Day: December 13, 2022

A Bipartisan Bill Introduced Today For a National Development Strategy to Rebuild Our Industry and Build Back Our Middle Class

We begin with a new bipartisan bill by Congressman Ro Khanna and Senator Marco Rubio introduced today, The National Development Strategy and Coordination Act of 2022 which would reorganize the cabinet and the treasury around a broader model than the military-focused National Security Council that would encompass America’s economic, social and cultural strengths to revive our industry and build back our middle class. Joining us is Robert Hockett, who has first-hand experience working at the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and continues to consult for a number of US federal, state and local legislators and regulators. He drafted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” resolution for the House of Representatives and officially advises her on economic policy. He is the Edward Cornell Professor of Law and a Professor of Public Policy at Cornell University and his latest book is The Citizens’ Ledger: Digitizing Our Money, Democratizing Our Finance. He just helped draft a new bill being put forward today by Representative Ro Khanna and Senator Marco Rubio, The National Development Strategy and Coordination Act of 2022.

The UN COP15 Biodiversity Conference Underway Aimed at Conserving 30% of the World’s Land and Sea by 2030

Then we examine what is on the agenda and what might emerge from the UN COP15 conference on biodiversity underway in Montreal, Canada which aims to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030 in what 100 of the world’s environmental ministers are calling the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Joining us Peter Ward, a paleontologist who teaches biology and earth and space sciences at the University of Washington. He has published widely on biodiversity and the fossil record, and is an expert on mass extinctions. His award-winning books include On Methuselah’s Trail, Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth’s Ancient Atmosphere, Under a Green Sky, The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps, A New History of Life, and Lamarck’s Revenge. We examine the obvious link between global warming and the loss of biodiversity with a million species at risk of extinction and how indigenous people make up 5% of the world’s population but protect 80% of its remaining biodiversity.

The Historic Breakthrough on Nuclear Fusion Announced Today

Then finally we get an assessment of the announcement today by the Secretary of Energy of an historic breakthrough at the Lawrence Livermore Lab where scientists produced more energy from nuclear fusion than the laser energy they used to power the experiment. Joining us is Arjun Makhijani who is the president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering, specializing in nuclear fusion, from the University of California at Berkeley. He has spent decades working to promote an economy based on completely renewable energy. His books include Nuclear Wastelands, Mending the Ozone Hole, Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy, and his latest book is Prosperous Renewable Maryland: Roadmap for a Healthy, Economical, and Equitable Energy Future.