- Winter 2022
Syllabus Description:
Climate Politics and Governance
(POL S 403b)
Aseem Prakash
Winter 2022
Class Time:
Tuesday and Thursday, 1:30-3:20
Savery 137
The first week of this course will be conducted via live Zoom sessions at the scheduled class times. These sessions will be recorded and will capture the presenter’s audio, video and computer screen. Student audio and video will be recorded if they share their computer audio and video during the recorded session. The recordings will only be accessible to students enrolled in the course. These recordings will not be shared with or accessible to the public. Students may opt to keep their cameras off or change their Zoom screen name to conceal personal identifying information.
Online Office Hours:
For an 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. Also, an easy way to access (many) articles is to copy and paste the article title in <scholar.google.com>.
Course Expectations
This course requires active student participation (if you are in a different time zone and will view the recorded seminar only, please get in touch with me). You are expected to energetically and thoughtfully contribute to class discussions in the following ways.
Writing Memos
Article memos
For every session, 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 Sunday noon for the Tuesday class, and by Wednesday noon for the Thursday class. The discussant-presenter should budget about 10 minutes for the in-class oral presentation. 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 noon for the Tuesday class, and by Wednesday noon for the Thursday 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 discussed in the class.
Please note: If you are assigned to present a specific article for session 3 (and writing an 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 February 1 and a five-page (single-spaced; excluding references and tables) research paper is due March 10. I recommend structuring your paper in sections and subsections.
We will also schedule presentations (10 minutes per student) towards the end of the quarter
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: 30 points (10 points per memo * 3 memos)
Key Questions Memos: 30 points (5 points per memo * 6 memos)
Class Participation: 20 points
Research Paper: 10 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 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 an 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
Tuesday, January 4
Syllabus and course expectations
- Can ‘the people’ solve climate change? France decided to find out
- Think You’re Making Good Climate Choices? Take This Mini-Quiz
Session 2
Thursday, January 6
Overview
HEIDI
- Can we save the planet by shrinking the economy?
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22408556/save-planet-shrink-economy-d...
SAM
- We Made Wildfire an Enemy for 110 Years. It Could Have Been an Ally.
ZOE LEW
- Climate Strikes: What They Accomplish and How They Could Have More Impact
BRANDON
- How SUVs conquered the world — at the expense of its climate
https://grist.org/climate/how-suvs-conquered-the-world-at-the-expense-of...
NATE
- The dark side of ‘green energy’ and its threat to the nation’s environment
Session 3
Tuesday, January 11
Perspective and approaches
GRANT
- On the divergent American reactions to terrorism and climate change.
Canvas.
RACHEL G
- Climate change and the Syrian civil war revisited.
Canvas.
RACHEL H
- Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis
ERIC
- The ‘Green Energy’ That Might Be Ruining the Planet
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/26/biomass-carbon-climate-politics-477620
PALMER
- The Activists Who Embrace Nuclear Power
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-activists-who-embrace-nuclear-power
Session 4
Thursday, January 13
Challenges in climate mitigation
NICOLE
- Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of US climate change counter-movement organizations.
Canvas
LILY
- Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative White males in the United States.
Canvas
DAVID
- Solar federalism: What explains the variation in solar capacity additions by India’s states?
http://sites.utexas.edu/busby/files/2021/01/1-s2.0-S221462962030390X-main.pdf
MARISSA
- Do Windy Areas have more Wind Turbines: An Empirical Analysis of Wind Installed Capacity in Native Tribal Nations. Canvas
RACHEL L
- The Quest to Trap Carbon in Stone—and Beat Climate Change, Canvas
Session 5
Tuesday, January 18
Barriers to climate response
EMMA ROSE
- How climate change could spark the next home mortgage disaster
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/30/climate-change-mortgage-housing...
ZOE M
- Jobs And Climate Change: America's (Rust) Belt And Road Initiative
EMMA MERCER
- Carbon leakages through trade
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/climate/outsourcing-carbon-emissions....
IAN
- Palm Oil Was Supposed to Help Save the Planet. Instead It Unleashed a Catastrophe.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/magazine/palm-oil-borneo-climate-catastrophe.html
EMILY ROSE
- The Battle of Thacker Pass: Electric cars require a lot of lithium. A showdown in Nevada shows that getting it won’t be easy.
https://grist.org/climate/the-west-has-a-new-front-in-the-war-over-elect...
Session 6
Thursday, January 20
New issues
RAENY
- How New England bungled its plan to transition to renewable energy.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/29/maine-renewable-energy-hydropower-new-england
JEN
- Solar geoengineering as part of an overall strategy for meeting the 1.5 C Paris target.
Canvas
HYUNG
- Chile Writes Its Constitution, Confronting Climate Change Head On
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/climate/chile-constitution-climate-ch...
JAMES
- Legal Experts Define a New Global Crime: ‘Ecocide
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22062021/ecocide-definition-panel-international-crime/
TIFFANY
- Industrial Agriculture, an Extraction Industry Like Fossil Fuels, a Growing Driver of Climate Change
_________________________________________ Module 2 ___________________________________
Session 7
Tuesday, January 25
Adaptation
LUCY
- The politics of climate change adaptation
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-025739
ERIN
- High mountain communities and climate change: adaptation, traditional ecological knowledge, and institutions.
Canvas
SAM
- Farmworkers at Risk
https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/farmworkers-at-risk-r...
HEIDI
- In the waterlogged Netherlands, climate change is considered neither a hypothetical nor a drag on the economy. Instead, it’s an opportunity.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/15/world/europe/climate-change-rotterdam.html
Session 8
Thursday, January 27
Incorporating adaptation in the policy process
NATE
- Exploring the Adaptation-Mitigation Relationship: Does Information on the Costs of Adapting to Climate Change Influence Support for Mitigation?
Canvas
GRANT
- Outdoor Recreation and Climate Adaptation
https://houserepublicans.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OrcaPlanReport-FINAL-112421.pdf
RACHEL H
- Barriers to Municipal Climate Adaptation: Examples From Coastal Massachusetts’ Smaller Cities and Towns
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01944363.2014.949590?src=recsys
RACHEL G
- The Jersey shore would rather fight flooding with walls than retreat
Paper outline is due
Session 9
Tuesday, February 1
Droughts and climate change
ERIC
- Wall Street Eyes Billions in the Colorado’s Water
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/business/colorado-river-water-rights....
PALMER
- In southeastern Arizona, farms drill a half-mile deep while families pay the price
BRANDON
- Managing drought risk in a changing climate: The role of national drought policy.
Canvas
ERIN
- Drought and the Future of Rural Communities: Opportunities and challenge for climate change adaptation in regional Victoria, Australia
Canvas
Session 10
Thursday, February 3
Global Energy Transition
Guest Speaker: Scott Montgomery
- World Energy Outlook 2021: Executive Summary
https://prod.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2021/executive-summary
- Green Upheaval New Geopolitics of Energy
Canvas
- The energy debate over "green colonialism" in Africa
Canvas
Session 11
Tuesday, February 8
Climate migration
ZOE L
- What can we learn from the practice of development-forced displacement and resettlement for organised resettlements in response to climate change?
LILY
- The climate crisis, migration, and refugees
https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-climate-crisis-migration-and-refugees/
DAVID
- Climate change as a migration driver from rural and urban Mexico.
Canvas.
MARISSA
- The impact of climate change on tribal communities in the US: displacement, relocation, and human rights.
Canvas.
RACHEL L
- Willingness to Help Climate Migrants: A Survey Experiment in the Korail Slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Canvas
Session 12
Thursday, February 10
Gender and climate change
EMMA
- Effects of gender on climate change knowledge and concern in the American public.
Canvas.
ZOE M
- Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender and climate change.
Canvas
IAN
- Is adaptation to climate change gender neutral? Lessons from communities dependent on livestock and forests in northern Mali.
Canvas
RAENY
- The Role of Gender and Caste in Climate Adaptation Strategies in Nepal
Session 13
Tuesday, February 15
Climate justice
JEN
- Three Faces of Climate Justice
Canvas
EMILY
- California’s plan to slash solar subsidies seems backwards. It’s not https://grist.org/energy/californias-plan-to-slash-solar-subsidies-seems...
HYUNG
- Can California’s Cap and Trade Actually Address Environmental Justice?
JAMES
- Is carbon offsetting the solution? (Or part of the problem?)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/jun/10/ethicalliving.carbonemissions
TIFFANY
- Urban Heatwaves Are Worse For Low-Income Neighborhoods
_____________________________________Module 3________________________________________
Session 14
Thursday, February 17
Climate finance and insurance
LUCY
57. Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/climate/wildfires-insurance.html?acti...
SAM
58. A broke, and broken, flood insurance program
HEIDI
59. Rising seas may wipe out these Jersey towns, but they're still rated AAA
NATE
60. Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change
GRANT
61. A Managed decline for Oil-Dependent Regions: How sovereign wealth funds can support a just transition to clean energy .
https://www.sightline.org/2020/09/08/a-managed-decline-for-oil-dependent...
Session 15
Tuesday, February 22
Climate Anxiety
Guest Speaker: Dr. Robert Berley
62. Adams, M. “Apocalypse When? (Not) thinking or talking about climate change
https://archive.discoversociety.org/2015/03/01/apocalypse-when-not-think...
63. Resources for working with Climate emotions - A collaboration between Gen Dread and The All We Can Save Project., https://gendread.substack.com/p/resources-for-working-with-climate
64. Recognizing Eco-Anxiety - What It Is and Ways You Might Be Affected, https://www.shondaland.com/live/body/a30470585/recognizing-eco-anxiety-w...
Canvas
Session 16
Thursday, February 24
Consumer responsibility
RACHEL G
65. Consumers' preferences for carbon labels and the underlying reasoning. A mixed methods approach in 6 European countries
RACHEL H
66. Consumer Readiness to Reduce Meat Consumption for the Purpose of Environmental Sustainability: Insights from Norway
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/3058/htm
ERIC
67. Carbon labels in tourism: persuasive communication?
Canvas
PALMER
68. Consumer behavior and climate change: consumers need considerable assistance
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154621000309
Session 17
Tuesday, March 1
Business dimension
BRANDON
69. Performative and political: Corporate constructions of climate change risk
ERIN
70. The Power to Stay: Climate, Cocoa, and the Politics of Displacement
Canvas
ZOE LEW
71. An ESG Reckoning Is Coming
https://hbr.org/2021/03/an-esg-reckoning-is-coming
LILY
72. The impact of climate change on the pattern of demand for bottled water and non-alcoholic beverages.
Canvas
DAVID
73.
Different Approaches to Reducing Aviation Emissions: Reviewing the Structure-Agency Debate in Climate Policy.
Canvas
Session 18
Thursday, March 3
Mcphail Zoe
Murphy Ian Michael
Muterspaugh Emily Rose
Nichols Raeny Michal
Ortiz Jen
Park Hyung Min
Rasmussen James Vincent
Terry Lucy Ella
Session 19
Tuesday, March 7
In-class presentations
Shin Tiffany
Palmer Holt
Howe Brandon
Kelly Erin Nicole
Kinyon Lily Anne
Lin David Chen
Look Marissa Miu-Wah
Luther Rachel
Maggioncalda Emma
Research Paper is due
Session 20
Thursday, March 10
In-class presentations
Lew Zoe
Barbezat Sam
Cahill Heidi Rose
Denke Nate
Fourkas Grant Peter
Glessner Rachel
Hinnant Rachel Solenne
Holmquist Eric David