--- description: Revising natural gas forecasts, Nigeria's Muslims, addressing climate change by helping coal workers, fighting child marriage and more. title: These Are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 5 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 5, 2014 5:04 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 5, 2014 5:04 PM CUT **1\.** [**Peak gas: According to some forecasts, the fracking boom could be a bust.**](http://www.nature.com/news/natural-gas-the-fracking-fallacy-1.16430 "undefined") By Mason Inman in Nature **2\.** [**To end the conflict with Boko Haram, Nigeria needs to address the alienation of its Muslims.**](http://www.cfr.org/nigeria/us-policy-counter-nigerias-boko-haram/p33806 "undefined") By John Campbell at the Council on Foreign Relations **3\.** [**“Protecting our coal workers is critical to successfully solving the climate problem.”**](http://blog.ucsusa.org/an-honest-conversation-about-hardworking-coal-miners-684 "undefined") By Jeremy Richardson in the Union of Concerned Scientists **4\.** [**Tanzania can fight child marriage and protect the next generation of women by keeping girls in schools.**](http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/11/10/keeping-all-girls-school-one-way-curb-child-marriage-tanzania "undefined") By Agnes Odhiambo in Human Rights Watch **5\.** [**When the last baby boomers move into retirement around 2030, today’s youth will carry the weight of our economy. They need support now.**](http://forumblog.org/2014/12/why-americas-youth-are-the-key-to-boosting-growth/ "undefined") By Melody Barnes in the World Economic Forum Blog  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3620021/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-5/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3620021/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-5/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 5","datePublished":"2014-12-05T17:04:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:48.352Z","description":"Revising natural gas forecasts, Nigeria's Muslims, addressing climate change by helping coal workers, fighting child marriage and more.","url":"https://time.com/3620021/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-5/","keywords":["Innovation","women","West Virginia","climate change","climate","coal","School","Education","Youth","Retirement","Natural gas","fracking","Islam","Nigeria","Boko Haram","Baby Boomers","tanzania"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3620021/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-5/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 5"}}]}] ```