ES/GO338. Climate Change Politics

MW, 2:30-3:45, Olin 234           

Office hours: W: 8-9:30; F:11-12.30

Professor Liliana B. Andonova

landonov@colby.edu   

Miller 256; x5312

The course explores the politics of climate change cooperation. It provides background of the underlying climate science, and introduces the international framework for climate policy negotiation under the UN Convention on Climate Change. Through reading, research, and discussion we examine what is the role of states, industries, local governments, cities, public advocates, and the media in climate change politics. What is the likely distribution of costs and benefits of climate regulations? What institutions are required to support a billion dollar international market in green house gas emissions? What incentives could bring the US and developing countries more squarely into the game? One component of the course will be the preparation of case studies on the positions of key states and simulated negotiations on future provisions under the Kyoto Protocol or an alternative climate policy framework.

Grading:

Class participation (10%)

Country case study (20%)

Midterm examination I (25%)

Midterm examination II (25%)

Final group project (20%)

Course requirements:

Participation: Students are expected to do the assigned readings before class, and come prepared to discuss them. To facilitate more active participation, each student will be required to e-mail to the class one discussion question on the readings by 1pm on the day of the class. Questions can range from issues that you found really interesting or troubling, to issues that you found particularly unclear or confusing. Class discussion is an important component of the course and will be reflected in the final grade.

Country case study: Each student will be required to prepare a 5-8-page case study on the climate change policies of one country, and present that case study in class. Country assignments will be made during the second meeting of the class. Guidance on researching, writing, and presenting a case study will be provided by the professor in class and individual meetings as needed.

Final project: The final project will require the class as a group to prepare a position paper on future commitments under the Kyoto Protocol or on commitments under a framework alternative to the Kyoto Protocol. The group position paper and presentation will be supported by individual, 2-page-long country positions. Individual grades for the final project will consist of two components: a group grade on the position paper and presentation (10%) and evaluation of individual country position papers (10%).

Required Texts:

Paul G. Harris, ed. 2003. Global Warming and East Asia. The Domestic and International Politics of Climate Change. Routledge (Hereafter referred to as Harris)

Stephen H. Schneider, Armin Rosencranz, and John O. Niles, eds., Climate

Change Policy: A Survey (Washington: Island Press, 2002). (Hereafter referred to as CCP)

David G. Victor. 2004. Climate Change. Debating Americaís Policy Options. Available free at: www.cfr.org/climatechange

Moe, Arild and Kristian Tangen. 2000. The Kyoto Mechanisms and Russian Climate Politics. The Royal Institute of International Affairs.

The rest of the readings are on electronic reserve (R).

Class Schedule

Feb 2:

Introduction

Part I. Causes and Impacts

Feb 7:

Climate Science

Wolfson and Schneider, "Understanding Climate Science," CCP, p.3-51.

IPCC, Working Group I, "Summary for Policymakers: A Report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," (IPCC, 2001), 20pp. (R)

http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/spm22-01.pdf

Victor, D (2004). Climate Change. Debating Americaís Policy Options, p.8-19 & p.138-149 (App. C).

Jager, Jill and Tim OíRiordan. 1996. "The history of climate change science and politics." In Jager, J. and OíRiordan, T., eds. Politics of Climate Change. A European Perspective. Routledge. (p. 12-17 only! ñ The Development of Scientific Understanding) (R)

Feb 9:

Climate Impacts

Video: Changing Climates. The Impact of Global Warming (R)

IPCC, Working Group II "Summary for Policymakers, Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability," (IPCC, 2001), 18pp. Accessible at: http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/spm19-02.pdf (R)

Victor, D. 2004. Climate Change. Debating Americaís Policy Options, p.19-26 and p.130-7 (App. B).

Lynas, Mark. 2004. High Tide. The Truth about Our Climate Crisis. Chapter 6. "Peruís Melting Point." Optional: Chapter 5 "Hurricane USA." (R)

Optional: Turman, "Regional Impact Assessments: A Case Study of California," CCP, p.89-114.

Feb 14:

Uncertainty and Skeptics

Schneider and Kuntz-Duriseti, "Uncertainty and Climate Policy," CCP, p. 53-89.

John R. Christy, "The Global Warming Fiasco," in Ronald Bailey, ed.,

Global Warming and Other Eco-Myths: How the Environmental Movement Uses

False Science to Scare Us to Death (Prima Publishing, 2002), pp. 1-28. (R)

W. W. Kellog, "Response to Skeptics of Global Warming," Bulletin of the

American Meteorological Society 72(4), April 1991, pp. 499-511. (R)

"Comments on ëResponse to Skeptics of Global Warming,í" Bulletin of the

American Meteorological Society 72(9), September 1991, pp. 1392-1396. (R)

Part II. International Climate Politics

Feb 16:

The UNFCC and the Kyoto Protocol

UNFCC. "Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change " (1997). http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf (R)

Buchner, Barbara. 2005. "The Dynamics of the Climate Negotiations: A Focus on the Developments and Outcomes from The Hague to Milan." In Bothe, M. and Rehbinder, E. Climate Change Policy. Eleven International Publishing. (R)

Lynas, Mark. 2004. High Tide. The Truth about Our Climate Crisis. Chapter 7 "Feeling the Heat," 253-300. (R)

International Energy Agency. 2002. "What Happened in Bonn? The Nuts and Bolts of an Historic Agreement." PP. 1-12. (R)

Optional: "Activities Implemented Jointly," (CCP, 293-306.)

Feb 21:

EU Climate Policy

Lacasta, Nino S. et al. 2004. "Articulation Consensus: The European Unionís Position on Climate Change." Forthcoming in Paul Harris, ed. European Climate Change Policy. (R)

Jon Hovi, Tora Skodvin and Steinar Andresen. 2003. "The Persistence of the Kyoto Protocol: Why Other Annex I Countries Move on Without the United States." Global Environmental Politics 3:4, 1-23. (R)

Grubb, Michel. 2002. "Britannia Waives the Rules. The UK, the EU and Climate Change." New Economy, 1070-3535/02/030139-142. (R)

Feb 23:

EU Emissions Trading

Christiansen, Atle C. and Jorgen Wettestad. 2003. The EU as a Frontrunner on greenhouse gas emissions trading: how did it happen and will the EU Succeed? Climate Policy 3, 3-18. (R)

Lefevere, Jurgen. 2005. "The EU Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Scheme." In Bothe, M. and Rehbinder, E. Climate Change Policy. Eleven International Publishing. (R)

Stempeck, Brian. 2004. Steel Industry to revisit Eastern European factories as Kyoto goes into effect. Greenwire. 10/12/04. (R)

Feb 28:

Climate Policy of Japan

Harris, P. ed. 2004. Part III. Formulation of climate change policy in Japan (chapters 7-10, p. 133-205)

March 2:

Climate Policy of China

Harris, P., ed. 2004. Part II. China and the politics of Climate Change (chapters 3-5, p. 41-108).

Optional: Harris, P., ed. 2004. Part II. Chapter 6, p. 109-132.

March 7:

US Climate Policy

Rosencranz, US Climate Change Policy (In CCP, 221-234)

Anderson, K. "The Climate Policy Debate in the US Congress (CCP, 235-250)

Baer, Paul. "Equity, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Global Common Resources." (CCP, 393-410).

March 9:

The Future of US climate Policy: Debate

Victor, D (2004). Climate Change. Debating Americaís Policy Options

March 14:

Midterm I

March 16:

Climate Policy of Russia

Moe, Arild and Kristian Tangen. 2000. The Kyoto Mechanisms and Russian Climate Politics. The Royal Institute on International Affairs. The Royal Institute of International Affairs

Vlassova, Olga. 2003. Raking in the Green. Expert, #37 (392), October 6, 2003. (R)

March

21 & 23:

Spring break ñ no class

March 28:

Climate Policy of India and Southeast Asia

Agarwal, A. Southern Perspective on Curbing Global Climate Change (CCP, 375-393)

Agarwal, Anil and Sunita Narain. 1991. Global warming in an unequal world. A case of environmental colonialism. Earth Island Journal, 6:2, 39-41. (R)

Jyoti K. Parikh and Kirit Parikh. 2002. "Climate Change: Indiaís Perception, Positions, Policies, and Possibilities." OECD report. (R)

Harris, P., ed. 2004. Part IV. The Costs and Opportunities of Climate Change in Southeast Asia. (chapters 11-12, p. 207-236).

March 30:

Climate Policy of Brazil

Johson, Ken. 2001. "Brazil and the Politics of the Climate Change Negotiations." Journal of Environment & Development, Vol. 10, No. 2, June 2001 178-206. (R)

Viola, Eduardo and Hector Leis. 2001. "Brazil and Global Governance: the Case of Climate Change." Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change. Brazilian Perspectives. Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, edited by Daniel Joseph Higan, and Maurici Tiomno Tolmasquin. 121-156. (R)

April 4:

Climate Variability, Vulnerability, and Adaptation

Steven Zebiak, 1999. "El Nino and the science of climate prediction." Consequences: The nature and implications of environmental change. Volume 5, Number 2. (R) http://www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/vol5no2/article_1.html

Kates, Robert W. 2000. "Cautionary Tales: Adaptation and the Global Poor." Climatic Change, 45:5-17. (R)

Cane, Mark A.; Eshel, Gidon. 1994. "Forecasting Zimbabwean maize yield using eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature." Nature, 7/21/94, Vol. 370 Issue 6486, p204-06. (R)

Suliman, Mohamed. "Some Food Security Considerations." In Suliman, ed. 1990. Greenhouse Effect and Its Imapct on Africa. London: Institute for African Alternatives, p. 53-63. (R)

Broad, Kenneth and Shardul Agrawala. 2000. "The Ethiopia Food Crisis--Uses and Limits of Climate Forecasts." Science, Vol 289, Issue 5485, 1693-1694 , 8 September 2000 (R)

Part III. Transnational Climate Politics

April 6:

Energy and Climate I

Berger, Joh J. Renewable Energy Sources as a Response to Global Climate Concerns (CCP, 411-446)

Cummings, Michel B. "Fuel Cells, Carbon Sequestration, Infrastructure and the Transition to a Hydroden Economy." (CCP, 447-468)

Margolis, Robert M. and Daniel M. Kammen, Energy R&D and Innovation (CCP, 469-494)

Optional: Schneider, St. Earth Systems: Engineering and Management (CCP, 509-522)

April 11:

Energy and Climate Policy in California and Maine

Vogel, David. 1995. Chapter 1, "National Regulation in the Global Economy." In Trading Up: Consumer and Environmental Regulation in a Global Economy." Harvard University Press. (R)

Economist. 2004. "Bottom-up Greenery." Vol. 370 Issue 8367, p33, 1/2p, 1c (R)

Hakim, Danny. 2004. "California Backs Plan for Big Cut in Car Emissions." New York Times, Sept. 25, 2004. (R)

Maine Department of Environmental Protection. 2004. A Climate Action Plan for Maine 2004. p. 1-21 and p.25-29. (R) Available at

http://www.state.me.us/spo/pubs/origpdf/pdf/ClimateReport.pdf

See also: http://www.maine.gov/dep/climate.htm

US EPA. 1998. Climate Change and Maine, p. 1-4. (R)

http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/UniqueKeyLookup/SHSU5BUT6R/$File/me_impct.pdf

Edgecomb, Misty. 2004. Maine BEP adopts zero-emissions vehicle program. Bangor Daily News, December 03, 2004. (R)

April 16:

Energy and Climate: Business Perspective

Burns, Thomas G. Global Climate Change: A Business Perspective (CCP, 275-292)

Grubb, Michel. 2001. "Whoís afraid of atmospheric stabilization? Making the link between energy resources and climate change." Energy Policy 29, 837-845. (R)

Kolk, Ans and Levy, Savid. 2001. "Winds of change: corporate strategy, climate change and oil multinationals." European Management Journal, 19:5, 501-509. (R)

Skarseth, Joh and Tara Skodvin, 2001. Climate Change and the Oil Industry: Common Problems, Different Strategies." Global Environmental Politics 1:4, 43-63. (R)

April 18:

NGOs and Climate

Lars H. Gulbrandsen and Steinar Andresen. 2004. NGO Influence in the Implementation of

the Kyoto Protocol: Compliance, Flexibility Mechanisms, and Sinks. Global Environmental Politics 4:4, November 2004, 54-75 (R)

Duwe, Matthias. 2001. The Climate Action Network: global civil society at work? Reciel 10 (2): 1-14. (R)

Recommended: Elisabeth Corell and Michele M. Betsill. 2001. "A Comparative Look at NGO Influence in International Environmental Negotiations: Desertification and Climate Change." Global Environmental Politics 1:4, 86-107. (R)

April 20:

Cities and Climate

Betsill, Michelle M. and Bulekeley, Harriet. 2004. " Transnational Networks and Global

Environmental Governance: The Cities for Climate Protection Program." International Studies Quarterly, 48, 471ñ493. (R)

Betsill, Michelle M. 2001. Mitigating Climate Change in US Cities: Opportunities and Obstacles. Local Environment, Vol. 6, No. 4, 393ñ406, 2001. (R)

Rosenzweig, Cynthia and William D. Solecki. 2001a. Climate Change and a Global City:

Learning from New York. Environment 43(3):2-12. (R)

April 25:

Midterm II

April 27:

Media and Climate Change

View: The Day After Tomorrow

Leiserowitz, Anthony A. 2004. Before and After The Day After Tomorrow: A U.S. Study of Climate Change Risk Perception Environment." Environment, 46: 9, 22-38. (R)

Moser, Susanne and Lisa Dilling. 2004. "Making Climate Change Hot. Communicating the Urgency and Challenge of Global Climate Change." Environment, 46: 10, 32ñ46. (R)

Boykoff, M. and J. Boykoff. (2004) "Bias as Balance: Global Warming and the U.S. Prestige Press." Global Environmental Change. (14) 2, 125-136. (R)

Optional: Reusswig, F. et al. 2004. "Double Impact. The Climate Blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow" and its impact on the German Cinema Public." Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Report Number 92. (R)

Part IV. Beyond Kyoto

May 2:

The Next Climate Agreement: Debate and Negotiations

Bodansky, Daniel. 2003. "Climate Commitments: Assessing the Options." In Beyond Kyoto. Advancing the International Effort against Climate Change." Report of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. December 2003. (R)

Ashton, John and Xueman Wang. 2003. "Equity and Climate: In Principle and Practice." In Beyond Kyoto. Advancing the International Effort against Climate Change." Report of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. December 2003. (R)

Browne, John. 2004. "Beyond Kyoto." Foreign Affairs, July/August 2004. (R)

Schelling, Thomas D. 2002. "What Makes Greenhouse Sense? Time to Rethink the Kyoto Protocol" Foreign Affairs, May/June 2002, 81:3, 2-9. (R)

May 4:

Thinking about the Future: Final Project Presentation