Can America Actually Build the $1 trillion-plus in Clean Energy and Infrastructure Projects Authorized by Washington?

By Lilah Connell — September 22, 2022

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Policy Papers

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Social Policy

Americans Want Failing Schools to Get Back to Basics

September 15, 2022

Earlier this month, the first national standardized test results since the onset of the Covid pandemic were released. They were troubling. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) — commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card — confirmed that students fell behind during the pandemic, with the lowest scores in two decades. This was the first time in NAEP’s history that...

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National Security, Technology

How China Helped the Center Come Together on the CHIPS Act

August 25, 2022

After a two-year long shortage of semiconductor chips, which are integral to almost every facet of our economy, congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle recently united to pass the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The almost $280 billion bill includes significant new funding for cutting edge research and new incentives to build semiconductor manufacturing plants in the U.S. Lawmakers hope...

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Social Policy

Racial Equity Reforms Are Crumbling Under Pressure From Frustrated Voters and Parents

August 16, 2022

During the last two years, some of America’s largest school districts have implemented seismic changes in the name of advancing racial equity. Under pressure from activists and some elected officials, schools have changed the criteria for how students are admitted, what classes they take, and how they are graded. The equity movement, broadly speaking, is trying to close the achievement gap...

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Governance

Is the Political Center Waking Up From its Slumber?

July 25, 2022

In the wake of controversial Supreme Court decisions and a spate of recent polls showing Americans are more pessimistic about the future and less trustful of all our major institutions, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest Americans are drifting apart. But there are also some hopeful signs that the political center could be ripe for a resurgence in America. Here are just a few: Congress has...

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Economy

Congress Offers Lots of Talk But Little Action On Inflation

June 23, 2022

Prices in May were 8.6% higher than they were this time last year, the largest year-over-year increase since December 1981. Gas, food, and housing costs are rising, and voters are taking note. A May Pew Research poll found inflation was the top concern for Americans by a wide margin. Seven in ten respondents called it a “very big problem,” more so than healthcare affordability (55%) and...

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Climate and Energy

How America Kickstarts A New Nuclear Age

June 9, 2022

Part Two of The New Center’s Two-Part Nuclear Energy Series It might surprise you to learn that the federal government’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no incentive to actually expand the use of nuclear power in the U.S. But it’s true. On its website, the NRC describes its mission as “to ensure the safe use of radioactive materials for beneficial civilian purposes while protecting...

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The Big Issues

Climate and Energy

The fight against climate change is a multi-decade challenge, and must be sustained across many presidencies and sessions of Congress. For any solution to stand a chance, it must be forged in the center.

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