- Autumn 2022
Syllabus Description:
Climate Politics and Governance (POL S 458A)
Aseem Prakash
Fall 2023
Class Time:
Monday and Wednesday, 3:30-5:20
Smith 305
Office Hours:
By appointment, please email <aseem@uw.edu>
Course Objective
Climate change is perhaps the defining challenge of our time. Because it critically affects every aspect of our life, climate governance is complex and contested. There are several ways climate policies can support economic growth and create new opportunities. But climate policies can also create winners and losers and create social conflict. This undergraduate seminar will examine important policy issues in climate governance such as mitigation and adaptation policies, climate migration, climate justice, and climate finance. We will examine how well the existing approaches and institutions are working, and what new initiatives can help us respond to the climate challenge.
Readings
Readings are either uploaded on Canvas or I have provided the article URL.
This is a Device Free Class
Research suggests that the use of electronic devices in class can be distracting for you and for your colleagues. Therefore, to enhance your learning experience, during the class you are not allowed to use phones, tablets, laptops or any Internet connectable devices. Please take notes using a pen and a note book.
Course Expectations
This course requires active student participation. You are expected to energetically and thoughtfully contribute to class discussions in the following ways.
Writing Memos
Article memos
For every session (except sessions 4 and 5), students will be assigned an article to present and critique. The discussant-presenter should prepare a two-page (single-spaced) “Article Memo” which summarizes the article, examines its strengths and weaknesses, and identifies questions it raises for future research. Please email this memo to me by Monday 9:00 am for the Monday afternoon class, and by Wednesday 9:00 am for the Wednesday afternoon class. The discussant-presenter should budget about 10 minutes for the in-class oral presentation (no power point). In the course of this quarter, you will probably be assigned to present 2 or 3 articles.
Key questions memo
I expect seminar participants to review all the assigned readings prior to the class. Based on these readings for a given session, you will write a “Key questions” memo. In this memo, identify two or three questions or issues that emerge from the assigned readings, along with a rationale as to why these questions are important. Your “Key Questions Memo” should be about one page (single-spaced) and reach me by Monday 9:00 am for the Monday afternoon class, and by Wednesday 9:00 am for the Wednesday afternoon class.
I have divided the course into three modules with about seven class sessions for every module. You need to write 2 key question memos (for two different class sessions) from every module (this means, 6 key question memos in total).
Think of Module 1. Suppose you like readings from session 3. After reading the articles assigned for this session, think of two or three overarching questions that you believe emerge from these readings and should be covered during class discussions.
Please note: If you are assigned to present a specific article for session 3 (and therefore writing the article memo), you will not write a key question memo for this session.
Research Paper
Identify two countries, cities, or firms and compare how they are responding to climate change (note: you cannot write on the US, Washington state, Seattle, King County, and China). Specifically:
- Identify two units you wish to study.
- Briefly explain how they are similar or different (the rationale for comparing them)?
- Specify the policies (mitigation and/or adaptation) you will be comparing.
- Why are you focusing on these policies; what do you think they might reveal about these units' climate policies?
- Do you expect the responses of these units will be similar or different? Why?
- Therefore what? How do you think this study might move forward your understanding of climate policy?
Please write in regular prose and not in bullet points. The one-page outline is due November 7 and a five-page (single-spaced; excluding references and tables) research paper is due December 7. I recommend structuring your paper in sections and subsections.
We will also schedule presentations (10 minutes per student) towards the end of the quarter (no PowerPoint).
Evaluation
In total, you can score 100 points. To convert this into a 4-point scale, I will simply divide it by 25.
Article Memos: 20 points (10 points per memo * 2 memos)
Key Questions Memos: 30 points (5 points per memo * 6 memos)
Class Participation: 20 points
Research Paper: 20 points
Research Presentation: 10 points
Total: 100 points
Note
I reserve the right to change the syllabus without prior notice.
Religious Accommodation
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for the accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request accommodation, is available at Faculty Syllabus Guidelines and Resources. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form available at https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/
Class Schedule
______________________________________Module1_______________________________________________
Session 1
Wednesday, September 28
Syllabus and course expectations
- Different approaches to reducing aviation emissions: reviewing the structure-agency debate in climate policy.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44168-022-00001-w, NICOLE
- Did Your Handbag Help Destroy the Rainforest?
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/style/lvmh-nike-prada-amazon-deforestation.html
- Texas Is the Country’s Clean Energy Leader, Almost in Spite of Itself. EMILY
- Think You’re Making Good Climate Choices? Take This Mini-Quiz (NO PRESENTER)
Session 2
Monday, October 3
Overview
- Can we save the planet by shrinking the economy? SHERN
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22408556/save-planet-shrink-economy-d...
- In the wake of a wildfire, who gets to rebuild? MALLIH
https://grist.org/wildfires/in-the-wake-of-a-wildfire-who-gets-to-rebuild-grand-county-colorado/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily
- Climate Strikes: What They Accomplish and How They Could Have More Impact
- A New York power line divided environmentalists. Here’s what it says about the larger climate fight. LINDSAY
- Wildfire Smoke is Erasing progress on Clean Air.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/22/climate/wildfire-smoke-po...
Session 3
Wednesday, October 5
Perspective and approaches
10. On the divergent American reactions to terrorism and climate change. Canvas. OWEN
11. Climate change and the Syrian civil war revisited. Canvas NOLAN
- Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis MATTHEW D
13. The ‘Green Energy’ That Might Be Ruining the Planet. THOMAS
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/26/biomass-carbon-climate-politics-477620
- The Activists Who Embrace Nuclear Power QI
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-activists-who-embrace-nuclear-power
Session 4
Monday, October 10 (NO MEMOS)
Global Energy Transition
Guest Speaker: Scott Montgomery
Zoom link (NOT linked through Canvas):
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://washington.zoom.us/j/97070832572__;!...$
15. Green Upheaval New Geopolitics of Energy. Canvas
- The energy debate over "green colonialism" in Africa. Canvas
17. World Energy Outlook 2021: Executive Summary
https://prod.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2021/executive-summary
Session 5
Wednesday, October 12 (NO MEMOS)
Climate Anxiety
Guest Speaker: Dr. Robert Berley
Zoom link (NOT linked through Canvas):
https://washington.zoom.us/j/5840661928 [washington.zoom.us]
18. Apocalypse When? (Not) thinking or talking about climate change. Canvas
19. Resources for working with Climate emotions - A collaboration between Gen Dread and The All We Can Save Project.
- Recognizing Eco-Anxiety - What It Is and Ways You Might Be Affected. Canvas
Session 6
Monday, October 17
Challenges in climate mitigation
21. Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative White males in the United States. Canvas CAROLINA
22. Advancing bipartisan decarbonization policies: lessons from state-level successes and failures. Canvas EMMA
23. Do Windy Areas have more Wind Turbines: An Empirical Analysis of Wind Installed Capacity in Native Tribal Nations. Canvas TALEAH
24, My Native Alaskan Community Needs the Willow Oil Project LUCAS
25. Varieties of Just Transition: Climate Policy and Coal Communities in South Africa. Canvas SARAH
Session 7
Wednesday, October 19
Barriers to climate response
26. How climate change could spark the next home mortgage disaster ADITI
27. African nations’ dash for gas exposes division at the UN and ‘hypocrisy’ in Europe NICOLAS
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2022/05/25/african-nations-dash-for-ga...
28. Carbon leakages through trade LAUREN
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/climate/outsourcing-carbon-emissions....
29. Palm Oil Was Supposed to Help Save the Planet. Instead It Unleashed a Catastrophe. ALEXA
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/magazine/palm-oil-borneo-climate-catastrophe.html
30. The Battle of Thacker Pass: Electric cars require a lot of lithium. A showdown in Nevada shows that getting it won’t be easy. MARY
https://grist.org/climate/the-west-has-a-new-front-in-the-war-over-elect...
________________________ Module 2 _______________________
Session 8
Monday, October 24
New issues
31. Solar geoengineering as part of an overall strategy for meeting the 1.5 C Paris target. Canvas HENRY
32. What to Do About Pig Poop? North Carolina Fights a Rising Tide. Canvas MADDIE
33. Legal Experts Define a New Global Crime: ‘Ecocide YACOV
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22062021/ecocide-definition-panel-international-crime/
34. Justice or overreach?: As crucial test looms, Big Greens are under fire JENNIFER
35. Industrial Agriculture, an Extraction Industry Like Fossil Fuels, a Growing Driver of Climate Change ELLA
Session 9
Wednesday, October 26
Consumer responsibility
36. Consumers' preferences for carbon labels and the underlying reasoning. A mixed methods approach in 6 European countries TALIA
37. Consumer Readiness to Reduce Meat Consumption for the Purpose of Environmental Sustainability: Insights from Norway MIA
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/3058/htm
38. Carbon labels in tourism: persuasive communication? Canvas LACEY
39. Consumer behavior and climate change: consumers need considerable assistance ISABEL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154621000309
Session 10
Monday, October 31
Adaptation
40. The politics of climate change adaptation CAROLINA
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-025739
41. High mountain communities and climate change: adaptation, traditional ecological knowledge, and institutions. MALLIH Canvas
42. Farmworkers at Risk MATT C
https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/farmworkers-at-risk-r...
43. In the waterlogged Netherlands, climate change is considered neither a hypothetical nor a drag on the economy. Instead, it’s an opportunity. EMILY
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/15/world/europe/climate-change-rotterdam.html
Session 11
Wednesday, November 2
Incorporating adaptation in the policy process
44. Exploring the Adaptation-Mitigation Relationship: Does Information on the Costs of Adapting to Climate Change Influence Support for Mitigation? Canvas LINDSAY
45. Outdoor Recreation and Climate Adaptation PEYTON
https://houserepublicans.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OrcaPlanReport-FINAL-112421.pdf
46. Lessons from New York: What makes a community turn against climate adaptation? OWEN
47. The Jersey shore would rather fight flooding with walls than retreat NOLAN
Paper outline is due
Session 12
Monday, November 7
Droughts and climate change
48. Wall Street Eyes Billions in Colorado’s Water MATTHEW D
49. In southeastern Arizona, farms drill a half-mile deep while families pay the price QI
50. Drought and water policy in Australia: Challenges for the future illustrated by the issues associated with water trading and climate change adaptation in the Murray–Darling Basin. Canvas THOMAS
51. First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate in California EMMA
Session 13
Wednesday, November 9
Climate migration
52. Climate change as a migration driver from rural and urban Mexico. Canvas. TALEAH
53. Breaking a Vicious Circle of Climate Change in Zimbabwe LUCAS
https://longnow.org/ideas/02022/09/14/zimbabwe-climate-migration-wildlife/
54. Welcoming climate refugees to the United States: Do attitudes depend on refugee origins, numbers, or permanence? Canvas. SARAH
55. Willingness to Help Climate Migrants: A Survey Experiment in the Korail Slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Canvas SHERN
___________________ ______________________Module 3___________________________________________
Session 14
Monday, November 14
Gender and climate change
56. Effects of gender on climate change knowledge and concern in the American public. Canvas. NICOLAS
57. Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender and climate change. Canvas LAUREN
58. Is adaptation to climate change gender neutral? Lessons from communities dependent on livestock and forests in northern Mali. Canvas ALEXA
59. The Role of Gender and Caste in Climate Adaptation Strategies in Nepal EMILY
Session 15
Wednesday, November 16
Climate justice
60. Three Faces of Climate Justice. Canvas MARY
61. A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution HENRY
62. Can California’s Cap and Trade Actually Address Environmental Justice? ADITI
63. Is carbon offsetting the solution? (Or part of the problem?) MADDIE
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/jun/10/ethicalliving.carbonemissions
64. Urban Heatwaves Are Worse For Low-Income Neighborhoods JENNIFER
Session 16
Monday, November 21
Climate finance and insurance
65. Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance YACOV
66. A broke, and broken, flood insurance program ELLA
67. Signaling climate resilience to municipal bond markets: does membership in adaptation‑focused voluntary clubs affect bond rating? Canvas TALIA
68. Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change MIA
69. A Managed decline for Oil-Dependent Regions: How sovereign wealth funds can support a just transition to clean energy. LACEY
Session 17
Wednesday, November 23
Business dimension
70. Performative and political: Corporate constructions of climate change risk ISABELL
71. Milton Friedman Versus Jeff Bezos on Climate Leadership CAROLINA
72. An ESG Reckoning Is Coming ADITI
https://hbr.org/2021/03/an-esg-reckoning-is-coming
73. The impact of climate change on the pattern of demand for bottled water and non-alcoholic beverages. MATT C Canvas
74. The Power to Stay: Climate, Cocoa, and the Politics of Displacement. PEYTON Canvas
Session 18
Monday, November 28
In-class presentations
Ataee Mallih
Baker Emily
Bartholomew Lindsay
Chalfant Matt
Dearmondmacleod Owen
Degarlais Nolan
Dollinger Matthew
Session 19
Wednesday, November 30
In-class presentations
Dubeau Thomas
Ge Qi
Groshart Peyton
Hirshblond Emma
Ives Taleah
Kleyn Lucas
Lai Sarah
Session 20
Monday, December 5
In-class presentations
Lim Shern
Lombroia Nicholas
Lozier Lauren
Malone Alexa
Menon Aditi
Nguyen Mary
O'Reilly Maddie
Research Paper is due
Session 21
Wednesday, December 7
In-class presentations
Oppliger Jennifer
Paley Yacov
Persson Ella
Pettitt Talia
Rendahl Mia
Robertson Lacey
Schou Isabella
Valdez, Carolina