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They Say It Can’t Be Done

Movie poster with the title and many screening awards displayed

They Say It Can’t Be Done is a documentary that explores how innovation can solve some of the world’s greatest problems and promote human progress. The film tracks four companies on the cutting edge of technological innovations that could help to protect the seas from pollution, solve hunger, eliminate organ transplant waitlists, and reduce atmospheric carbon emissions. The documentary also explores how, in the fast‐​paced world of technological development, well‐​intentioned regulations can inadvertently hamper beneficial discoveries. Each company in the film has the potential to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges, but all face a common roadblock: a restrictive bureaucracy impeding their pathways to success. This online event featured a discussion between lead producer Patrick Reasonover and Johan Norberg, followed by a question‐​and‐​answer session with the audience.

When and How We Should “Trust the Science”

Scientist with a petri dish and beakers, with virus graphics overlayed

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a national discussion about science and politics is taking place. News coverage implies that “science” is sufficient for policy decisions and that “politics” should not play a role. Cato senior fellow Peter Van Doren, however, explains that scientific findings, by themselves, are rarely sufficient for individual or policy decisions. Such findings can tell us about the causes of outcomes but nothing more. In this Pandemics and Policy study, Van Doren says that the question of how we should evaluate those outcomes in our own decisionmaking requires other considerations, and the relative importance of those considerations will vary across individuals. Trying to aggregate these differences into policy requires further nonscientific decisions.

Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us

A single green sprout growing out of dirt cupped in human hands

As a staunch advocate for the environment and a nonpartisan pragmatist, Michael Shellenberger was dismayed to see many other leaders within the environmental movement engaging in apocalypticism while forgoing advocacy for tractable, evidence‐​based solutions to climate change, such as the adoption of nuclear power. In fact, many environmentalists actively oppose humanity’s only scalable green energy source even while painting an apocalyptic picture that has contributed to rising anxiety among adolescents. Watch the online forum where Shellenberger examines the rise of apocalyptic environmentalism and shows how parts of the environmental movement have become mired in misunderstanding and partisanship. He also gives reasons to oppose a despairing outlook and makes a strong case for rational optimism that humanity will be able to rise to the occasion and effectively tackle environmental problems such as climate change.

Experts

Media Name: rotoole.jpg
Randal O'Toole
Media Name: vandoren.jpg
Peter Van Doren

Subtopics

  • Energy
  • Environmental Regulation
  • Global Warming
  • Natural Resources
  • Pollution
  • Urban Growth and Transportation

Featured

Blog

The Economics of Divestment

By Jeffrey Miron and Peter Van Doren.

Disinvestment does promote the objectives of its advocates; but claims that doing so is costless do not stand up to theory or evidence.

Blog

Transit Gets $14 Billion in Relief

By Randal O'Toole.

Thanks to a $27 billion infusion of cash from Congress, transit agencies are getting 200 percent funding for carrying just 37 percent of the riders they used to carry, giving them no incentive to innovate or adapt to changing circumstances.

Blog

Another Bad Idea: Transit Parity

By Randal O'Toole.

A proposal that the federal government should spend as much money on transit as it spends on highways is a terrible idea because highways are a hundred times more productive than transit and the taxes to support transit are mostly regressive, meaning they disproportionately harm low‐​income people.

Commentary

Scarce Water Finally Receives Its Due, Namely a Price

By Steve H. Hanke. National Review (Online).

The introduction of water futures contracts will help farmers as well as consumers.

Blog

Some Perspective on China and “Rare Earth” Minerals

By Scott Lincicome.

China’s near monopoly on rare earth materials comes not from inaction on the government’s part but rather from too much regulation. The solution, therefore, is not in subsidies or tariffs but in reducing domestic barriers to production.

Research Briefs in Economic Policy No. 242

Transportation Infrastructure in the United States

By Gilles Duranton, Geetika Nagpal, and Matthew Turner.

Subtopics

  • Energy
  • Environmental Regulation
  • Global Warming
  • Natural Resources
  • Pollution
  • Urban Growth and Transportation

Multimedia

Steve H. Hanke’s proposal for Coordinated Universal Time is featured on NBC KXAN’s News Today

Featuring Steve H. Hanke. December 15, 2020.

Steve H. Hanke discusses hyperinflation on Kitco News

Featuring Steve H. Hanke. October 29, 2020.

Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us

Featuring Michael Shellenberger, Reed Watson, and Chelsea Follett. September 24, 2020.

Randal O’Toole discusses his blog post, “Time to Shut Down the DC Metro Rail,” on WRC NBC’s News 4 at 6

Featuring Randal O'Toole. September 17, 2020.
More Multimedia

Events

Live Online Book Forum

Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us

September 24, 2020 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM EDT
Live Online
Featuring the author Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD), Founder, Environmental Progress; with comments by Reed Watson, Director, Hayek Center for the Business of Prosperity, Clemson University; moderated by Chelsea Follett, Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute.
Live Online Policy Forum

Build Up or Build Out? Solving the Housing Crisis

June 17, 2020 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT
Live Online
Featuring Scott Beyer (@sbcrosscountry), Owner, Market Urbanism Report; Randal O’Toole (@antiplanner), Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome), Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute; moderated by Vanessa Brown Calder (@vanessabcalder), Deputy Director, Joint Economic Committee.
Capitol Hill Briefing

Spending Federal Transportation Dollars Effectively: A Review of BUILD and New Starts

October 25, 2019 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT
2043 Rayburn House Office Building
Featuring Baruch Feigenbaum, Assistant Director, Transportation Policy, Reason Foundation, Randal O’Toole, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; moderated by Jeff Vanderslice, Director of Government and External Affairs, Cato Institute.
Policy Forum

The Simon Abundance Index: A New Way to Measure Availability of Resources

April 22, 2019 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM EDT
Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute
Featuring David M. Simon, Lawyer, Eimer Stahl LLP, Chicago; Gale Pooley, Associate Professor of Business Management, Brigham Young University–Hawaii; George Gilder, Investor, writer, economist, techno‐​utopian, and author of Life after Google; moderated by Marian L. Tupy, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute; Editor, www​.human​progress​.org.
More Events

Cato Studies

Research Brief 242 - Cover

Transportation Infrastructure in the United States

Gilles Duranton, Geetika Nagpal, and Matthew Turner.
December 2, 2020
Research Brief 221 cover

Where’s the Greenium?

David F. Larcker and Edward Watts.
July 1, 2020
Research Brief 212 - Updated Cover

Be Cautious with the Precautionary Principle: Evidence from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident

Matthew J. Neidell, Shinsuke Uchida, and Marcella Veronesi.
April 29, 2020
PA 889 - Cover

Transit: The Urban Parasite

Randal O'Toole.
April 20, 2020
More Cato Studies

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