To many, the Tesla brand has become synonymous with sustainability, an unprecedented feat considering the automobile industry has often been deemed the antithesis of a ‘green’ enterprise. Even when disregarding Tesla’s SolarCity subsidiary and other sustainable ventures, Tesla has pioneered the production of innovative electric vehicles and has prevented over…
Question: The Interstate Highway System and other roads and bridges in America are supported by the Highway Trust Fund. The main revenue source is a gasoline tax. Answer: 70 percent of our audience correctly picked , while 30 percent picked 7.5 cents. Since 1993, the federal tax for each…
Everyone makes mistakes, but public officials and decision makers have a higher responsibility to be careful and deliberate. Institutional speed bumps help keep the pace slow, reducing the speed at which bad decisions can be made and forcing more deliberation over good ones. Some of these features like checks and…
hile it may not be the main reason that roads across the country are in disrepair, lack of information is one starting point to find solutions. Simple intuition suggests that officials cannot know about every pothole, collapsed sign, or damaged median. While perfect knowledge is impossible, we have the…
Aii is seeking a motivated and hardworking Communications Associate to join our team. This is an interdisciplinary role, including press relations, web development, graphics, and marketing. This entry level position will work in sunny Charleston, SC and collaborate with local team members as well as remotely with team members in…
Miami University, a public research university located in the small city of Oxford, OH, has been making unprecedented progress in the field of geothermal energy. Up until 2010, Miami had relied on carbon-intensive steam to heat almost all buildings on its 2,100 acre campus. Currently, 49 percent of those buildings…
Question: October was National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Initiated in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance, the monthlong project exists to encourage safe practices online. From the private sector to public agencies, protecting data is paramount. In an increasingly interconnected and…
Summer temperatures and tensions were high across the state of Texas, at least for some. While every resident of the Lone Star State dealt with immense heat during August, some Texans found themselves with ludicrously high electricity bills as well. This spike in price only affected a certain sector of Texas’…
Question: Policymakers and politicians seem to generally agree that America’s infrastructure is need of a facelift. But when it comes to paying, neither party seems willing to advance a plan for these much needed updates. Our policy team asks, “In a hypothetical scenario where retaining the status quo is not…
Beginning in October 2004, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month has continually drawn attention to the issue of cybersecurity and the resources available to ensure Internet safety on a national scale. Since its creation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM)…
Hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters can be truly devastating. Not only are precious lives lost, but property damage can decimate local communities and business activity. As concerns over climate change cause many to fear stronger or more frequent storms, one simple solution stands ready to protect lives, economic activity,…
Environmentalists and activists on the further reaches of the green movement occasionally go as far as to say ‘leave all fossil fuels in the ground.’ While a legitimate fear of climate change may make this view understandable, it is ultimately misguided. Modern life unequivocally requires fossil fuels, but that doesn’t…
As China celebrates 70 years of communist rule, the U.S. Congress is mulling over the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to reauthorize funding and programs within the Department of Defense. Within that national security bulwark is a simple provision aimed at Chinese encroachment. The Transit Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act (TIVSA),…
Will FERC Consider Cumulative GHG Impacts of New Pipeline Projects? It’s Complicated The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) made a little noticed determination over the course of 2018’s summer that modified how the commission performs environmental reviews moving forward – specifically, how and if they consider cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG)…
Aii Trivia Question 2 – 7/2/18 Of the approximately 126 million households in the U.S., how many DO NOT have access to high speed Internet? 16% 53% Answer: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 126.22 million U.S. households in 2017. According to data aggregation website Statista, 106.07 million…
