90-767, Climate Change, Energy Policy and Sustainable Development
12 units
Prerequisites: None
Delivery Format: On-Campus
Description: Early in 2001 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will
issue its Third Assessment Report on the state of the world's
climate. A summary of the report was recently released to
governments in advance of the November, 2000 COP-6 meeting of the
parties to the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC)
and its 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the key international instruments
dealing with the problem. The IPCC's 3rd assessment report paints a
considerably bleaker picture of global warming than its 2nd report
issued in 1995, which predicted an increase of between 1.8 and 6.3
degrees Fahrenheit in the earth's average surface air temperature
due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) if
mitigation measures were not taken. The new report predicts an
increase of no less than 11 degrees fahrenheit by the end of this
century, and confirms that "there is stronger evidence of human
influence" on climate. Significantly, much of the increase is
attributed to a decline in sulfate emissions resulting from air
quality control measures implemented by many industrialized nations
and hence a decline in the cooling effect of these sulfates, a
classic example of the interrelated nature of air and atmosphere
related environmental problems. The goal of the COP-6 negotiations is to work out the details of
the methods and mechanisms by which states parties may implement
the commitments made in the Protocol (in which industrialized
countries agreed to an average overall reduction of 5.2 percent of
GHGs from 1990 levels in the period 2008 - 2012). These include
direct domestic reductions in emissions of six GHGs, and the use of
"sinks" to increase carbon absorption, as well as Joint
Implementation (JI) programs with other states, Emissions Trading
and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). This course will examine the problem of climate change and
energy policy, and the applicable international and national legal
instruments and institutional arrangements, bearing in mind the
interconnectedness of environmental problems and mitigation
measures noted above. The course will draw on both a recent
textbook on the subject and current primary source materials such
as the IPCC reports, the FCCC and Kyoto Protocol texts and other
international instruments, the negotiation proceedings of and
decisions adopted by the conferences of the parties, national
legislation and regulations and government programs and statements
of policy, and academic, NGO and industry studies. It will cover
the FCCC/Protocol commitments and mitigation measures and flexible
mechanisms. It will also consider the current use and regulation of
energy sources such as coal, oil, natural gas, hydropower and
nuclear, and the use of alternative energy sources other than
fossil fuels in manufacturing and power plants and transportation,
such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, fuel cells and hydrogen,
as well as energy efficiency programs, combined heat and power,
soil sequestration and other mitigation measures. It will also
examine measures and technologies adopted by the private sector,
including the energy and manufacturing industries, automobile
manufacturers and oil companies. During the course of study and in assigned work, students will
learn how to undertake structured policy analysis and develop
policy recommendations. The course will concentrate on energy
policy in the United States, but other industrialized countries and
key developing countries such as China, India and others will also
be examined.
Last modified on June 1, 2006
