World Bank Announces free access to its online data

World Development Indicators, Global Development Finance, Africa Development Indicators, and Global Economic Monitor are now free, open, and easy to access at data.worldbank.org

Increasing Energy Efficiency: A Key Step in Securing America’s Energy Future

Increasing Energy Efficiency: A Key Step in Securing America’s Energy Future

Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, today told lawmakers that while targeted tax incentives can play a role in fostering deployment of clean energy, there are other instruments that may prove to be more impactful and less expensive over time.

In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee today about Energy Tax Incentives and the Green Job Economy, Harbert noted that in addition to fiscal tools, other weapons in the policy arsenal should be used to tackle our energy challenges.

“As we examine energy policy, it is more important than ever that we look to options that don’t further burden the taxpayer or jeopardize energy security and offer the greatest return on investment to our economy,” Harbert said. “It is important to realize that tax incentives are only one avenue to foster the deployment of clean technologies, and there are other instruments which, in some situations, may prove more impactful and less expensive over time.”

Nuke Review Takes Comprehensive Look at Strategy

Nuke Review Takes Comprehensive Look at Strategy

Source: U.S. Department of Defense

The Nuclear Posture Review, released today, is the first overarching look at U.S. nuclear strategy since the end of the Cold War, a senior defense official briefing reporters on background said yesterday.

The review builds on President Barack Obama’s promise to take concrete steps toward the goal of achieving the safety and security of a world free of nuclear weapons, the official said.
A second element, the official added, was to maintain a nuclear deterrent as long as those weapons remain, and ensuring the safety, security and effectiveness of that deterrent while they remain.

The Nuclear Posture Review provides the basis behind many moves in the nuclear arena in the coming months, the official said. Obama will travel to Prague to sign the new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia on April 8. The treaty mandates further reductions to the U.S. and Russian arsenals, and officials looked to the Nuclear Posture Review guidance as they negotiated the treaty.

The review also will influence U.S. thinking in the nonproliferation treaty, the nuclear security summit and the nonproliferation review conference.