Group items tagged

"s that originally led to them may be rejected. The official "histories" that appear as mere garnishes in many science textbooks are more than happy to leave out all of these tedious or embarrassing elements "

"The dam collapse [in 1979] is one of the worst environmental disasters in history, and no one has heard about it,"--myself included. One of the policy responses to extreme climatic events is to suppress knowledge. ""This book is an attempt to tell the story of this place-western India in 1979-this monsoon, the government cover-up that unjustly silenced this narrative for too long..." 25,000 people died.

Across the United States, cities, towns, and counties are enacting policies and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many local governments are motivated by concerns about the impacts of climate change in their communities as well as an understanding that energy and climate solutions can benefit local economies and residents. Their actions reflect a strong history of local leadership in climate protection in the United States. While local governments face a number of limitations in addressing climate change, they can be a key part of the solution. Like states and regions, local governments can demonstrate leadership by implementing strategies to confront climate change and laying the groundwork for broader action at the national and international levels.

This brief is part of a series called Climate Change 101: Understanding and Responding to Global Climate Change, published by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

Meredith Minkler reviews the current status and practice of CBR in the U.S. and abroad, providing reasons to undertake this admittedly more-complex path for public health research in particular (identifying questions that reflect real community concerns; achieving informed consent and building community capacity; increasing cultural sensitivity and validity of measurement tools, data interpretation, and interventions; uncovering critical lay knowledge; and improving participant recruitment and retention). Along with ethical issues, Minkler uses case study examples to highlight other challenges inherent in the practice, and provides some guidelines for engagement. To my mind, her review is balanced and raises several issues not touched upon by other scholarly writings re: CBR process and practice.

Published by the Council of Canadian Academies, this paper reviews a bit of the history of the relationship between policy and science, as well as policy and scientists. The author, Executive VP of the Council, starts from a broad view, describing an "is (fact)/ought (value)" dichotomy between science and policy, moves closer to characterize the range of relationships between scientists and policymakers and their attitudes toward each other, describes their spheres of influence (world of progress v. world of power), and finally makes the case for government as a place for collaboration and progress employing both. Saner offers some "take-home messages" and some questions for further exploration, including how to meet the needs of each while facilitating communication; managing the divergent cultures to reach successful ends; creating incentives for both players to join the effort; and adapting to the multitude of ways the differences between these two groups manifest themselves around policy issues.

This is a report from the Office of Homeland Security to the transition team as President Obama entered the White House. I thought it might be useful to people who are pursuing inquiry around FEMA in particular, as it includes a history of the agency and alternatives for placement in the Executive branch organizational chart.

a history of FEMA with bad bush