海角大神

Beijing has cast itself as a global leader, building relationships with other nations through roads, pipelines, and trade. But its security policies at home rely on exclusion and fear, and China鈥檚 international partners are taking note.

Misperceptions tend to occur when people are given evidence that directly conflicts with their worldview or their values (on climate change, for example). Our latest podcast looks at how we might start to bridge those gaps.

Here鈥檚 a rising star to watch: The incoming leader of the Congressional Black Caucus talks with the Monitor鈥檚 Francine Kiefer about investigating the president, protecting voting rights, and whether African-American women are being taken for granted by the Democratic Party.

We鈥檝e watched Africa leapfrog the traditional path to progress before when it quickly adopted mobile phones over landlines. But this story notes that new tech may not always be the best long-term solution.

John Myhre was a fan of the 1964 classic film as a child, and now he鈥檚 helping bring its sequel to a new generation. How a production designer tackles envisioning the new with a nod to the old.听

High hopes preceded a two-week gathering of some 14,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries that concluded Dec. 15 in Katowice, Poland. The conference, known as COP24, was expected to reignite worldwide efforts to curb climate change.

Whether to applaud the meeting鈥檚 modest achievements or condemn the lack of major action on this urgent issue lay in the eye of the beholder. The conference chair, Poland鈥檚 Micha艂 Kurtyka, was so pleased at the conclusion he leapt off the podium to congratulate delegates. Yet earlier speaker Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who has raised international awareness of the dangers of climate change, scolded the gathering, saying, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to your children.鈥�

Reaching any agreement, especially one that might call for national sacrifices, from such a large and diverse body was always going to be a daunting task. But in fact some essential, if somewhat wonky, progress was made that keeps the 2015 Paris global climate pact alive and keeps open the possibility of more progress.

Most significant was an agreement on how countries will measure and monitor carbon emissions, essential to understanding exactly what each nation鈥檚 emission levels are 鈥� and whether they are growing or shrinking.听

Action now returns to individual countries 鈥� and in some cases even cities 鈥� and what they will do. The challenges ahead were dramatically illustrated recently in France, where the government attempted to enact a fuel tax to discourage the use of fossil fuels. After days of confrontations with rowdy yellow-jacketed protesters French President Emmanuel Macron was forced to back down.听

Canada may prove to be the next testing ground. A carbon tax going into effect there soon will raise the prices of oil, gasoline, and natural gas. But the money collected will be returned to households; in most cases, families will receive a larger 鈥渞ebate鈥� than the cost they incur in higher energy prices.听

In the United States, a so-called Green New Deal is gaining momentum. It would speed the transition from fossil fuels in the next 10 years, converting 100 percent of the nation鈥檚 electricity supply to renewable sources. It would also update the nation鈥檚 energy grid, increase energy efficiency of buildings, invest in research into more green technologies, and provide job training for workers in a new green economy.

When described in these terms, without attachment to any politician or political party, 81 percent of American voters either 鈥渟trongly鈥� (40 percent) or 鈥渟omewhat鈥� (40 percent) approve of such a plan, according to a new survey from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.

The plan was seen most favorably by Democrats (92 percent) and independents (88 percent). But nearly two-thirds of Republicans (64 percent) liked it, too.

That may be in part because 82 percent of those surveyed had heard nothing previously about a Green New Deal, though the idea already has the support of some 40 members of Congress.

The new Congress, with its Republican Senate and Democratic House, now has the opportunity to resist turning the Green New Deal into a battlefield for partisan warfare. It could move forward on a plan that already has clear voter support and that could make a significant contribution to stemming the ill effects of global warming.