The Obama Administration’s EPA created a stir when it recently proposed widely varying state carbon-intensity targets to be achieved by 2020 and permanently by 2030. Dr. Engel will discuss a recent paper that examines the bases for federal allocation, among the various states, of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to meet federal air pollution standards under the Clean Air Act.
****Watch the video**** Free and open to the public. Abstract The federal Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is the premier national example of a non-regulatory environmental policy, and it illustrates well both the potential and limitations of using information disclosure to achieve policy goals. The TRI was adopted in 1986 as an amendment to the federal Superfund law, and since 1988 we have had annual reports on the release of over 650 toxic chemicals by some 20,000 industrial facilities around the nation.
The United States has seen dramatic growth in energy development with much of it occurring on privately owned lands, creating a unique raft of opportunity and risk for landowners. The presentation reviews research on the nexus of property ownership rights and regulatory policy, with a focus on Shale and Wind Energy. It introduces the concept of 'Private Participation' in the planning and siting of energy projects and discusses how private property ownership will continue to influence the energy revolution.
Nuclear power is the primary carbon-free energy source technically capable of meeting the world's electricity needs. But current reactors use and generate special nuclear material that can be used for making nuclear weapons. Is it possible to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and simultaneously develop peaceful nuclear power technologies? At the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Panel Discussion, experts will describe and integrate technical and policy aspects of the nuclear power and nuclear nonproliferation problem.
Free and open to the public. Reception to follow in the Michigan League To register for this lecture, please visit the event website. Winona LaDuke, Internationally acclaimed American Indian author, orator, and activist The United States is the largest source of greenhouse gases in the world and influences international policy. It turns out that Native American communities have the potential to generate up to one half of present US electrical consumption through producing power from the wind.
The Mexico-U.S. cross-border integration of the oil-and-gas sector is profound, contrasting with electricity trade and renewables. Policies on both sides do not prioritize the decarbonization of the energy...
The widespread power outage in Texas in early 2021 was a devastating reminder of the importance of energy security. So was the spring 2021 ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, a line that supplies half the gasoline to the US east coast. And...
As people around the world increasingly experience the effects of climate change, governments have been slow to enact policies that are consistent with the target of keeping global warming below 2oC agreed upon at the Paris climate talks in 2015....
Reducing urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is critical to meeting larger climate change targets. Cities are responsible for as much as 75 percent of fossil fuel CO2 emissions due to high levels of energy use and consumption plus fossil...
Both the United States and Canada have made significant commitments to reduce their climate-changing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But importantly, both countries have also adopted the same grand strategy to do so: “electrify...
This paper examines the continued political challenge of developing a robust methane mitigation policy regime in most oil and gas producing jurisdictions in the United States and its North American neighbors. It invokes political scientist Matthew...
Methane emissions took the spotlight at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. In the run-up to COP26, the United States (US) and European Union (EU) announced the Global Methane Pledge, a...
Under the Biden administration and the Trudeau government, the U.S. and Canadian commitment to bilateral cooperation on climate is both strong and comprehensive. This stands in stark contrast to the complete lack of engagement under the previous...
This course will consider the capacity of North American political institutions to shape effective environmental protection policies, devoting primary emphasis to the United States but also examining Canada and...
This course will consider the capacity of North American political institutions to shape effective environmental protection policies, devoting primary emphasis to the United States but also examining Canada and...
This course examines environmental and energy policies. We discuss the sources of environmental problems and what regulations are available to remedy these problems. We also cover energy markets, including fossil fuel extraction and...
Drawing on an interdisciplinary social science literature, this course introduces theories and methodologies for science and technology policy analysis and familiarizes students with the landscape of science and technology policymaking in the US...
Climate change often feels like a problem that our brains have been hardwired to ignore. Climate change is abstract and complex, making it hard for non-scientists (including policy-makers) to...
This course examines environmental and energy policies. We discuss the sources of environmental problems and what regulations are available to remedy these problems. We also cover energy markets, including fossil fuel extraction and...
PUBPOL 495 (Policy Seminar) is for students currently enrolled in the Public Policy Undergraduate Program only, no exceptions. Enrollment is by permission...
This course examines environmental and energy policies. We discuss the sources of environmental problems and what regulations are available to remedy these problems. We also cover energy markets, including fossil fuel extraction and...
This course is an advanced offering on environmental politics and policymaking, with a focus on the U.S. context. The course will focus most heavily in the area of climate and energy policy, though other topics may also be...
This course will consider the capacity of North American political institutions to shape effective environmental protection policies, devoting primary emphasis to the United States but also examining Canada and...
Climate change often feels like a problem that our brains have been hardwired to ignore. Climate change is abstract and complex, making it hard for non-scientists (including policy-makers) to...
