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Archive for the ‘government’ category: Page 155

Jun 28, 2018

Ocasio-Cortez’s climate plan is the only one that matches scientific consensus on the environment

Posted by in categories: climatology, economics, government, sustainability

Ocasio-Cortez’s 100%-renewable plan puts her in agreement with a coalition of US mayors who have committed to the goal of complete decarbonization within their own cities. But Ocasio-Cortez, who has an economics degree, also couples that plank with an economic plan she is calling the Green New Deal.


In a major upset on Tuesday night, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina democratic socialist from the Bronx, beat out the longtime US representative Joe Crowley in the New York primaries. In the overwhelmingly Democratic district, she is practically certain to win a seat in Congress during the general election in November.

Ocasio-Cortez’s climate-change platform would become the most progressive of that of any sitting Congressperson in the Democratic party—and her primary victory catapults that platform into the mainstream.

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Jun 19, 2018

Is Reliable Energy Storage On The Horizon?

Posted by in categories: energy, government, law, military, policy

He formerly headed the U.S. federal safety agency responsible for overseeing all energy & hazmat transportation by air, land, sea, rail and pipelines as the head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). He also served as the federal government&s;s top trucking, bus, and moving industry attorney as the Chief Counsel of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), also at the USDOT.

A retired a commissioned officer and naval aviator, his military service included tours of duty in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. During his time he participated in military combat and humanitarian relief operations around the globe.

An avid traveler and student of history, he spends his time covering public policy impact issues for Forbes and other publications and provides legal and advisory services to public and private sector clients interested in matters pertaining to defense, energy, transportation, homeland security, and the environment.

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Jun 19, 2018

Waymo, Uber, Ford, and others are joining forces to explore the ‘human impact’ of self-driving cars

Posted by in categories: employment, food, government, robotics/AI, transportation

Driverless vehicles could eliminate millions of jobs in the future, from cabbies to truckers to food delivery workers. But the companies that are hoping to hasten the adoption of this disruptive technology don’t want to seem callous to this brewing labor crisis, so they are joining forces to study the “human impact” of robot cars.

The Partnership for Transportation Innovation and Opportunity (PTIO) is a newly formed group comprised of most of the major companies that are building and testing on self-driving cars. This includes legacy automakers like Ford, Toyota, and Daimler; tech giants like Waymo (née Google), Uber, and Lyft; and logistics providers like FedEx and the American Trucking Association. The new organization is being formed as a 501©(6), which allows it to accept donations like a nonprofit and lobby government like a chamber of commerce.

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Jun 19, 2018

Will governments ever approve of cryptocurrency?

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, government, internet, policy

The question was asked of me as columnist at Quora.com: Will governments eventually ‘approve’ of cryptocurrency? First let’s agree on terminology…

  1. By “approve”, I assume that you are asking if governments will adopt or at least tolerate the use of crypto as legal tender in commerce. That is, not just as a payment instrument, but as the money itself—perhaps even accepting tax payments in cryptocurrency.
  2. The word “cryptocurrency” is sometimes applied to altcoins and even to ICOs. These are not the same. Many altcoins meet the criteria of the next paragraph, but none of the ICOs measure up (ICOs are scams). I assume that your question applies to Bitcoin or to a fair and transparent altcoin forked from the original code, such as Bitcoin Cash or Litecoin.

A blockchain-based cryptocurrency that is open source, permissionless, capped, fast, frictionless, with a transparent history—and without proprietary or licensing restrictions is good for everyone. It is good for consumers; good for business; and it is even good for government.

Of course, politicians around the world are not quick to realize this. It will take years of experience, education, and policy experimentation.

Many pundits and analysts have the impression that shifting to cryptocurrency—not just as a payment instrument, but as the money itself—will never be supported by national governments. A popular misconception suggests that a cryptocurrency based economy has these undesirable traits:

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Jun 19, 2018

Urgent need to prepare for manmade virus attacks, says US government report

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government

Report warns that swift progress in our ability to manufacture viruses is making us vulnerable to biological attacks.

Science editor.

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Jun 18, 2018

Why a minor change to how EPA makes rules could radically reduce environmental protection

Posted by in categories: economics, government

Since the Reagan administration, federal agencies have been required to produce cost-benefit analyses of their major regulations. These assessments are designed to ensure that regulators are pursuing actions that make society better off.

In my experience working on the White House economic team in the Clinton and Obama administrations, I found cost-benefit provides a solid foundation for understanding the impacts of regulatory proposals. It also generates thoughtful discussion of ways to design rules to maximize net benefits to the public.

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Jun 15, 2018

Russia’s HIV/AIDS epidemic is getting worse, not better

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, health

Almost anywhere in the world, an HIV-infected woman who has an uninfected partner and wants to have a baby would be first in line to receive ARVs. The challenges Katia faced in getting treatment amid Russia’s epidemic highlight the country’s faltering response, which critics have blasted as misguided, lackadaisical, and downright dismissive. Some federal health officials even question the term epidemic. “This is a very large and very serious epidemic, and certainly one of the few epidemics in the world that continues to get worse rather than get better,” says Vinay Saldanha, the Moscow-based regional director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “This is a public health crisis.”


The government has begun to confront its shortcomings, but critics want more aggressive change.

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Jun 13, 2018

If the Robots Come for Our Jobs, What Should the Government Do?

Posted by in categories: economics, employment, government, robotics/AI

But there’s a recent lesson worth learning from. Globalization and automation caused upheaval in the manufacturing industry from the 1980s through the early 2000s, and millions of factory workers lost their jobs. The disruption to communities is still being felt, and is arguably at the root of a lot of the biggest social and economic problems of this era.


Some big ideas are starting to percolate. But less dramatic ones might work, too.

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Jun 11, 2018

In-orbit services poised to become big business

Posted by in categories: business, government, robotics/AI, satellites

A transition is happening in the satellite business. Fast-moving technology and evolving customer demands are driving operators to rethink major investments in new satellites and consider other options such as squeezing a few more years of service out of their current platforms.

Which makes this an opportune moment for the arrival of in-orbit servicing.

Sometime in early 2019, the first commercial servicing spacecraft is scheduled to launch. The Mission Extension Vehicle built by Orbital ATK on behalf of subsidiary SpaceLogistics, will the first of several such robotic craft that are poised to compete for a share of about $3 billion worth of in-orbit services that satellite operators and government agencies are projected to buy over the coming decade.

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Jun 10, 2018

US suicide rates increased more than 25% since 1999, CDC says

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, health, neuroscience

“These findings are disturbing. Suicide is one of the top 10 causes of death in the US right now, and it’s one of three causes that is actually increasing recently, so we do consider it a public health problem — and something that is all around us,” Schuchat said. The other two top 10 causes of death that are on the rise are Alzheimer’s disease and drug overdoses, she noted.


Suicide rates increased by 25% across the United States over nearly two decades ending in 2016, according to research published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty-five states experienced a rise in suicides by more than 30%, the government report finds.

More than half of those who died by suicide had not been diagnosed with a mental health condition, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC.

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