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A Congressional Bill to Improve the Nation’s Water Infrastructure (Environment Policy Brief #185)

A Congressional Bill to Improve the Nation’s Water Infrastructure (Environment Policy Brief #185)

Dec 13, 2025 | ,

The official Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report states that about 240,000 water main breaks occur each year in the United States. This highlights the urgent state of the nation’s water infrastructure. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., introduced the Water Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Act (H.R. 5566) on Sept. 26, 2025. Rep. Carbajal, introduced the bill to modernize the aging water systems across the nation.The bill seeks to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Rideshare Drivers Organize As Earnings Decline (Technology Policy Brief #160)

Rideshare Drivers Organize As Earnings Decline (Technology Policy Brief #160)

Dec 13, 2025 |

When Uber and Lyft came on the scene, taxi drivers protested vociferously.  Now it’s the rideshare drivers protesting, as their earnings go down and the threat of autonomous vehicles looms.  Organizing by rideshare drivers has had some success, but how effective hard-won changes will be remains to be seen.  Workers scored an apparent victory in securing collective bargaining rights in California.  But a similar law in Massachusetts has yet to yield results and the California law was a compromise that included enormous giveaways to the companies.

Pardoned for Profit (Social Justice Policy Brief #181)

Pardoned for Profit (Social Justice Policy Brief #181)

Nov 6, 2025 |

The pardon of Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”), the convicted founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, by President Trump, is widely viewed by critics as a clear act of “pay-to-play” corruption and a severe abuse of executive clemency.

Silence as Strategy: U.S. Denial of Genocide in Gaza (Foreign Policy Brief #220)

Silence as Strategy: U.S. Denial of Genocide in Gaza (Foreign Policy Brief #220)

Nov 2, 2025 |

In September 2025, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded what many on the ground have known for months: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The commission cited deliberate acts—mass civilian killings, destruction of vital infrastructure, deprivation of basic needs, and explicit incitement from Israeli officials—that collectively meet the threshold under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Fortress Borders: the Rise of Anti-Immigrant Nationalism (Immigration Policy Brief #192)

Fortress Borders: the Rise of Anti-Immigrant Nationalism (Immigration Policy Brief #192)

Oct 21, 2025 |

International migration continues to grow, with the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimating there were 281 million international migrants globally in 2020. While much migration is South-South (between developing nations), displacement from conflict, climate change, and economic instability drives significant South-North movement. This visible migration has become a foundational issue for populist movements, particularly in Europe and North America, which frame migrants as a threat to cultural identity and national security. In response, governments are increasingly adopting deterrence-focused policies, raising significant human rights concerns.

An Energy Sector Stuck Between a Lump of Coal and a Hard Place (Environment Policy Brief #181)

An Energy Sector Stuck Between a Lump of Coal and a Hard Place (Environment Policy Brief #181)

Jul 24, 2025 |

Coal is not going away anytime soon; it remains the dominant source of the world’s electricity. 15% of U.S. electricity is fueled by coal. Globally, it is forecasted that carbon in the form of coal will still contribute 22% of power generation by 2040. In China and India, the reliance upon coal is significantly higher, almost double that of the U.S. and Europe. And for good reasons: it is the most economical, stable, and reliable power source.

The Art of the Heel: The Deadly Effects of Trump Abandoning the Iran Nuclear Deal (Foreign Policy Brief #208)

The Art of the Heel: The Deadly Effects of Trump Abandoning the Iran Nuclear Deal (Foreign Policy Brief #208)

Jul 16, 2025 |

The Iran nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is an accord reached between Iran and several world powers, including the United States, in 2015. Under its terms, Iran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its weapons-making facilities to international inspections in exchange for sanctions relief worth billions of dollars. Since the United States’ withdrawal from JCPOA in 2018 under President Trump, Iran has expanded its nuclear program, breaching its commitments to the agreement, including resuming uranium enrichment and violating limits on nuclear materials. While the JCPOA remains legally valid, Iran’s violations of the agreement’s terms have thus far thwarted negotiations to revive it or to forge a new deal with the Trump administration. Foreign diplomacy analysts and Israeli officials have identified Trump’s backing out of the deal as a costly blunder that has fueled both Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and rising instability in the middle east.

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