About: “Stalled progress on many of the most pressing challenges facing our nation stems not from failure of will, but from pervasive stasis in government. There is an increasingly obvious mismatch between “wicked” modern problems and the aging institutions and regulatory strategies we rely on to solve them. Public trust in government is in the basement as a result.
The FAS Center for Regulatory Ingenuity (CRI) is building a new, transpartisan vision of government that works – that achieves ambitious goals while adeptly responding to people’s basic, everyday needs. CRI does this by (1) by creating high-trust environments to brainstorm and refine the big ideas that will breathe new life into government institutions and intersecting democratic feedback loops, and (2) building a “network of networks” that supports policymakers and practitioners in implementing those ideas at scale.
CRI’s initial focus is on climate policy: a space where mismatches between the tools we have and tools we need are particularly apparent. Foundational environmental laws like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act were designed to curb industrial pollution, not guide the society-wide economic transition to clean technologies that’s underway, and the systems for democratic participation and government capacity are equally out of sync with our most pressing needs and opportunities.
Successfully navigating this transition means seriously considering how we can update 20th century laws for a 21st century world, better coupling regulatory and non-regulatory approaches, and focusing on solutions that can deliver near-term benefits while building momentum for more ambitious national reforms.
CRI is bringing the climate and state capacity communities together to do just that. The last thing we need in the face of big challenges is stasis. It’s time to move boldly towards a government Americans trust to deliver…(More)”.
