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
- The nature of environmental problems
- Evolution of American Environmental Policy and Public Opinion
- How Policy is Made
- Official and Unofficial Policy Actors
- Translating Environmental Statutes
- The Implementation of Environmental Policy
- Pollution
- Energy and natural resources
- Evaluating Environmental Policy
- Environmental Justice
- The future of climate change