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February 3, 2025
IPCC at the Crossroads
Long-time readers of THB will know well that I am strongly supportive of formal scientific assessments — a form of science arbitration, as defined in my book which gives this site its name. Scientific assessments are essential for understanding what relevant experts collectively think they know, what they think they don’t, along with surfacing uncertainties, disagreements, and…
February 3, 2025
My AI Advisers: Lessons from a Year of Expert Digital Assistants
Earlier this month, Ezra Klein reflected on how, despite recognizing AI’s enormous potential, he found no practical place for it in his daily routine. He echoed what I’ve heard from many people: Even after trying various GenAI tools, they didn’t see a strong reason to keep returning to them. It’s understandable because unlocking the real value in…
February 3, 2025
The Ivanpah Solar Power Monstrosity Bites the Taxpayers. Again.
It was the future. It would demonstrate how to save the planet. It would produce electricity clean and cheap and immune to the vagaries of international shifts in prices, interest rates, currency exchange values, and the caprice of foreign governments. It was a demonstration of the massive achievements possible from public/private “partnerships,” that is, central…
January 31, 2025
Regional Transmission Organizations as Market Platforms III
As a follow-on to my previous two posts on regional transmission organizations (RTOs) in electricity, I was heading in a direction that relies on you, dear reader, having a foundational understanding of the investor-owned utilities (IOUs) that are the transmission owners (TOs) in RTOs. Many of you do, but lots don’t, especially tech folks who…
January 31, 2025
Satellite Broadband Connectivity: Many Pros, but Also a Few Cons
There is little doubt that the emergence of low-orbit satellite services has revolutionized rural broadband connectivity. SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has launched over 5,000 satellites, providing low-latency, fast, and cost-effective broadband services to a wider range of remote communities and locations worldwide than has been possible with legacy geostationary satellites. SpaceX plans to launch…
January 30, 2025
Protecting Kids and Adults Online: Device-Level Age Authentication
Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, which involves a constitutional challenge to a Texas age verification law for websites containing sexually explicit material. The case offers the Court the opportunity to revisit two cases decided at the dawn of the Internet Age finding such requirements violated the…
January 29, 2025
Deepseek’s AI Breakthroughs Don’t Change the Fundamentals—but They Are a Warning
China’s AI ambitions have long been hamstrung by a critical weakness: access to high-end computing hardware. US export controls have effectively cut Beijing off from the most advanced AI chips, putting a hard ceiling on its ability to compete at the highest level. But that hasn’t stopped China from trying to work around these limitations….
January 29, 2025
Questions Kennedy Must Answer, According to Experts
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, New York Times Opinion invited experts and leaders across disciplines and ideologies to share questions they believe Mr. Kennedy must answer before serving in a role that oversees a $1.7 trillion budget and wields enormous influence over drug approvals, public health and the nation’s research agenda. M….
January 29, 2025
On the Front Porch with Brent Orrell and Tony Pipa: A Conversation with Benji Backer and Michelle Moore
Event Description The tensions between development and sustainability and production and conservation, combined with the ongoing debate over energy sources, have taken center stage in recent years. Join us for the next installment of the “On the Front Porch” series as AEI’s Brent Orrell and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa talk with Michelle Moore of…
January 28, 2025
Federal R&D Funding Is Even More Valuable Than Washington Thinks
It’s a no-brainer that American public policy should aim to significantly increase both government and private-sector R&D investment to boost innovation-driven productivity and economic growth. During the 1960s Space Race, total US R&D spending reached just under three percent of GDP, with government leading at two percent and business at one percent, basically. Today’s R&D is over…