The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s assessment report issues catastrophic warning if immediate climate action is not taken by governments across the globe.

The two alternative universes of red and blue America have far more in common than they seem to know. It is time to focus our attention beyond these differences and focus on the far greater areas of agreement.

Building infrastructure, providing emergency services, maintaining social safety nets, and ensuring public safety require an open and capable government.

We are at the end of two years witnessing the awful spectacle of an Environmental Protection Agency and Interior Department more interested in exploiting natural resources than protecting them. But starting today, the unified control of the national government by President Donald Trump and his enablers has ended.

It’s bad when America’s national government does little to advance renewable energy; it is far worse when they aggressively promote the most polluting fossil fuels they can find. The good news is that many states, cities, and institutions are moving in the other direction.

In a world filled with fake news and “alternative facts,” science is an integral part of an effective democracy that is based on truth and reality.

How can science be used and transferred effectively by decision-makers? How can we manage scientific uncertainty? These are some of the questions tackled on Monday at the event, ‘Speaking Science to Power.’

In a world where we are constantly interacting and competing, we also need to nurture and generate the value of cooperation and compassion. This is a value I call public service.

If we are to maintain the way of life we enjoy while maintaining a safe and healthy environment, we need to require more careful management of toxic substances.