Today, Steven Koonin shares key findings from an Energy Department report he recently coauthored examining climate change research; Peter Berkowitz reviews a new book by Cass Sunstein aiming to defend modern liberalism; and on Free Speech Unmuted, Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer speak with Greg Lukianoff of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression about his organization’s efforts to advance and defend the principles of free expression in the United States.
Energy and the Environment
“A recent Energy Department report challenged the widespread belief that greenhouse-gas emissions pose a serious threat to the nation,” writes Senior Fellow Steven E. Koonin, one of the coauthors of the report, in an opinion column for The Wall Street Journal. Koonin zeroes in on “a disconnect between public perceptions of climate change and climate science.” He argues that the report he produced with four other senior scientists provides “clearer insights into what’s known and not about the changing climate.” Among the report’s key findings, Koonin highlights: “Complex climate models provide limited guidance on the climate’s response to rising carbon-dioxide levels.” What’s more, according to the report, “Claims of more frequent or intense hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and dryness in America aren’t supported by historical records.” Emphasizing the need for fact-based decision making in climate and energy policy, Koonin concludes, “Climate policies must balance the risks of climate change against a response’s costs, efficacy and collateral effects.” Read more here. [Subscription required.]
Revitalizing American Institutions
“The recovery of liberal education in America depends not least on liberals’ recovery of liberalism,” argues Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz in his weekly column at RealClearPolitics. Berkowitz takes up the topic of liberalism on campus in response to “a short and lucid new book,” On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom, by Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein. Berkowitz commends “Sunstein’s sophisticated yet accessible discussions of the rule of law, free speech, markets, regulation, and government’s role in ensuring the material and moral bases of security and opportunity,” yet criticizes the new book for failing to engage deeply with contemporary criticisms of liberalism in practice. Berkowitz concludes that the book does not adequately “connect liberal education’s demise to liberals’ departures from the liberal tradition in its richness and fullness.” Read more here.
In a new episode of Free Speech Unmuted, Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh and cohost Jane Bambauer speak with attorney Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). FIRE is one of the leading free-speech advocacy and litigation groups in the country. Lukianoff, its longtime head, is also coauthor of several books, including Coddling of the American Mind (with psychologist Jonathan Haidt) and War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—and Why They Fail (with law professor and former ACLU president Nadine Strossen). Bambauer and Volokh ask Lukianoff about his advocacy on behalf of individuals and the principles of free expression; the political climate surrounding free speech issues today; lawsuits FIRE is currently involved in; and the nuances of free speech in the context of academic freedom. Watch or listen here.
Confronting and Competing with China
Visiting Fellow Matthew Turpin leads his weekly China Articles newsletter by discussing a new Taiwanese limited drama series, Zero Day Attack, depicting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan “from the perspectives of ten different people across Taiwanese society.” Turpin notes that the series’s distribution has become controversial, with major streaming platforms refusing to carry the show due to pressure from the People’s Republic of China. “Unfortunately,” Turpin argues, “the CCP and its friends will likely be successful at suppressing this drama, just as they have been successful for years at suppressing political and dramatic portrayals of perhaps the most likely and consequential form of PRC aggression.” Later in the newsletter, Turpin analyzes the ongoing policy debate over the export of powerful AI chips to China, which he suggests places certain firms’ commercial interests at odds with the US national security interest. Read more here.
Reforming K–12 Education
Writing at Education Week, Senior Fellow Thomas Dee makes the case that “continuous improvement efforts often fail in education (and elsewhere) because the leaders promoting change don’t empower the front-line professionals needed for true success.” His piece focuses on how to align education research, policy, and practice in the service of realizing student potential. Dee emphasizes the need for research to support teaching and for data analysis systems to support educators and education policy makers at the individual school level, so that “specific and highly local problems” can be understood and remedied quickly. At the same time, Dee maintains that educators must understand “the limitations of research evidence,” and how promising interventions may not prove successful in all contexts. Zooming out, Dee encourages “shifts in university and philanthropic investments toward rigorous research and aligned teacher training,” as well as nurturing “firm institutional commitment to continuous improvement.” Read more here.
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