The Environmental Forum

FOCUS ON LEAD ❧ The tragedy in this Michigan city demonstrates the need for vigilance in protecting families from lead in drinking water. There will be no better moment to develop workable solutions for getting the heavy metal out, protecting public health, and renewing faith in this basic resource.

ELI POLICY BRIEF ❧ To protect biodiversity, this methodology provides contextual understanding that is necessary for programs to be sensitive to conflict — from social tensions to riots to wars — yielding more appropriate and effective solutions and reducing unintended consequences.

COVER STORY ❧ Trump and Congress plan to trim back the Democrats’ environmental achievements, decrying the cost to business and consumers and substituting what GOP leaders argue is more savvy regulation. They may succeed, but there are numerous obstacles in their path.

COLLOQUY ❧ Former banker and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson took the stage at the annual dinner and responded to questions from ELI Vice Chair Ben Wilson about environmental protection in China and environmental policy in the United States and internationally. Paulson’s conclusion based on his decades of experience: It takes business, NGOs, and government working together to get things done.

HEADNOTE ❧ The Paris Agreement establishes a framework for international cooperation in limiting the impact of climate change to an average global temperature increase of less than 2 degrees Celsius. Most of the response in meeting national targets will involve regulation at various jurisdictional levels of government and bilateral or regional agreements among signatory nations. But these actions will fall short of the goals of the agreement. In fact, temperatures could increase almost twice as much if governments alone address the risks to society and the biosphere — a truly dangerous situation. The 2016 ELI-Miriam Hamilton Keare Policy Forum took on this difficult policy problem.