ENVS 224 - Climate Change Policy

FC SSCI

4 credits
Many consider climate change the fundamental environmental challenge of our time. Scientists agree that climate change is happening, that humans have caused it and that it will have significant impacts (largely negative) for all societies, all ecosystems, and all species. In this sense, climate change represents both an unprecedented policy challenge for policymakers and a unique opportunity to reorient society towards a more sustainable path. This course examines policy efforts to do something about climate change. It looks at mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation efforts to prepare for and increase resiliency in the face of likely impacts. We will examine the evolution of climate change policy efforts at both the international level and in the United States. We will also investigate different climate policy tools (such as tax incentives and renewable energy portfolios) and the environmental, economic, political, and social dimensions of using them. While past policy efforts have been found lacking, more recent policy actions such as the US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 offer hope by addressing the shortcomings of previous plans. We will analyze these recent policies. Through a Group US State Climate Change Analysis exercise, students will be able to analyze the extent to which state Climate Change Action and Adaptation Plans can be effective and suggest ways to improve them.

Sustainability
This course is appropriate for new students.