News Updates

Russian efforts to sway Americans—using social media to spread disinformation about such things as vaccines and the war in Ukraine—may have been more successful than previously known, according to reports on classified US documents leaked via an online chatroom. In an early examination of such emerging information battlegrounds, Braden R. Allenby describes in Issues the “diverse kit of tools and techniques” that US adversaries can use to create “weaponized narratives.” Critically, the nation’s boom of advanced information technologies amplifies the threat, with social media and other digital operations capable of spreading untruths faster and more widely than ever.

Nearly half of Americans are unlikely to buy an electric vehicle as their next car, while fewer than one-fifth are likely to do so, a new survey finds. In Issues, John D. Graham, Keith B. Belton, and Suri Xia argue that the US government hasn’t provided much help in overcoming such resistance to EVs. Federal programs aimed boosting EV manufacturing and sales, they write, “have been limited in duration and scope, and have failed to create a predictable and attractive landscape for either consumers or producers.” The authors propose a detailed map for turning matters around for US consumers and automakers alike.

A judge has partially blocked a federal rule that defines which “waters of the United States” are protected by the Clean Water Act, while the Biden administration sees the rule as critical for protecting thousands of wetlands nationwide. In Issues, Charles N. Herrick worries about such conflicts. “The enduring health and vitality of the public’s wetland resources should not be subject to the whims, ideological caprice, or stakeholder relationships that influence the actions of US presidents,” Herrick writes. He goes on to identify key policy aspects that should be “stitched into the fabric” of wetland management and protection.