News from 2016
A seat for everyone at the table
Concerns about economic inequality have become more and more prominent over the past few years. Occupy Wall Street drew attention to it. Economists have dissected it. Politicians ranging from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-vt.) to Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have proposed remedies for it. What is missing from the discussion, however, is the recognition that political inequality and economic inequality are inextricably and reciprocally linked. The voices heard in American politics are skewed substantially in the…
Dan Kammen Named US Science Envoy
The US State Department annonced the appointment of Professor Dan Kammen as US science envoy. The program showcases science and tehcnology as engines of progress and economic growth, and as tools of diplomacy. "I am keen to assist the impressive suite of engagements that the State Department is already doing in this area, and to add what I can on the scientific, technical, and policy/social engagement sides," says Professor Kammen. "The opportunities to work with the Power Africa…
How New York Made Pre-K a Success
Borscht isn’t found on most prekindergarten menus, but it’s what the cooks were dishing up for the 35 children at Ira’s Daycare in Briarwood, Queens, on a recent school day. Many families in this neighborhood are Russian émigrés for whom borscht is a staple, but children from half a dozen countries, including a contingent from Bangladesh, are also enrolled here. These youngsters are among the 68,547 4-year-olds enrolled in one of the nation…
‘Forked’ Rates Restaurants On How They Treat Their Workers
Protesters gather at a McDonald's to ask for higher wages on April 15, 2015 in Miami Gardens, Fla. Food labor advocate Saru Jayaraman writes in a new book that the company has taken the "low road" and lobbied extensively for lower wages and working conditions standards at the federal and state levels. Saru Jayaraman may be restaurant obsessed, but don't call her a foodie. She's the founding director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a national organization that…
Invest in California’s future, reinvest in higher education
For more than 20 years, public higher education has been neglected in California’s budget process. That has begun to change lately, but legislators should commit to a plan to fully restore per-student state support for public higher education to 2001 levels by 2020. (Nick Lammers // Oakland Tribune file) In his State of the State address, Gov. Jerry Brown rightly stressed fiscal prudence and the financial uncertainties posed by future recessions, pension liabilities and unpredictable revenue levels. What he didn’t…
Lack of Evidentiary Hearing on Abuse Claims Results in Reversal of Hague Return Order
A judgment granting a father’s Hague child abduction convention petition for his child’s return to Denmark must be reversed and the matter remanded for a full evidentiary hearing on the mother’s domestic violence claims, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, has ruled (Noergaard v. Noergaard, 2015 BL 451393, Cal. Ct. App., No. G049854, 12/16/15; published 1/15/16). The court said that because the mother alleged that the child faced a ‘‘grave risk’’ of harm…
The volcanic core fueling the 2016 election
Not a day passes that I don’t get a call from the media asking me to compare Bernie Sanders’s and Hillary Clinton’s tax plans, or bank plans, or health-care plans. I don’t mind. I’ve been teaching public policy for much of the last 35 years. I’m a policy wonk. But detailed policy proposals are as relevant to the election of 2016 as is that gaseous planet beyond Pluto. They don…
A commercialization strategy for carbon-negative energy
Climate change mitigation requires gigatonne-scale CO2 removal technologies, yet few examples exist beyond niche markets. The flexibility of thermochemical conversion of biomass and fossil energy, coupled with carbon capture and storage, offers a route to commercializing carbon-negative energy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) envisages the need for large-scale deployment of net-negative CO2 emissions technologies by mid-century to meet stringent climate mitigation goals and yield a net drawdown of atmospheric carbon. These CO2 removal technologies complement…
Q&A: Robert Reich on the “Vicious Cycle of Wealth and Power” He Says Threatens Capitalism
Robert Reich testifies before lawmakers in 2014 on income inequality. In his latest book, he partly blames “the increasing concentration of political power in a corporate and financial elite that has been able to influence the rules by which the economy runs.” - WIN MCNAMEE/GETTYIMAGES Robert Reich, former secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton and a professor of public policy at University of California, Berkeley, spent years warning of twin demons. Technology…
The Journalism for Social Change MOOC is Back
Last year, I took my longstanding class at U.C. Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, Journalism for Social Change (J4SC), online. With the help of edX, a platform for Massive Open Online Classes, or MOOCs, we were able to teach thousands of students from around the globe how to produce solution-based journalism that drives social change. Well, I am happy to announce that on Jan 19th the class is being offered again,…