Weekly Writers Round-Up: Online Privacy, Affordable Housing, and the Green New Deal

Each week, we’ll be featuring the work of the alumni and current participants of AF’s Writing Fellows Program. A few highlights from the past week are below. For more information on how the program can help launch your career in writing, see here.

We Can’t Afford the Green New Deal by John Kristof (Summer 2018) in The American Conservative
She did it. After months of fervor surrounding a potential “Green New Deal” to address the growing problem of climate change, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released an official proposal on February 7. The hype surrounding it has already pushed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to schedule its vote on the Senate floor. Many hope this Green New Deal will help stave off the serious consequences of global warming. Unfortunately, the actual legislation is essentially a progressive policy manifesto—one that will severely damage America’s economy…

Data Privacy Should Also Be Congress’ Concern by Krisztina Pusok (Fall 2017) in Inside Sources
If you are like me, you probably didn’t celebrate the recent 11th Data Privacy Day. That’s because this might be the first time you heard about it. The Data Privacy Day is intended to be a reminder that all of us must stay attuned to online privacy and protection. But in the age of multimillion-dollar lawsuits related to data misuse and data breaches that pepper the news almost on a weekly basis, one could argue that every day should be a data privacy day…

America Shouldn’t Turn Its Back on Afghan Civilians by Jerrod Laber (Fall 2017) in The National Interest
Light is finally appearing at the end of an eighteen-year-long tunnel, as there are reports that the Afghanistan war, or at least the United States’ involvement in it, could soon come to an end. U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has said that a peace deal has been agreed to in principle between America and the Taliban. In exchange for a full pullout of American troops, the Taliban has pledged to not allow Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terrorist operators. But any peace process is long and cumbersome and could fall apart for a myriad of reasons. This one is no different…

A Red-State Take on a YIMBY Housing Bill by Nolan Gray (Fall 2015) in CityLab
The U.S. housing affordability crisis is national in its scope, but media coverage tends to focus on California cities like San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles, where skyrocketing rents and a blossoming YIMBY movement have incited a response from lawmakers. In his inaugural address earlier this year, newly elected California Governor Gavin Newsom called for a “Marshall Plan” for affordable housing that would add 500,000 new homes in the Golden State per year…