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The Senate environment committee is supposed to vote on a landmark bill to fight climate change this week. But the legislation's fate is in doubt as Democrats remain divided and Republicans may not even show up. The core of the struggle comes over the crucial part of any proposal to deal with energy and global warming: making tradeoffs. We've got resources to help you work through the choices senators are wrestling with, including Who Turned Out the Lights? Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis, the new book by Public Agenda's Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson. Click here to learn more.
The "Awkward Age" – America's Human Resources Challenge
The term used to be applied to early adolescence, but there's a new tricky phase of life: people from their late 50s to late 60s: healthier and longer-lived than previous generations, and many wanting or needing to stay in the workforce. So says Public Agenda's Andrew Yarrow, in a Baltimore Sun Op Ed with a lot of great links to organizations that are helping both older workers and the economy, with job training programs and opportunities for those who'd like to share their experience with others a few years behind them in their careers. Click here to check out the full article.
ABORTIONMore than a generation after the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the U.S., public debate on the subject continues to follow the well-worn path between condemnation and choice. Public attitudes do not.
Where advocates on both sides tend to lay out their arguments in terms of absolute moral rights and wrongs, the public seems to see conflicts and conditions. Solid majorities support a woman's right to choose abortion - if her reasons seem sound and if it's not too late in the pregnancy.
On an individual level, medical technology is making the issue more complex. In some respects, changing technology - such as the "abortion pill" and ultrasound-guided abortions available as early as eight days after conception – have made abortion both easier and more accepted. In other respects, new technology – such as ultrasound photos from the womb and developments making a fetus viable at earlier stages of pregnancy – has sparked new questions.
PROBLEMS, ANALYSIS & SOLUTIONS
Get the FactsElections are all about choices, but how can you choose who you want until you know what you want? Get the facts and consider your options with our Citizens Issue Guides. |
Listen to the PublicFind out how to listen to the public - including how to responsibly interpret polls - and truly engage voters in crafting and implementing public policy solutions. |
Lead the WayThis is the place to get the latest research on getting the public involved in school reform, including our surveys of teachers, parents, students and community leaders. |
In Your HometownYes, you can fight City Hall, but you might do better working together to identify problems and solutions. Organizations faced with an apathetic or angry public can also benefit from the art of public engagement - bringing leaders and communities together. Public engagement is our specialty - click here to learn more about it. |
Objective Tools For JournalistsDeadline looming? No problem. We've got objective facts on a long list of public policy issues, including polls on how the public feels, and hints on how opinion may be changing. Our communications department may also be able to help when you're in a hurry to find an expert to interview as you zero in on various subjects. |
OUR FAVORITE POLITICAL MOVIES
It's hard to top the drama of the times we're in – with enormous decisions facing the White House and Congress – but sometimes we find inspiration in the movies. From scandals to dreams and tears to laughs – we love the way movies let us look at real issues through new eyes. Check out our list of favorites, then log on and add your own picks to the list.
