J. Timmons Roberts, IBES fellow and frequent blogger for The Brookings Institution, was published in last week's April 22 edition of Newsweek. In his piece, Roberts calls for a broad refocusing of environmental efforts that goes above and beyond the advocacy for traditional, small-scale Earth Day neighborhood cleanups. He argues that, while these types of events are enjoyable and satisfying community-building exercises, wider funding to combat climate change both at home and in the most at-risk countries needs to mirror other national fiscal and social priorities, such as military spending and space expeditions.

"We need to build on local action to refocus our collective Earth Day responses to climate change and other global environmental issues. They simply have not been on the scale needed to address the issues," he writes. "We need to focus on systemic solutions that build toward longer-term progress. We need focused efforts to help the most marginal societies around the world reduce their vulnerability."

To read Roberts' full commentary, visit Newsweek.