaden the lives of persons with disabilities. Closing policy loopholes and enforcing existing rules would make a world of difference.
Fighting Innovation Mercantilism
Stephen Ezell
A growing number of countries have adopted beggar-thy-neighbor innovation policies in an effort to attract or grow high-wage industries and jobs, making the global economy less prosperous in the process.
Book Review: The Climate War: True Believers, Power Brokers, and the Fight to Save the Earth
Martin W. Lewis
Book Review: Science, Policy and the Value-Free Ideal
Roger Pielke Jr.