Social Security’s triumph is in jeopardy

Social Security helped slash elderly poverty to 9.2 percent in the 20th century – that triumph is now in jeopardy [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 26 November 2018 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair [Support The Conversation and research-based journalism]( Editor's note Sixty years ago, more than a third of elderly Americans lived in poverty. Social Security played a pivotal role in cutting that to less than 1 in 10. Today, with few companies offering generous pension plans and so many people struggling to save, Social Security has become the last line of defense against the prospect of retiring poor, Florida State economist David W. Rasmussen explains. He argues Social Security’s impending insolvency [leaves Americans with a choice](: shore up the system or watch as more of their elders die in poverty. Late last week the Trump administration released a report on climate change impacts across the United States. In stark detail, the report described how wildfires, hurricanes, heat waves and other climate-driven events are battering the nation, and could get much worse without urgent efforts to slow global warming. University of Michigan climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck explains how [climate change is amplifying wildfires]( – and how innovative forest management plus carbon emissions cuts could blunt that trend. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been aggressively bombing Yemen, including attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, for more than three years. This destruction has led to a massive humanitarian crisis that, combined with a coalition blockade, amounts to genocide, writes American University human rights scholar Jeff Bachman. He argues this crime was [supported by both the Obama and Trump administrations](. Bryan Keogh Economics + Business Editor Top stories More elderly people may soon be pinching pennies. docent/Shutterstock.com [Social Security helped slash elderly poverty to 9.2 percent in the 20th century – that triumph is now in jeopardy]( David W. Rasmussen, Florida State University Americans are increasingly struggling to save enough for retirement. If Social Security isn't saved, growing old in poverty will likely become more common. Smoke billows from the High Park wildfire west of Fort Collins, Colo., on June 11, 2012, a year of historic drought across much of the western United States. AP Photo/Ed Andrieski [Climate change is driving wildfires, and not just in California]( Jonathan Overpeck, University of Michigan Some observers have blamed recent wildfires on poor forest management, while others point to climate change. In fact, a climate scientist explains, reducing fire risks means tackling both issues. Saleh Hassan al-Faqeh holds the hand of his 4-month-old daughter, Hajar, who died at the malnutrition ward of al-Sabeen Hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, Nov. 15, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi [US complicity in the Saudi-led genocide in Yemen spans Obama, Trump administrations]( Jeff Bachman, American University School of International Service The Obama and Trump administrations have supported a military coalition that has inflicted profound and deadly damage on Yemen. A human rights scholar says the US is complicit in genocide. Environment + Energy - [A rush to judgment: The Trump administration is taking science out of air quality standards]( H. Christopher Frey, North Carolina State University An air pollution expert with years of experience advising federal regulators describes how the Trump administration is speeding up reviews and reducing scientific input. 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