Tel. 650-996-3122
Armin Rosencranz
(calls always
welcome)
Office hours by apptmt in
EM: arminr@umd.edu VMH
3131
PUAF 660
CLIMATE POLICY WORKSHOP
Objectives of Course
First, we want to share a common base of knowledge about global climate change and mitigation options. Elements contributing to this knowledge are An Inconvenient Truth;
Elizabeth Kolbert’s New Yorker articles on climate change, or the compilation of those articles into her book, Field Notes from a Catastrophe; the various energy options elaborated in the Scientific American energy issue, September ’06; and the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, to be released on 2/2/07.
Second, we want to learn as much as we can from the manuscript chapters submitted for the forthcoming volume Climate Change Science and Policy, edited by Schneider, Rosencranz and Mastrandrea. Working in five teams of three people each, we’ll critically review and discuss these 40 chapters over eight weeks. In individual reviews, we’ll seek to offer the authors feedback on readability, clarity, apparent omissions or extraneous material, and other editorial suggestions. Each team will be facilitated by a class member: Jonathan, Julia, Russ, Elizabeth and Brian. The substantive material will be summarized and shared with the class each week.
Third, we’ll devote the last few weeks of the class building a composite federal climate change policy statute, to be submitted to the chairs of the relevant Senate and House committees. We’ll analyze and extrapolate the best features of existing legislative and NGO proposals, and meet with Capitol Hill staff members to present our final product.
Weekly Schedule
Jan. 30 – Read/scan the Kolbert articles on blackboard or her Field Notes from a Catastrophe. (It’s such vivid writing that it reads quickly, even though it contains a lot of data and insight.)
Feb. 6 – Read everything you can about FAR – The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.
We’ll discuss in class what’s new in the Report.
Feb. 13 – Read the Scientific American 9-06 energy articles on blackboard.
Feb. 20 to April 17: Each team reviews and comments on a CCSP chapter each week, and shares its strengths, weaknesses and new learning in class.
April 24 – Each team will review one Congressional climate bill, one NGO (or National Commission on Energy Policy) bill and one state or European climate law to extrapolate the best (in terms of political and economic feasibility) features.
May 1 – Each team will take on the task of crafting specific language for the main sections of the bill, e.g. cap and trade, mandatory emissions standards, energy R & D, renewable portfolio standards.
May 8 – Presentation and justification of our bill to a group of House and Senate staff people organized by Armin.
Collegiality
If it works with class members’ schedules, I’d like to have
each of the five teams meet over dinner at my house,
Evaluation
Grades will be determined largely by self- and peer-evaluation, based on discussion of the initial readings; reviews and discussion of chapter manuscripts; and participation in the preparation and justification of the draft federal climate change bill.