Syllabus

Syllabus

Introduction

This course surveys environmental politics and policy, primarily in the United States. We will examine the nature and scope of environmental, energy, and natural resource problems; contrasting perspectives on their severity and policy implications; the goals and strategies of the environmental community and its opponents; public opinion on the environment; scientific, economic, political, and institutional forces that shape policymaking and implementation; approaches to environmental policy analysis; and selected issues in environmental policy both within the U.S. and globally.

Textbook

  • Rinfret, Sara and Michelle Pautz. 2023. U.S. Environmental Policy in Action: Practice and Implementation. Palgrave MacMillan.
  • Hernan, R. E. (2010). This borrowed earth: lessons from the fifteen worst environmental disasters around the world. Macmillan.

Lectures

  1. The nature of environmental problems
  2. Evolution of American environmental policy and public opinion
  3. How policy is made
  4. Official and unofficial policy actors
  5. Translating environmental statutes
  6. The implementation of environmental policy
  7. Pollution
  8. Energy and natural resources
  9. Evaluating environmental policy
  10. Environmental justice
  11. The future of climate change