William Becker

Waunakee, Wisconsin

Contributor at Meer

Author, columnist: Expert on green energy, climate policy expert, sustainable community development, disaster recovery, and more.

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Articles

A goal for the ages

2 weeks ago | meer.com | William Becker

Someone said, "A civilization is measured by how it treats its weakest members." By that yardstick, our 21st-century civilization falls far short. The wealthiest one percent of the global population owns nearly half the world’s wealth. Those with little wealth suffer the consequences of civilization's shortcomings. However, another type of wealth gap is even more important. It's the gap between the quality of life that's possible today and the lives our children will experience.
Why Gorbachev hugged me

Mar 8, 2025 | meer.com | William Becker

It happened at a dinner reception many years ago in Geneva, Switzerland. I was chatting with other guests when Mikhail Gorbachev entered the room. He spotted me, strode up, and grabbed me in a bear hug. Then, he went off without a word to talk with other guests. We had no further encounters with each other that evening or ever again. The hug dumbfounded me for decades. Then, during a meeting recently, a colleague said something that hit me like a slap in the face.
Buprenorphine, Pain, and Opioid Use in Patients Taking High-Dose Long-Term Opioids

Feb 18, 2025 | jamanetwork.com | William Becker |Karen H Seal |David Nelson

Buprenorphine, Pain, and Opioid Use in Patients Taking High-Dose Long-Term Opioids: A Randomized Clinical Trial Key PointsQuestion For patients with moderate to severe chronic pain despite high-dose, long-term opioid therapy, does having the option to switch to buprenorphine compared with not having the option result in more pain improvement and opioid dosage reduction?
Integrating Buprenorphine Into Chronic Pain Treatment-Putting the Choice in VOICE

Feb 17, 2025 | jamanetwork.com | Michael Incze |Timothy Anderson |William Becker |Karen H Seal

Integrating Buprenorphine Into Chronic Pain Treatment—Putting the Choice in VOICE Buprenorphine, Pain, and Opioid Use in Patients Taking High-Dose Long-Term Opioids William C. Becker, MD; Karen H. Seal, MD, MPH; David B. Nelson, PhD; Beth M. DeRonne, PharmD; Allyson M. Kats, MS; Benjamin J. Morasco, PhD; Joseph W. Frank, MD, MPH; Una E. Makris, MD, MSc; Jacob T. Painter, PharmD, MBA, PhD; Kelli D. Allen, PhD; Amanda S. Mixon, MD, MS, MSPH; Amy Bohnert, PhD; Thomas E.
Changing our perspectives about earth

Feb 8, 2025 | meer.com | William Becker

Communications experts all agree that a picture is worth a thousand words. It's true. A striking image has an instant emotional impact that even a thousand words cannot create. But the intellectual impact is more complicated. An image does not have full effect unless we take the trouble to understand what we see. Our failure to connect the dots can be tragic.
Time to punish climate laggards

Jan 8, 2025 | meer.com | William Becker

With 2025 underway, we are entering the ninth year since the historic Paris Climate Agreement took effect. It's the pact in which nearly 200 countries promised to each do its part to keep the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Scientists warn that warmer weather would be calamitous. By the end of the year, countries will submit more ambitious voluntary plans to slow down and eventually reverse global warming.
Care Models to Improve Pain and Reduce Opioids Among Patients Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy

Dec 9, 2024 | jamanetwork.com | Erin E. Krebs |William Becker |David Nelson |Beth M. DeRonne

Care Models to Improve Pain and Reduce Opioids Among Patients Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy: The VOICE Randomized Clinical Trial Key PointsQuestion For patients with moderate to severe chronic pain despite long-term opioid therapy, does an interdisciplinary pain team compared with pharmacist collaborative management result in more pain improvement and opioid dosage reduction?
Big oil keeps blocking efforts to save the planet

Dec 7, 2024 | meer.com | William Becker

When the world's economic, industrial, and political leaders gather at Davos every year, the World Economic Forum asks them to rank humanity's principal risks. In their most recent meeting last January, they were not optimistic. Only 9 percent of the 1,500 surveyed leaders said they expect the world to be stable or calm in the next 10 years. The majority expected world affairs to be turbulent and stormy. Why?
Will COP-29 make a difference?

Nov 8, 2024 | meer.com | William Becker

When the 29th International Conference on Climate Change (COP-29) convenes three days from now, several new realities will confront the delegates. Some have emerged in the last year, proving that climate science and climate impacts are emerging much faster than the world's climate actions. Three developments stand out. First, extreme weather conditions are proving there is no place to hide from global warming. That would seem obvious since the Earth's climate is everywhere, all the time.
Good intentions, bad results

Oct 8, 2024 | meer.com | William Becker

The world’s nations will meet for the 29th time next month for another discussion of what to do about global climate change. In recent years, their mission at these Conferences of the Parties (COPs) has been to take stock of progress under the 2015 Paris climate accord. However, when they meet Nov. 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, they should also check their moral compasses.