Numerous new reports of the Congressional Research Service on subjects of public interest and concern have been issued lately. Yet by design, they are not made readily available to the public. They include the following.
“The Department of Defense Rules for Military Commissions: Analysis of Procedural Rules and Comparison with Proposed Legislation and the Uniform Code of Military Justice” (pdf), updated July 25, 2006.
“Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: Military Commissions in the ‘Global War on Terrorism'” (pdf), July 6, 2006.
“Military Tribunals: Historical Patterns and Lessons” (pdf), July 9, 2004.
“Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses” (pdf), updated July 31, 2006.
“Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy” (pdf), updated July 25, 2006.
“Lebanon” (pdf), updated July 24, 2006.
“European Approaches to Homeland Security and Counterterrorism” (pdf), July 24, 2006.
“China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues” (pdf), updated July 17, 2006.
“Banning Fissile Material Production for Nuclear Weapons: Prospects for a Treaty (FMCT)” (pdf), July 14, 2006.
“North Korean Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States” (pdf), updated July 6, 2006.
“International Small Arms and Light Weapons Transfers: U.S. Policy” (pdf), updated June 27, 2006.
In an ideal world, we would not have state or federal climate intervention research bans. We would have researchers and institutions that would not shy away from revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of these technologies and doing so responsibly.
“What excites me is that it’s very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we’ve got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we’re in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window.”
Ask people what worries them most right now, and they’ll say the cost of living and their livelihoods, not climate change. But those concerns are not separate.
After a year-long delay, this April, EPA released the latest air toxics data, which only included raw air data downloads. This year, for the first time in nearly 25 years, the air toxics data did not include cancer risk estimates.