POLS 322: Climate Policy & Energy Policy

Climate and energy policy are highly complex issues with profound consequences for human society. This is particularly true when one considers the role hydrocarbons play in creating anthropogenic climate change. If not addressed by government in the near-term, the climate crisis will prove to have catastrophic impacts. As a result, climate and energy will be the most important policy issues facing national leaders during the coming decades. This class will start by examining the contours of the climate crisis, before transitioning to the policy solutions that might be adopted to mitigate an exponential increase of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere (many of which fall within the realm of energy policy).