Public Policy & NGOs
Here's a look at documents from public policy and non-governmental organizations
Featured Stories
Trump Administration Repeals Landmark Public Lands Rule
NEW YORK, May 12 -- The Natural Resources Defense Council posted the following news release:
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Trump Administration Repeals Landmark Public Lands Rule
Repeal attacks conservation as a core requirement for managing America's 245 million acres of public lands
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The Department of the Interior repealed the Bureau of Land Management's Public Lands Rule, eliminating the regulatory requirement that conservation be weighed alongside mining, drilling, timber, and grazing across 245 million acres of public lands. The rule was finalized in 2024 with more than 90 percent of public commenters in support.
... Show Full Article
NEW YORK, May 12 -- The Natural Resources Defense Council posted the following news release:
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Trump Administration Repeals Landmark Public Lands Rule
Repeal attacks conservation as a core requirement for managing America's 245 million acres of public lands
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The Department of the Interior repealed the Bureau of Land Management's Public Lands Rule, eliminating the regulatory requirement that conservation be weighed alongside mining, drilling, timber, and grazing across 245 million acres of public lands. The rule was finalized in 2024 with more than 90 percent of public commenters in support.One in ten westerners gets their clean drinking water from BLM lands.
Following is a statement from Bobby McEnaney, director of land conservation at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
"This repeal ignores the public, ignores the law, and ignores the real needs of local communities and those whose lives and livelihoods are deeply connected to these natural resources. That means less protection for the clean drinking water, less protection for endangered wildlife that depend on healthy habitat, and less accountability when corporations leave these landscapes damaged and degraded.
"Congress and the courts have been clear that BLM must manage for conservation alongside other uses. But this administration is lawlessly green-lighting extraction. If this takes effect, the drilling, mining, and logging industries will get their way while public lands are damaged and spoiled for the rest of us."
Background:
The Public Lands Rule, finalized in 2024, updated BLM's management framework to consider conservation actions alongside energy extraction, grazing, and mining, consistent with the agency's foundational multiple-use mandate under federal law. Conservation is foundational and supports almost all other uses of public lands. Outdoor recreation, for example, depends on healthy public lands and generates more than $1.2 trillion in economic output annually.
The repeal is part of the administration's broader campaign to strip protections from America's shared lands: simultaneously moving to repeal the Roadless Rule that protects nearly 60 million acres of national forests, gutting the U.S. Forest Service through a sweeping restructuring that eliminates regional offices and shutters research stations, and weakening Clean Water Act protections.
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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).
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Original text here: https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/trump-administration-repeals-landmark-public-lands-rule
[Category: Environment]
Polls Find Voters in Key Wisconsin State Legislative Districts Disapprove of MAGA Agenda, Dissatisfied With GOP Incumbents
MONONA, Wisconsin, May 12 -- A Better Wisconsin Together, a state-based research and communications hub for progressives, posted the following news release:
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New Polls Find Voters in Key Wisconsin State Legislative Districts Disapprove of MAGA Agenda, Dissatisfied with GOP Incumbents
Poll found nearly universal dissatisfaction with legislative Republicans' performance
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MADISON, Wis. - New polling of voters in five key Wisconsin state legislative districts shows deep disapproval of the MAGA agenda and Donald Trump, and that voters are ready to demonstrate their dissatisfaction at the
... Show Full Article
MONONA, Wisconsin, May 12 -- A Better Wisconsin Together, a state-based research and communications hub for progressives, posted the following news release:
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New Polls Find Voters in Key Wisconsin State Legislative Districts Disapprove of MAGA Agenda, Dissatisfied with GOP Incumbents
Poll found nearly universal dissatisfaction with legislative Republicans' performance
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MADISON, Wis. - New polling of voters in five key Wisconsin state legislative districts shows deep disapproval of the MAGA agenda and Donald Trump, and that voters are ready to demonstrate their dissatisfaction at theballot box in November. The latest Wisconsin specific findings mirror MAGA's rapidly plummeting approval nationwide and follow trends in elections in other states.
The poll, which covered Wisconsin voters in several State Assembly districts currently represented by GOP incumbents, found nearly universal dissatisfaction with the legislative Republican majority's performance, or lack thereof, in addressing rising costs at a time when more than half of Americans say their finances are 'worsening.'
"Clearly Wisconsinites have had enough of the out-of-touch GOP agenda and are energized to hold these MAGA politicians accountable for leaving working families behind," said A Better Wisconsin Together Deputy Director Mike Browne.
Poll results show there is nearly universal dissatisfaction with the job the Republican controlled state legislature has done to address rising costs. The sentiment that the legislature has not done enough ranged between 74 and 82 percent across the five districts in which surveys were conducted. Donald Trump's ratings were also dismal, with his unfavorables outpacing his favorables by double digits in all districts, including by 18 points in the 21st Assembly District and 20 points in the 51st Assembly District.
Browne noted that the poll results were also especially ominous for incumbent Republican Representatives Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls), Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville), Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield), and Pat Snyder (R-Weston) with voters preferring a generic Democrat over them in call cases..
"All of these Republican lawmakers have a long record of pushing the same MAGA extremism that voters find so unsatisfactory in Trump," said Browne. "And instead of listening to their constituents, they've sided with their party bosses to curry their favor and get their campaign cash."
A memo on the poll results and individual poll toplines for AD 21, AD 30, AD 51, AD 61, and AD 85 can be found here (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PVZUBfg_fB_DgJRW0uyqzFCSLe8VevtU).
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A Better Wisconsin Together is a state-based research and communications hub for progressives and is an affiliate of ProgressNow.
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Original text here: https://abetterwisconsin.org/new-polls-find-voters-in-key-wisconsin-state-legislative-districts-disapprove-of-maga-agenda-dissatisfied-with-gop-incumbents/
[Category: Economics]
Peterson Institute for International Economics Issues Commentary: Fentanyl, China, and Trump's 2025 Tariffs
WASHINGTON, May 12 -- The Peterson Institute for International Economics issued the following commentary on May 11, 2026, by senior research staffer Marcus Noland:
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Fentanyl, China, and Trump's 2025 tariffs
Fentanyl abuse is a first-order public health crisis in the United States. In 2025, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on China for its role in fentanyl trade, then raised them, lowered them, and in 2026 a Supreme Court decision eliminated them. But variations in tariff rates over 2025-26 cannot explain an epidemic that had already begun to recede when the second Trump administration
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, May 12 -- The Peterson Institute for International Economics issued the following commentary on May 11, 2026, by senior research staffer Marcus Noland:
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Fentanyl, China, and Trump's 2025 tariffs
Fentanyl abuse is a first-order public health crisis in the United States. In 2025, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on China for its role in fentanyl trade, then raised them, lowered them, and in 2026 a Supreme Court decision eliminated them. But variations in tariff rates over 2025-26 cannot explain an epidemic that had already begun to recede when the second Trump administrationtook office.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Drug overdoses--the bulk associated with fentanyl--were the leading cause of death among Americans aged 15-44 years, exceeding heart disease, cancer, suicide, vehicular accidents, and COVID-19 in 2023. At their peak during 2021-23, fentanyl-related deaths exceeded the level of US casualties for the entire Vietnam War.
Fentanyl deaths started declining before Trump's tariffs in second term, as drug purity was worsening
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CHART: a. Number of overdose deaths, in thousands, by administration, 2019-25
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CHART: b. Purity index for fentanyl powder and pills, 2019-24 (January 2019 = 100)
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But as is evident in the figure above, the pattern of declining overdose deaths, after peaking during the Biden administration, calls into question the role of tariffs imposed by the current Trump administration.
Frankly, we do not have a very good grasp of what causes drug epidemics to build and then recede. When I first moved to Washington, the city was in the grip of a crack cocaine epidemic with users congregating in the vicinity of the PIIE office. You don't see that anymore.
There are multiple potential explanations for the decline in fentanyl-related deaths:
* It could be that the drug has basically killed off its user base. Here in DC, fentanyl has completely crowded out heroin, and many of those long-time heroin users are now dead.
* It could be that medications such as Narcan (naloxone) have reduced overdose mortality.
* It could be that interdiction has improved.
* It could be that diplomatic initiatives have helped choke off supply.
For historical reasons, the locus of global fentanyl production is in China, and fentanyl has been the subject of US-China negotiations since the Obama administration.
A paper written with Julieta Contreras and Lucas Rengifo-Keller examined transactions data to determine whether diplomatic developments starting during the Obama administration and running through 2023 had significant impact on street prices. (You might be surprised, but even additive substances exhibit price elasticities. Existing users exhibit some response to price, but the big impact is at the extensive margin, on potential users who may be deterred from initiating use by high prices.)
We found that a May 2019 US-China agreement during the first Trump administration to end direct fentanyl exports to the United States increased prices for a temporary period (before trade and production were rerouted through third countries, principally Mexico) and reduced overdose deaths by around 1,000 cases during this period.
We did not find evidence that other developments had an impact. We did not, for example, find that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and a Chinese threat to suspend anti-narcotics cooperation had any impact on prices.
US government data displayed in the figure show that the purity of seized fentanyl powder began to decline in late 2023 with a corresponding decline in pill purity following in 2024. On the street this amounted to shrinkflation, as prices remained steady but the actual amount of the drug declined.
A recent paper in the journal Science conjectures that the Chinese government intensified actions against purveyors of fentanyl precursor chemicals (the chemicals used to manufacture the drug) on online platforms following a meeting between Presidents Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Xi Jinping in November 2023, causing a supply shortage and the subsequent decline in purity. (This meeting came after the sample period in the PIIE paper, and its impact was not examined.)
Which brings us to the Trump tariffs. In February 2025 President Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on China related to fentanyl. The tariff was later extended to Canada and Mexico, and in March the fentanyl tariff on China was raised to 20 percent. In November 2025 China agreed to tighten controls on 13 fentanyl precursor chemicals, and the United States cut the tariff to 10 percent. In February 2026 the Supreme Court declared these tariffs unconstitutional in the Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump case, and the tariffs were eliminated.
To be clear, deaths from fentanyl overdoses remain a top-level public health challenge in the United States. In addressing this problem, it is incumbent on us to address the demand side through a variety of outreach and recovery strategies.
Yet at the same time the supply side matters. There is some evidence that interdiction works. Effective interdiction will require at a minimum cooperation with China, Mexico, and India (which has emerged as an alternative source of fentanyl supply chemicals).
We do not yet have data that would allow us to evaluate the Trump fentanyl tariff or its subsequent cut and elimination. What we do have is evidence that diplomatic engagement has had benefits.
It is logically possible that the imposition and subsequent reduction of the tariffs elicited more cooperation from China than would have otherwise occurred and further reduced overdoses, but there is no evidence of this at this time. But by the same token, it is also possible that the imposition of tariffs could have a perverse effect by reducing Chinese cooperation.
But tariffs are clearly not central to the story. Variations in tariff levels in 2025-26 cannot cause a decline in overdose deaths that began in 2023.
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Original text here: https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2026/fentanyl-china-and-trumps-2025-tariffs
[Category: Economics]
Northern Corridor Highway Risks Irreversible Harm to Mojave Desert Tortoise
SANTA FE, New Mexico, May 12 -- WildEarth Guardians posted the following news release on May 11, 2026:
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Northern Corridor Highway Risks Irreversible Harm to Mojave Desert Tortoise
Conservation Groups Amend Lawsuit over Federal Agencies' Failure to Protect Threatened Wildlife in Reapproving Controversial Highway
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WASHINGTON - Conserve Southwest Utah, along with six Utah-based and national conservation organizations, amended their February lawsuit today over the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's failure to adequately protect the threatened Mojave desert
... Show Full Article
SANTA FE, New Mexico, May 12 -- WildEarth Guardians posted the following news release on May 11, 2026:
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Northern Corridor Highway Risks Irreversible Harm to Mojave Desert Tortoise
Conservation Groups Amend Lawsuit over Federal Agencies' Failure to Protect Threatened Wildlife in Reapproving Controversial Highway
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WASHINGTON - Conserve Southwest Utah, along with six Utah-based and national conservation organizations, amended their February lawsuit today over the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's failure to adequately protect the threatened Mojave deserttortoise when reapproving the Northern Corridor Highway in January 2026. The long-opposed highway would tear through critical habitat for the Endangered Species Act (ESA)-protected tortoise within Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, Utah.
In addition to other laws, the newly filed complaint alleges new violations of the ESA by the Fish and Wildlife Service and BLM -- including for the unlawful disposal of lands purchased using federal funding intended to protect the tortoise to make way for the highway. Fish and Wildlife Service's final environmental analysis supporting the land disposal was issued on the same day in February 2026 that the conservation groups, represented by Advocates for the West, filed their lawsuit challenging the illegal highway's reapproval. The amended complaint was filed now to comply with the required 60-day notice to federal agencies of ESA violations.
"The proposed Northern Corridor Highway would carve through one of the last strongholds of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise, permanently destroying the very habitat this species needs to survive," said Stacey Wittek, Conserve Southwest Utah's Executive Director. "St. George can have smart economic growth without accelerating the irreversible loss of a species already on the brink of extinction."
The Mojave desert tortoise is a keystone species, providing the supporting structure and stability for its desert environment. Its population decline signals significant risk for the overall ecological health of the desert. The number of tortoises within the core of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve has declined over 50% since 1998, and the proposed Northern Corridor Highway would bisect the only remaining high-density cluster of tortoises in the Reserve.
"The federal agencies' environmental analysis has shown that punching a high-speed highway through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area would permanently eliminate designated tortoise habitat and increase threats like wildfire and invasive species," said Hannah Goldblatt, staff attorney at Advocates for the West and counsel for the conservation groups. "Moving forward anyway ignores both science and the law -- and pushes the Mojave desert tortoise closer to extinction."
Conservation groups' amended complaint follows the U.S. District Court's issuance of an injunction this March prohibiting the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) from starting construction-related activities that would cause irreparable harm to the ESA-protected tortoise.
A Route Rejected Seven Times
The Department of the Interior has rejected the controversial Northern Corridor Highway route seven times, determining that it would be "biologically devastating" to the threatened Mojave desert tortoise.
Since 2006, local residents have also strongly opposed the highway, pointing out transportation alternatives outside of Red Cliffs National Conservation Area that would do a better job of relieving traffic congestion, supporting economic growth and protecting wildlife, scenic beauty and local access to trails.
Despite the immense local opposition, the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service approved a right-of-way for the Northern Corridor Highway in the final days of the first Trump administration. Conservation groups sued, arguing that the approval violated multiple federal laws.
In 2021, 6,800 acres west of St. George designated "Zone 6" were added to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve as mitigation for the Northern Corridor Highway. Zone 6 contains the Greater Moe's Valley outdoor recreation area, and its ownership is split between the BLM and the state Trust Lands Administration. While conservation groups support protection of the Moe's Valley area for both recreation and conservation, they agree with federal agencies' assessment that its geographic isolation from the rest of the tortoise's protected habitat, along with other factors, diminishes its conservation value and does not adequately offset the damage caused by the Northern Corridor Highway.
Conservation groups' 2021 lawsuit resulted in a settlement agreement and a U.S. District Court decision sending back the project's right-of-way approval for reconsideration. Agencies acknowledged that the approval did not comply with the law and required additional environmental analysis in light of recent wildfires that further degraded Mojave desert tortoise habitat and native vegetation. After updating its environmental analysis, the BLM rejected the project in late 2024.
The agency's 2024 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement found the project would permanently eliminate designated critical tortoise habitat, increase wildfire probability and frequency, spread noxious weeds and invasive plants, and harm more cultural and historical resources than any alternative considered.
In October 2025, the BLM said it would reconsider the highway right-of-way application after UDOT argued that the federally endorsed alternative was not economically viable, despite documented environmental and community costs associated with the Northern Corridor.
Abandoning their previous scientific findings, the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service reapproved the Northern Corridor Highway in January 2026. The decision reverses federal agencies' December 2024 rejection of the same proposal and marks the eighth time the controversial highway has been considered.
Conservation groups sued in February 2026, challenging federal agencies' reapproval of UDOT's highway proposal for violating multiple federal laws, including the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act.
About Red Cliffs National Conservation Area
The 44,724-acre Red Cliffs National Conservation Area overlaps the larger Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, which is jointly managed by the BLM, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the state of Utah, Washington County, and local municipalities. The reserve was established under a 1995 Habitat Conservation Plan as a compromise to protect roughly 61,000 acres of public lands for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise while allowing development on about 300,000 acres of state and private land. Congress designated the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in 2009 to "conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources" of the public lands within the unit.
The region supports key populations of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise and other at-risk plants and animals, including the Gila monster, burrowing owl, and kit fox. Researchers say the Mojave desert tortoise is on a path to extinction, and its habitat in southwest Utah -- which houses some of the densest tortoise populations -- is especially vulnerable amid rapid growth in the region.
Additional Information and Resources:
1. Informational website: protectredcliffs.com.
2. Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Highway Through Utah's Red Cliffs National Conservation Area - February 4, 2026
3. Federal Agency Re-Approves Highway Through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Abandons Own Scientific Findings - January 21, 2026
4. BLM Again Considering Four-Lane Highway Through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area - October 7, 2025
5. Decades-Long Highway Fight Ends with Victory for Red Cliffs NCA - December 20th, 2024
6. Local and National Organizations Applaud Plan Signaling Denial of Highway Right-of-Way - November 7, 2024
7. Conservation Organizations Respond to Washington County's Continued Attacks on Red Cliffs National Conservation Area - August 7, 2024
8. Federal Agencies Release Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on a Highway Right-of-Way Through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area - May 9, 2024
9. BLM and FWS Press Release - November 15, 2023
10. Report - Washington County at a Crossroads: An analysis of the proposed Northern Corridor Highway project in Southwest Utah
11. Summary of Desert Tortoise Study in Red Cliffs NCA: Population Trends, Threats to Persistence, and Conservation Significance
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View lawsuit here: https://advocateswest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DN-53-FAC.pdf
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Original text here: https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/northern-corridor-highway-risks-irreversible-harm-to-mojave-desert-tortoise/
[Category: Environment]
National Parks Conservation Association: Major Rollback Threatens Conservation in Public Land Management, Abandoning Progress for Parks
WASHINGTON, May 12 -- The National Parks Conservation Association issued the following news release on May 11, 2026:
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Major Rollback Threatens Conservation in Public Land Management, Abandoning Progress for Parks
Today, the Trump administration announced its rescission of the Public Lands Rule, rolling back protections on shared public lands across the West and backing away from the Bureau of Land Management's obligations to steward these lands under a multiple-use mandate that puts conservation on an equal footing with other uses of public lands.
This move upends a balanced land management
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, May 12 -- The National Parks Conservation Association issued the following news release on May 11, 2026:
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Major Rollback Threatens Conservation in Public Land Management, Abandoning Progress for Parks
Today, the Trump administration announced its rescission of the Public Lands Rule, rolling back protections on shared public lands across the West and backing away from the Bureau of Land Management's obligations to steward these lands under a multiple-use mandate that puts conservation on an equal footing with other uses of public lands.
This move upends a balanced land managementapproach away from accounting for wildlife conservation, cultural resource protection and recreational use in favor expanded oil and gas drilling, mining and industrial development on millions of acres of public lands as part of a broader push to sell off public lands to private interests.
The Public Lands Rule, adopted after years of work and overwhelming public support, was created to address a historic imbalance that favored mining and oil and gas development over other conservation on public lands, often leaving behind degraded landscapes and wildlife habitat. The rule also clarified conservation as a valid use on equal footing with other uses under BLM management and created innovative opportunities for private entities, Tribes, community and conservation groups, and others to lead restoration projects in an approach that fostered public-private partnerships to catalyze the long-term resilience of public lands.
Parks like the Grand Canyon, Arches, Joshua Tree and Dinosaur National Monument border public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. What happens just outside of park boundaries directly impacts the health of our parks. Without this rule in place, surrounding landscapes that protect parks are left vulnerable to industrial exploitation, putting clean water, wildlife habitat connectivity, and community health at risk.
81% of the public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management are open to oil and gas leasing. Additionally, with the passage of H.R. 1 in 2025, Congress mandated quarterly oil and gas lease sales regardless of environmental impact, further elevating energy development over conservation, recreation, and cultural resource protection.
Polling conducted by NPCA and YouGov found bipartisan opposition to opening lands in or adjacent to national parks for mining and drilling, recognizing that such activities can cause irreversible damage and threaten the very experiences that millions of visitors come to national parks to enjoy.
Statement from Beau Kiklis, Associate Director of Energy and Landscape Conservation at the National Parks Conservation Association
"This administration chose to eliminate the Public Lands Rule, despite its overwhelming public support, at the very moment where extreme drought and a changing climate are pushing our public lands to the brink. This is a major loss for the long-term stewardship of millions of acres of public land that belong to all of us, many surrounding our prized national parks.
"The Bureau of Land Management has an enduring obligation to protect these landscapes for future generations. This rollback represents a lost opportunity to conserve and restore the landscapes surrounding parks like Carlsbad, Canyonlands, Dinosaur National Monument and beyond.
"This fits a pattern of brazen attempts to sell off and sell out our shared public lands at the expense of public access and conservation. From gutting agency staff to shutting the public out of the process to sidelining years of sound science, rushed industrial development and private interests are being given a free pass no matter the cost. This rollback is the latest attempt by the administration to chip away at America's conservation legacy while ignoring the will of the people."
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About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.6 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation's most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org
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Original text here: https://www.npca.org/articles/11387-major-rollback-threatens-conservation-in-public-land-management-abandoning
[Category: Environment]
NTI CEO Christine Wormuth on Opportunities to Strengthen Security Through Cooperation at the Trump-Xi Summit
WASHINGTON, May 12 -- The Nuclear Threat Initiative issued the following news:
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NTI CEO Christine Wormuth on Opportunities to Strengthen Security Through Cooperation at the Trump-Xi Summit
President Trump and President Xi will meet in Beijing on May 14-15 against a backdrop of significant geopolitical turmoil and rapid technological change. In a relationship as complex and far-reaching as the United States and China's, disagreement and competition are inevitable, but cooperation is essential to tackling the most pressing global security challenges.
NTI has prioritized engagement with China
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, May 12 -- The Nuclear Threat Initiative issued the following news:
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NTI CEO Christine Wormuth on Opportunities to Strengthen Security Through Cooperation at the Trump-Xi Summit
President Trump and President Xi will meet in Beijing on May 14-15 against a backdrop of significant geopolitical turmoil and rapid technological change. In a relationship as complex and far-reaching as the United States and China's, disagreement and competition are inevitable, but cooperation is essential to tackling the most pressing global security challenges.
NTI has prioritized engagement with Chinato prevent crises from becoming catastrophes.
Based on our work, I am convinced the Summit can produce outcomes that strengthen U.S. national security and reduce global nuclear and biological risks. The presidents have common interests and a real opportunity to advance these goals:
* Agree on steps the United States and China can take together to reduce shared biological risks from misuse of advanced bioscience and biotechnology.The United States and China lead the world in advanced, AI-enabled biological research and development. Both governments share an interest in preventing misuse of these powerful capabilities. The summit can advance joint biosecurity efforts by promoting mandatory nucleic acid synthesis and customer screening requirements, investment in and sharing of best practices for AIxBio risk evaluations and safeguard development, and construction of national and international frameworks to guard against the risks posed by mirror life.
* Direct their governments to launch a sustained bilateral dialogue to deepen mutual understanding of nuclear risks and improve predictability and transparency in the nuclear domain. China is rapidly--and opaquely--expanding its nuclear arsenal. With the expiration of the New START Treaty leaving the United States unconstrained for the first time in decades, Washington appears poised to increase its nuclear forces in response to actions taken by Russia and China. At the same time, emerging technologies like AI and new strategic domains such as outer space are reshaping the nuclear deterrence landscape. This complex mix--combined with intense competition--raises the risk of arms racing and catastrophic miscalculation. Sustained and deliberate engagement could reduce these risks.
* Agree on the need for all nuclear-armed states to conduct regular, independent nuclear "fail-safe" reviews to ensure their nuclear weapons are as safe as possible from mistaken or accidental use. In this climate of heightened tension and rapid technological development, the risk of an accident--and the potential for an accident to be catastrophic--increases. Fail-safe reviews, which the United States has already undertaken, can be done by each country independently and enhance the security of all countries. Accidental or mistaken use of a nuclear weapon anywhere would be devastating for people everywhere.
* Expand practical cooperation to prevent nuclear and radiological terrorism and strengthen the security of nuclear materials, facilities, and technologies. Both China and the United States share a clear interest in making sure that nuclear and radiological materials never fall into the hands of terrorists or other malicious actors. As China expands its civilian nuclear energy program and both countries confront emerging risks from AI, drones, and insiders, Washington and Beijing should engage in sustained nuclear security cooperation among top officials, technical experts, regulators, and laboratories. This cooperation should focus on mutually beneficial technical exchanges, joint exercises, and cooperative efforts to secure and minimize weapons-useable nuclear material.
President Trump has expressed a strong interest in managing nuclear and biological risks. In Beijing, he can start to realize these ambitions by building the foundation for long-term progress in U.S.-China relations.
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Original text here: https://www.nti.org/news/nti-ceo-christine-wormuth-on-opportunities-to-strengthen-security-through-cooperation-at-the-trump-xi-summit/
[Category: National Defense]
Catholic League Issues Commentary: Why Mental Health Is Not Getting Better
NEW YORK, May 12 -- The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, an organization that defends the right of Catholics to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination, issued the following commentary by President Bill Donohue:
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WHY MENTAL HEALTH IS NOT GETTING BETTER
If ever there were a decided secular bias that is evident in our culture, it's the way elites continue to address mental health and wellbeing. They just don't get it.
Read the personal advice column in a newspaper or magazine, and you will quickly learn how to guard against loneliness and depression,
... Show Full Article
NEW YORK, May 12 -- The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, an organization that defends the right of Catholics to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination, issued the following commentary by President Bill Donohue:
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WHY MENTAL HEALTH IS NOT GETTING BETTER
If ever there were a decided secular bias that is evident in our culture, it's the way elites continue to address mental health and wellbeing. They just don't get it.
Read the personal advice column in a newspaper or magazine, and you will quickly learn how to guard against loneliness and depression,and how to ensure happiness. Most of it is bunk. Having written a book on this subject, The Catholic Advantage: How Health, Happiness and Heaven Await the Faithful, there are no secrets about what works. It can be explained in one word--bonds. Personal bonds, and bonds with God. But don't look for the "expert therapists" to mention this.
In New York City there is a Center for Wellbeing & Happiness. It is located on the lower east side, serving "Black, Indigenous [and] People of Color." Apparently, no white people need apply, although they have to pay for it (it is taxpayer funded).
Got some head issues? Here's how they are fixing them.
Currently, this center is offering classes on "Fitness & Motion" that "invites you to activate and move with your whole body!" They have a "Tai Chi" class that "promotes healthy bone-density and blood circulation through low-impact conditioning." There are two different "Yoga" classes that "allow us to harness the healing power of our own bodies throughout all stages of life," and that "improve the flow of energy in the body." Lots of movement to these tricks.
"Arts & Creativity" teaches "the beautiful art of Batik." What's that? "Wax Resistance." What's that? Don't ask. There's a "Community Knitting Group" that is taught by "Maureen, the Knitting Mama," so that should work to settle you down. "Nutrition & Environment" focuses on--you guessed it--food. One of the classes is "Rooted in ancestral wisdom & earth-based rituals," emphasizing "gentle movement, storytelling, winter herbs, meditation and soul-warming foods." If that doesn't make you feel good, nothing will.
According to a recent Echelon Poll, 65 percent of Americans believe that our mental health is "getting much/a little worse." How could it not if the cure is self-indulgence. But don't expect "Maureen, the Knitting Mama," to agree.
A Gallup survey published this spring found that 19.1 percent of adults suffer from depression, which is near the highest Gallup ever recorded. Approximately 30 percent of Americans have been treated for depression in their lifetime, which is up by 10 points since 2015. Young people are among those who suffer the most. Loneliness is driving the depression, and it is not going be alleviated by yoga or winter herbs.
Another survey, released around the same time as the Gallup one, was published by the Institute for Family Studies. It researched happiness. Again, young people scored poorly, but not all of them: unmarried young adults did the worst. Not only are married adults happier than unmarried adults--of all ages--those who attend religious services are the happiest.
Bonds. Married people can bond with each other. Religious people can bond with God. Whom do single people bond with? Whom do non-believers bond with? Moreover, bonds have nothing to do with "the flow of energy in the body."
Catholic League staffers found that New Hampshire, Vermont and Oregon are the three most secular states. They have at least two things in common: they are almost all white (88, 91 and 72 percent, respectively), and they have among the highest rates of age-adjusted depression rates (all over 25 percent). That won't be fixed by learning about "Wax Resistance."
If the ruling class wasn't so opposed to acknowledging the positive role that religion plays in mental health and wellbeing, they would not hesitate to embrace it. The science cannot be disputed, even by those who make money teaching how to become more self-absorbed.
Bottom line: The key to mental health and wellbeing does not lie with you. It lies with others, and with God. "Soul-warming foods" may be pleasurable, but they are not a tonic to what ails the lonely and the depressed.
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Original text here: https://www.catholicleague.org/why-mental-health-is-not-getting-better/
[Category: Sociological]
