New York often sits in the average voter’s mind as a solid blue state, almost as a homogenous Democrat stronghold. With the recent election of Zohran Mamdani as the mayor of NYC, one wouldn’t be faulted for assuming that the rest of the state is skewed towards the left to some degree. Representatives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lend credence to this impression.
Before the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24th, 2022, concerns were raised about the potential effects and consequences it would have on reproductive rights. After the overturning, those concerns have come into fruition, and have not only affected the rights to an abortion, but also the rights to bodily autonomy.
Arizona, once a reliable red state, is now at the heart of the nation’s most crucial political battlegrounds, where shifting demographics and deep-seated issues like immigration, gun ownership, and climate change are reshaping its identity. As both parties vie for control, the state’s diverse electorate holds the power to sway the 2024 presidential election in a profound way.
Brief #148 – Environment Policy
By Jacob Morton
On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, H.R. 5376. The new law is a scaled-back version of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better Act, intended to reduce the national deficit and lower inflation while investing in domestic energy production, creating jobs, and lowering healthcare drug costs. Here is a look at how the new law impacts U.S. environmental and climate policy.
Brief #139 – Health and Gender Policy
By Geoffrey Small
With Roe v. Wade overturned, a deluge of anti-abortion trigger laws have gone into effect across the country. States like Louisiana, Texas and Missouri have created some of the strictest laws and legislative proposals in the United States. Recent proposals include criminal and civil prosecutions for providers, people who aid in out-of-state abortions, and potentially the patients who receive them.
Brief #129 – Foreign Policy
By Adrian Cole
The Brits, the French, and the Germans have all left, and as of August 31, the Americans have wrapped up their airlift operation and departed as well.
What happened?
Brief #24 – Elections and Politics
By Adrian Cole
Many people on the Left have for decades considered Republican politics anathema. But as the twenty-first century advances into ever-more perilous territory, Republicans are clinging to political and ideological stances which simply defy common sense, logic, reality and efficacy. Bearing in mind the existential nature of the problems facing the country and the world, it is clear that the foundational pillars of today’s Republican party are all premised on untenable positions, false assumptions, bad science and ill-faith, and will, if pursued, lead us all into further crisis.
Brief #123 – Environmental Policy
By Adrian Cole
COP 26 is the latest climate gathering in a process which began with the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC), established then, is comprised of 200 members who commit to meeting annually in a Conference of the Parties (COP). This year the UK will host, and has the presidency. The meeting has been billed as the “last, best chance” to deal with climate change. What are its goals?
Brief #102—Environment
By Jacob Morton
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it will no longer provide federal protections to the gray wolf and will remove the species from the Endangered Species List.
Brief #63—Foreign Policy
By Colin Shanleyt