At long last, we’ve finally reached a point in our societal discourse where the question of whether anthropogenic climate change is or isn’t happening is a bygone conclusion. Most major players in the debate can reluctantly acknowledge that, yes, climate change is real and yes, something must be done about it. Within the beltway, the shift on the political right toward accepting the reality of climate change is best exemplified by the recent formation in the House of the 64-member GOP-only Conservative Climate Caucus, which will ostensibly seek to educate members on climate issues (although the sincerity of these members should be taken with a grain of salt). We’re also seeing hints of a sea-change in the private sector, a traditional source of opposition to climate action, as more and more companies realize that green technology is good (and potentially very profitable) business. Even the giants of the fossil fuel industry see the writing on the wall and are beginning to invest in renewable energy, although this isn’t to say that oil companies will stop drilling any time soon.
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Steel is the lifeblood of industrialized nations: the alloy is a key component in buildings, cars, railroads, ships, solar panels, and wind turbines. In 2017, the US steel industry accounted for more than $520 billion in economic output, generated $56 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, and supported nearly two million jobs. Given this mammoth impact on the economy, it’s only natural that policymakers work to support and encourage this vital industry. The Trump administration took this step in 2018 by implementing tariffs under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Act, which have so far been upheld by the Biden Administration. Over the past three years, these tariffs have succeeded in helping to increase the competitiveness of the US steel industry, bolstered national security, and benefited the US economy, and for these reasons ought to remain in place for the near future.
One of the most significant national policy tussles this year concerns a traditionally sacrosanct tool of US diplomacy and humanitarian aid- refugee admissions. Joe Biden had campaigned on raising the refugee admissions cap from the historically low levels set by his predecessor, but in April, the Biden administration announced that it would retain the Trump-era 15,000 person cap through the end of the fiscal year. Following intense blowback from members of the President’s own party, the administration reversed course and quadrupled the cap to a total of 62,500 refugees this fiscal year. What is behind this single number, and why is it important? How should the United States adapt existing refugee policy to deal with a changing world?
The 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention defines a refugee under international law as “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” United States law uses a slightly different framework based on the 1980 Refugee Act, which was incidentally co-sponsored by a young Joe Biden. This framework defines a refugee as a noncitizen who (among other conditions) “demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.” Annual caps on refugee admissions are first proposed by the president and then approved by Congress. The overall cap is an upper bound, not a mandate- the US may actually admit far fewer refugees each year than the cap allows. For example, in 2006, the United States welcomed only 41,223 refugees despite an overall cap of 70,000. Admissions are managed by the State Department’s Refugee Admission Program (USRAP) in partnership with several government agencies and refugee-focused NGOs. Rights for transgender people have been a widely discussed topic in recent years. Throughout his presidency, former President Trump dismantled many protections for transgender people, including rolling back rules that protected transgender people from discrimination in housing, healthcare, and in school. This included the Department of Education announcing that Title IX prohibits transgender students from playing school sports with their peers. President Biden has publicly denounced Trump’s treatment of transgender rights and has continued to express his support for the Equality Act, which would add protections against discrimination of gender identity to existing civil rights laws. Despite this, eleven states currently have discriminatory policies that create barriers for transgender students to be involved with high school athletics.
As COVID-19 cases surge in many countries, the US needs to fund global vaccination efforts. In the US, 36.6% are fully vaccinated, and 47.3% have received a first dose. Meanwhile, many other countries such as India, Brazil, and Turkey are seeing significant rises in case numbers and death tolls, especially as variants become more infectious and fatal. African countries have received under 2% of the global supply of vaccines. We are also starting to see sharp infection rate increases in Southeast Asia and South America. While the US is still seeing surges in certain areas, many countries are reaching record highs of both case numbers and deaths for reasons including disparities in health infrastructure and access to resources like vaccines.
India is currently overwhelmed with a surge in cases following a period of relaxed public health measures, a shortage of vaccines, and escalating variant rates. Significant vaccine shortages started being reported in early April, with many vaccination centers shutting down due to a lack of doses, despite India manufacturing a significant portion of AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccines. Daily deaths in India have risen to 4,000, but the rate appears to be stabilizing. After seeing what happened in India, the US needs to move faster in making vaccines affordable and accessible through funding doses in other countries to prevent more unnecessary deaths. While the US recently agreed to help send vaccine manufacturing supplies and medical equipment to India, quicker and more significant global funding needs to be prioritized to prevent more surges, deaths, and variants, especially in areas of denser populations and crowded multigenerational housing. |
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