So much has happened since our last update as Abundance increasingly gains momentum. Here’s the latest on what we are doing, thinking, reading, and hearing.
What We Are Doing
- We are explaining Abundance to a broader audience.
- Check out this conversation between Derek and Marshall Kosloff on The Realignment podcast.
- This followed two appearances by by political scientist Steve Teles, discussing work we highlighted in our last update.
- We are hosting our first Abundance Conference this October in Washington, D.C.
- We are excited to explore the policies, politics, and messaging of an Abundance Agenda.
- Abundance 2024 will showcase a young, dynamic, ideologically diverse, pragmatically opportunistic, and ambitious coalition.
- Abundance 2024 is co-hosted by the Breakthrough Institute, Foundation for American Innovation, Federation of American Scientists, Institute for Progress, and Niskanen Center.
- Please reach out to Derek if you’d like to join us at this invitation-only event.
- We are growing!
- We’ve added new team members, who you can read about here.
- We launched Inclusive Abundance Action, an affiliated 501(c)4 that will house our advocacy and lobbying activities. Going forward, this type of post will contain updates on both the (c)3 and the (c)4.
What We Are Thinking
- We were thrilled to see the Manchin-Barrasso bipartisan energy permitting reform bill pass out of committee by a healthy 15-4 margin.
- As Senator Martin Heinrich stated: “Because of the transmission and geothermal portions of this legislation, [we] are going to reduce emissions by two to three billion – not million with an M, billion with a B – metric tons of CO2.”
- This effort was supported by many of our partners, including those at Third Way, ClearPath, and Institute for Progress.
- We worked with our partners and key policymakers to support the Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Housing Act. The policy would encourage nationwide housing abundance by:
- Expanding access to land use and zoning data
- Commissioning new research about what policy changes are most effective
- Offering technical assistance to places that are looking to build.
What We Are Reading
It's an exciting time for the Abundance movement as these ideas continue to gain traction with leading thinkers and writers.
- David Brooks, New York Times opinion columnist, recently explored Abundance and American dynamism.
His piece discusses the ways in which political extremists are plagued by a “scarcity consciousness, a zero-sum mentality,” and offers a way forward for moderates:
“I wish they would champion the abundance agenda that people like Derek Thompson and my colleague Ezra Klein have been writing about. We need to build things. Lots of new homes. Supersonic airplanes and high-speed trains.”
- Matt Ygelsias addresses similar themes in this Slow Boring article:
"What we need is for people who have means…but are disgruntled with the current state of the parties to nonetheless pick a team and start investing in a faction within that team… And it means telling those members that you’re not supporting them reluctantly as ‘the only guy who can win this district’ but enthusiastically as practitioners of a style of politics that you affirmatively prefer. Ideally, it means providing financial support to moderate factional institutions"
Both of these pieces are music to our ears!
What We Are Hearing
- Senator Brian Schatz appeared on The Ezra Klein show to talk about how “we have created the scarcity on purpose” and explore what we can do to change that.
- We also enjoyed this conversation on energy abundance between Jerusalem Demsas and climate modeling expert Jesse Jenkins.
This article is a product of the Inclusive Abundance Initiative, a 501(c)3, in partnership with Inclusive Abundance Action, our affiliated 501(c)4.
