Starting March 1, 2020, New York’s ban on single-use plastic bags will take effect. Just this week, the state Department of Environmental Conservation released its final regulations to govern the ban. Mildred Warner is a professor of city and regional planning and an expert on how to promote environmental sustainability at the local level says while New York’s hybrid model for banning plastic bags with a fee on alternatives is key, if there are loopholes – such as thickness requirements – the plastic bag manufacturers and retailers will take advantage. 

New York State

Law and Policy

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

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Cornell University experts are available to weigh in on political and industry developments that signal a shift to a clean energy economy.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

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President Trump suggested states should seriously consider reopening their public schools before the end of the academic year, even though many have already said it would be unsafe for students to return to school before next fall. Lee Adler, an expert on education and academic union issues says until widespread testing is available across the country it’s not safe for schools to reopen.

Industrial and Labor Relations

New York State

New York City

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Sarah Kreps, surveillance systems and cybersecurity expert, comments on the newly released Apple operating system that supports digital contact tracing.

Arts and Sciences

Cornell Tech

Computing & Information Sciences

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Noliwe Rooks, professor of American studies at Cornell University and author of the book “Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and The End of Public Education,” says that segregation persists in American schools in large part due to white parents’ unwillingness to send their children to schools where they would have Black classmates.

Social & Behavioral Sciences

Law and Policy

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As Congress nears a deadline next week to approve a new budget or budget extension, the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program hangs in the balance. Shannon Gleeson, a Cornell University professor of labor relations and an expert on immigrant labor, has been working on a three-year long collaborative project to study how the DACA policy is implemented at the local level in Houston, New York City, San Francisco and San Jose.

Industrial and Labor Relations

Economics and Business

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With the Omicron wave, how will employers adapt and what’s to come for the future of work? The American workplace is restless, how long will we continue to see strikes and labor protest activity continue? Labor shortages are ongoing, will we see the Great Resignation keep up? These labor experts are available to weigh in on these questions and more as we start 2022.

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Bart Selman, professor of computer science at Cornell University and director of the Intelligent Information Systems Institute comments on a White House summit dedicated to the future of artificial intelligence.

Computing & Information Sciences

Physical Sciences & Engineering

Computing & Information Sciences

Engineering

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Elizabeth Sanders, professor of government at Cornell University who studies American political development, says a Green New Deal could succeed, but will likely dissipate without risk-takers and creative funding solutions.

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The United States Department of Commerce announced this week that it will include a question on citizenship status in the 2020 decennial Census. Kathleen Weldon, director of data operations and communications at the Roper Center, says that adding a question about citizenship to the Census is concerning to the polling community.

Law and Policy

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