The Nicholas Institute's reputation as a source of timely, impartial policy analysis continues to grow on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers and expert witnesses on both sides of the America's Climate Security Act debate cited Institute expertise during a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing this month. The Institute's analysis of the Lieberman-Warner bill's cost effects was cited by Sen. Lieberman himself and by witness Bill Moomaw of Tufts University. (You can download the brief, written jointly by the Institute and RTI International, click here)  The Carbon Market Efficiency Board, an idea designed with assistance from the Institute, was cited in the opening remarks of senators both for and against the legislation. And the Institute's "Harnessing Farms and Forests" guide to carbon markets was cited by a witness from agriculture. 

Two new publications from the Nicholas Institute are poised to make waves in ocean policy circles. "Balancing U.S. Interests in the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention" is a policy brief from an interdisciplinary panel of experts about whether the United States should accede to the United Nations' Law of the Sea Convention. It focuses on three key considerations: Emerging territorial disputes over expanding Arctic waters; concerns about the role of international tribunals in making decisions that affect U.S. military, economic and environmental interests; and balancing the need to navigate freely for security and commerce with the need to protect coastal natural resources. The brief is online here. The second new Institute document is a working paper on the legal, economic and environmental challenges to using iron fertilization in the ocean for climate mitigation. You can download it here.

Director Tim Profeta was quoted in the popular D.C. online news site Politico.com about ongoing negotiations for the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act.  You can read the story at  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6602.html.  Senior Visiting Fellow Bill Holman has been quoted extensively in the North Carolina news media this month in stories about the need for new and smarter water conservation and management strategies to cope with the regional drought. You can read an example of what Holman's saying at http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/330070.html.