Research Library

As the tensions at the U.S.-Mexico the border continue, President Biden visited El Paso, Texas on January 8, 2023 to discuss his plan for clamping down on illegal immigration. We discuss the state of U.S. border policy, President Biden’s latest plans, and how the U.S. can mitigate the immigration crisis.

Visiting scholar Osamah Alsayegh explores the water and energy challenges of GCC states and offers three key policy recommendations that could help to build the region’s resilience and sustainability.

Although President Joe Biden restored a more traditional approach to U.S. foreign policy in his first two years, he has been no Obama 2.0.

Gas stoves are a leading source of hazardous indoor air pollution, but they emit only a tiny share of the greenhouse gases that warm the climate. Why, then, have they assumed such a heated role in climate politics?

Truth-in-taxation measures, which are intended to serve taxpayers, have failed to constrain the property tax burden in Texas, write Jennifer Rabb and Lebena Varghese of the McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth. They argue that it is incumbent upon the government to make tax rate notices clear, relevant and above all truthful.

Texas lawmakers must address the misuse of anticipation notes — short-term debt securities used to raise money for public projects, writes John Diamond, the Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance. Since they don’t require voter approval, politicians could use them to fund unwanted projects, he explains.

This conference report summarizes the key takeaways of the 2022 Houston Energy Dialogues, where experts convened to discuss Houston’s potential to become a low-carbon hub, the role of gas in the global energy transition, energy market resilience and more.