Fall 2025

Climate Politics and Governance (POL S 458A)

Class: Monday and Wednesday, 130-320, Communications 228

Office Hours:  By appointment, please email <aseem@uw.edu>

Course Objective:  Climate change is perhaps the defining challenge of this era. Because it critically affects every aspect of our lives, climate governance is a complex and contested issue. There are several ways climate policies can support economic growth and create new opportunities. However, climate policies can also create winners and losers, leading to social conflict. This undergraduate seminar will explore key policy issues in climate governance, including mitigation and adaptation policies, climate migration, climate justice, and climate finance. We will examine the effectiveness of existing approaches and identify new initiatives that can help us address the climate challenge.

Readings:  Readings are either uploaded to 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, students are not allowed to use phones, tablets, laptops, or any other Internet-connected devices during class. Please take notes using a pen and a notebook.

 Course Expectations

This course requires active student participation. You are expected to contribute thoughtfully and energetically to class discussions in the following ways.

In addition, I have created an online discussion board on Canvas. The reasons are threefold. Often, I cannot call on everybody to share their views. But I (and others as well) want to hear what you have to say. The discussion board will provide a platform to share your thoughts.

Second, some students may reflect on the class discussion and have additional thoughts. You are welcome to share your thoughts on the discussion board. While you must contribute to class discussions, I will also consider your contributions to the discussion board when grading class participation (as long as you post these comments by Tuesday, 1200 noon for the topics covered in the Monday class, and by Thursday, 1200 noon for the topics covered in the Wednesday class).

Online comments are subject to the same rules and norms as in-class discussions: be respectful, learn to disagree without being disagreeable, and engage in good faith.

Writing Memos

Article memos

For every session (except when we have guest speakers), students will be assigned an article to present and critique. The discussant-presenter should prepare a two-page (single-spaced) “Article Memo” that summarizes the article, examines its strengths and weaknesses, and identifies questions it raises for future research. Please email this memo to me by Sunday at 12:00 noon for the Monday class and by Tuesday at 12:00 noon for the Wednesday class. The discussant-presenter should budget about 10 minutes for the in-class oral presentation (no PowerPoint). 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 before 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 one page (single-spaced) and reach me by 12:00 noon on Sunday for the Monday afternoon class, and by 12:00 noon on Tuesday for the Wednesday afternoon class.

I have divided the course into three modules, each comprising approximately seven class sessions.  You need to write two key question memos (for two different class sessions) from every module (this means six key question memos in total).

Think of Module 1. Suppose you want to engage with the articles assigned for 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 write the article memo), you cannot write a key question memo for this session.

Research Paper

Identify two countries, cities, or firms and compare their responses to climate change. You cannot write about the US, Washington state, California, Seattle, King County, or China.  

In terms of process,

• 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 the climate policies of these units?
• Do you expect the responses of these units to 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 on November 1, and a five-page (single-spaced; excluding references and tables) research paper is due on December 6.

I recommend structuring your paper into sections and subsections. We will also schedule presentations (15 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 follow the departmental guidelines: https://depts.washington.edu/psteach/grading%20system.html

Article Memos:                        30 points (15 Points per memo * 2 Memos (OR) 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 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

__________________Module 1_____________________

Session 1,  Wednesday, September 24

Syllabus and course expectations

1. Different approaches to reducing aviation emissions: reviewing the structure-agency debate in climate policy. PAIGE JENKINS 

 https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-022-00001-w

2. Did your handbag help destroy the Rainforest? ADITI MANGLA

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/style/lvmh-nike-prada-amazon-deforestation.html

3. Concerned about your data use? Here is the carbon footprint of an

average day of emails, WhatsApps and more AURORA MONTELONGO

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/31/concerned-about-your-data-use-here-is-the-carbon-footprint-of-an-average-day-of-emails-whatsapps-and-more

4. Why people aren’t motivated to address climate change. MADELINE POOL

https://hbr.org/2018/10/why-people-arent-motivated-to-address-climate-change

5. Taylor Swift and climate change: Is the youth “Shaking Off” or embracing carbon-intensive lifestyles? HANA HAMRAH

https://www.forbes.com/sites/prakashdolsak/2023/08/02/taylor-swift-and-climate-change-is-the-youth-shaking-off-or-embracing-carbon-intensive-lifestyles/?sh=64159f425c08

Session 2,  Monday, September 29

Overview

6. Texas is the country’s clean energy leader, almost in spite of itself WESLEY

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17022022/inside-clean-energy-texas-clean-energy-leader/

7. Research on Degrowth RISHI

Canvas

8. A wildfire may have forever changed this Colorado community — and who can afford to live there  AIDAN

https://grist.org/wildfires/in-the-wake-of-a-wildfire-who-gets-to-rebuild-grand-county-colorado/

9. A New York power line divided environmentalists. Here’s what it says about the larger climate fight. GAVIN

https://grist.org/energy/a-new-york-power-line-divided-environmentalists-heres-what-it-says-about-the-larger-climate-fight/

10. WA survivors of Minidoka reckon with uneasy victory in Trump order MAKALYLA  Canvas

 Session 3, Wednesday, October 1

Perspective and approaches

11. Climate change and the Syrian civil war revisited. KRISHNA

Canvas

12. The rebound effect and the challenge of moving beyond fossil fuels: A  review of empirical and theoretical research AMY
Canvas

13. Why California’s housing market is destined to go up in flames CASANDRA

https://grist.org/housing/california-housing-market-wildfire-climate-change/Links to an external site.

14.  Electric vehicles: solution or new problem? WILL VINCENT

Canvas

15. The climate paradox: AI’s role in both saving and sabotaging the planet. CHLOE 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1873633/the-climate-paradox-ais-role-in-both-saving-and-sabotaging-the-planet

Session 4, Monday, October 6

Ongoing Debates

 16. The value of unrealistic targets: why some climate activists are unwilling to abandon the 1.5 °C target BLAKE

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-024-00118-0?utm_source=rct_congratemailt&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oa_20240422&utm_content=10.1038/s44168-024-00118-0#citeasThe 

17. Is climate anxiety a pressing problem, or a luxury? KIELE

https://grist.org/culture/climate-change-anxiety-mental-health-backlash/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily 

18. ‘Tipping points’ confuse and can distract from urgent climate action JADA

Canvas 

19. It Isn’t Just the U.S. The Whole World Has Soured on Climate Politics.

    ANGIE

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/magazine/climate-politics-us-world-paris-agreement.html

1. 1. Wind and solar power generators wait in years long lines to put clean electricity on the grid, then face huge interconnection fees they can’t afford SKYLAR

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/06/outdated-us-energy-grid-tons-of-clean-energy-stuck-waiting-in-line.html  

Session 5,  Wednesday, October 8

 Barriers to climate response 

21. Making Florida More Flood Resistant Is Forcing Hard Choices for Homeowners REYNA,  Canvas

22. African nations’ dash for gas exposes division at the UN and ‘hypocrisy’ in Europe PL

https://www.climatechangenews.com/2022/05/25/african-nations-dash-for-gas-exposes-division-at-the-un-and-hypocrisy-in-europe/ 

23. Does a “Taylor Swift Effect” Encourage Pro-Social Behavior?  

    Celebrity endorsement and Individual willingness to purchase carbon offsets

    CHENG  Canvas

24. Palm oil was supposed to help save the planet. Instead it unleashed a catastrophe. WILL MIXON

 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/magazine/palm-oil-borneo-climate-catastrophe.html 

25. Legal experts define a new global crime: Ecocide SAHEJ

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22062021/ecocide-definition-panel-international-crime/

Session 6,  Monday, October 13

Challenges in climate mitigation 

26. Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative White males in the United States.  ASHLEY

Canvas 

27. Advancing bipartisan decarbonization policies: lessons from state-level successes and failures. LAUREN

Canvas 

28. How Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels MICHAEL S.

https://grist.org/buildings/how-germany-outfitted-half-a-million-balconies-with-solar-panels/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily 

29. Growing deviations between elite and non-elite media coverage of climate change in the United States CLAUDIA

Canvas 

30. The controversies at the heart of California’s solar net-metering fight CHARISSE  https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/the-controversies-at-the-heart-of-californias-solar-net-metering-fight

 _____________________ Module  2 _____________________

Session 7,  Wednesday, October 15

New issues 

31. Solar geoengineering and climate change LUKE

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47551  

32. Comparing Public and NGO Support for Deep-Sea Mining TIA   Canvas

33. The battle of Thacker Pass SKYLAR

https://grist.org/climate/the-west-has-a-new-front-in-the-war-over-electric-cars/ 

34. Justice or overreach? As crucial test looms, Big Greens are under fire PAIGE

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/19/big-green-justice-environment-00040148Links to an external site. 

35. From childhood blue space exposure to adult environmentalism: The role of nature connectedness and nature contact  AIDAN

Canvas

Session 8 , Monday, October 20

Climate Movement 

36. Varieties of climate activism: assessing public support for mainstream and unorthodox climate action in the United Kingdom CASANDRA

https://beta.iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/ad9382 

37. Environmental Movements, Climate Change, and Consumption in South Africa  AURORA

          Canvas           

38. When, where, and which climate activists have vandalized museums HANA

          https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-023-00054-5 

39. Climate shaming: explaining environmental NGOs targeting practices. Canvas.

ADITI

40. Globalizing opposition to pro-environmental institutions: The growth of counter climate change organizations around the world, 1990 to 2018 RISHI

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0315012

Session 9,  Wednesday, October 22

Business and Climate Change 

41. Climate change and the politicization of ESG in the US. WESLEY https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/political-science/articles/10.3389/fpos.2024.1332399/full

42. Does ESG privilege climate action over social and governance issues? A content analysis of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s annual letters

    GAVIN

https://journals.plos.org/sustainabilitytransformation/article?id=10.1371/journal.pstr.0000090 

43. Pope Francis, climate message, and meat tax: evidence from survey experiment in Italy. MAKAYLA

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-023-00040-x 

44. The impact of climate change on the pattern of demand for bottled water and non-alcoholic beverages. CHLOE

Canvas 

45. Carbon labels in tourism: persuasive communication? WILL VINCENT

Canvas

Session 10,  Monday, October 27

Adaptation   

46. The politics of climate change adaptation ADITI https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-025739 

47. High mountain communities and climate change: adaptation, traditional ecological knowledge, and institutions. KRISHNA

Canvas  

48. How Tiny Energy Grids Help Towns Weather Hurricanes, Wildfires, and More AIDAN

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-renewable-powered-microgrids-help-towns-weather-hurricanes-wildfires-and/ 

49. Americans’ Views on How to Address the Impacts of Extreme Weather MADELINE

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2025/05/29/americans-views-on-how-to-address-the-impacts-of-extreme-weather/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=a8d938fd77-Weekly_5-31-25&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-a8d938fd77-400924106

50. In the waterlogged Netherlands, climate change is considered neither a hypothetical nor a drag on the economy. Instead, it’s an opportunity. TIA  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/15/world/europe/climate-change-rotterdam.html  

Paper outline is due

Session 11

Wednesday, October 29

Incorporating adaptation in the policy process  

51. Exploring the adaptation-mitigation relationship SKYLAR

Canvas 

52. Outdoor recreation and climate adaptation JADA

https://houserepublicans.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OrcaPlanReport-FINAL-112421.pdf 

53. Lessons from New York: What makes a community turn against climate adaptation? BLAKE

https://grist.org/climate/lessons-from-new-york-what-makes-a-community-turn-against-climate-adaptation/ 

54. A 20-Foot Sea Wall? Miami Faces the Hard Choices of Climate Change. ANGIE

Canvas

55. Can burying power lines prevent California’s next big wildfire? REYNA https://grist.org/wildfires/can-burying-power-lines-prevent-california-next-wildfire-pge/  

Session 12

Monday, November 3

Droughts and climate change 

56. How America’s Diet Is Feeding the Groundwater Crisis PL https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/24/climate/groundwater-crisis-chicken-cheese.html 

57. In southeastern Arizona, farms drill a half-mile deep while families pay the price CHENG

https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-environment/2019/12/05/wells-drying-up-around-willcox-where-effort-change-groundwater-rules-failed/2357906001/ 

58. Water Security in Africa in the Age of Global Climate Change. WILL MIXON

Canvas 

59. First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate in California, MICHAEL S

https://theconversation.com/first-solar-canal-project-is-a-win-for-water-energy-air-and-climate-in-california-177433  

60. The effects of extreme drought on climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and adaptation attitudes SAHEJ

Canvas

____________________Module 3 _____________________

 Session 13,  Wednesday, November 5

Climate migration  

62. Climate change as a migration driver from rural and urban Mexico. Canvas ASHLEY
63. Why ‘climate havens’ might be closer to home than you’d think LAUREN

https://grist.org/migration/climate-havens-national-climate-assessment-midwest-migration/ 

63. Welcoming climate refugees to the United States: Do attitudes depend on refugee origins, numbers, or permanence? CLAUDIA

Canvas

64. Gender and climate change-induced migration: proposing a framework for analysis CHARISSE

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/7/2/025601/pdf 

65. Willingness to Help Climate Migrants: A Survey Experiment in the Korail Slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh. LUKE

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0249315

Session 14,  Monday, November 10

Gender and climate change 

66. Effects of gender on climate change knowledge and concern in the American public. TIA

Canvas 

67. Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender and climate change. SKYLAR

Canvas 

68. Is adaptation to climate change gender neutral? Lessons from communities dependent on livestock and forests in northern Mali. HANA

Canvas  

69. Gender in climate change, agriculture, and natural resource policies: insights from East Africa PAIGE

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-019-02447-0 

70. Uncertain predictions, invisible impacts, and the need to mainstream gender in climate change adaptations. 

Canvas

Session 15,  Wednesday, November 12

Climate justice  

71. Three faces of climate justice. KEILE

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-125514 

72. How the world’s favorite conservation model was built on colonial violence

https://grist.org/indigenous/30x30-world-conservation-model-colonialism-indigenous-peop/ 

73. Can California’s Cap and Trade Actually Address Environmental Justice? https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/11/20/california-pollution-cap-trade 

74. Varieties of just transition: Public support in South Africa’s Mpumalanga coal community for different policy options

https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000205 

75. Urban Heatwaves Are Worse For Low-Income Neighborhoods

https://www.forbes.com/sites/prakashdolsak/2020/08/14/urban-heatwaves-are-worse-for-low-income-neighborhoods/#560f3c0819d5 .

Session 16,  Monday, November 17

Climate finance and insurance  

76. Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/climate/wildfires-insurance.html 

77. World Bank climate funding greens African hotels while fishermen sink

https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/04/16/world-bank-climate-funding-greens-african-hotels-while-fishermen-sink/Links to an external site. 

78. Signaling climate resilience to municipal bond markets: does membership in adaptation‑focused voluntary clubs affect bond rating? 

Canvas 

79. How to Slow Climate Change While Fighting Poverty

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/07/cop27-green-aid-slow-climate-change-while-fighting-poverty/ 

80. 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-regions/

Session 17,  Wednesday, November 19

In-class presentations

 Session 18,  Monday, November 24

In-class presentations

 Session 19,  Wednesday, November 26

In-class presentations

 Session 20,  Monday, December 1

In-class presentations

Research Paper is due

Session 21,  Wednesday, December 3

In-class presentations