This talk explores a surprising new strategy for climate change policy that has emerged in the last 10 years: “reclaiming the atmospheric commons.” The strategy combines the idea of making polluters pay for their greenhouse gas emissions with the additional idea of using those revenues to generate tangible, broadly distributed public benefits.
Climate change is a potential threat to the welfare of mankind and its mitigation is becoming urgent. Nuclear energy, which provides one-fifth of U.S. electricity generation, is currently the leading utility-scale, carbon-free baseload power source in America. But it is expensive, controversial, and regulated in a way that poses challenges to technological innovation. So how does nuclear power fit into U.S. climate change mitigation goals going forward?
The “Michigan’s Municipal Water Infrastructure: Policy Choices and Issues” conference is being sponsored by a consortium of universities across the state, with the hope of bringing a voice of academic research and analysis to the topic of municipal water policy in the state (particularly relevant in the face of the crisis in Flint). Faculty will present on a range of issues: from water supply engineering issues to municipal funding needs to health and environmental impacts to state and federal regulation.For more information and to register, please visit http://events.anr.msu.edu/MMWI/ This conference is free, however space is limited so please register early to secure your spot.
This interdisciplinary symposium focuses on contemporary and historical cases analyzing the relationship between climate change and social conflict in the Middle East.
The Ford School's annual policy event and networking reception in Washington, DC, with featured speaker, Barry Rabe, J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy.
On January 19th, Governor Snyder delivers his 6th State of the State address. And, for lawmakers, lobbyists, and interest groups, the annual speech is the opportunity to create a red carpet moment for their policy goals. So, what does it take to get there? It's Just Politics co-hosts Zoe Clark (of Michigan Radio) and Rick Pluta (of the Michigan Public Radio Network) will talk about the marketing, the relationship-building, the polling, and the background research that’s needed to push some issues past the competing interests to get that rare, valuable mention as the governor sets his agenda for the year.
How do Americans think about energy? Is the debate over fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable energy highly partisan and ideological? Are people’s preferences for different energy sources idiosyncratic, or is there a common pattern that explains how people view energy across sources? How much does concern about climate change weigh on these opinions?
This event will be held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC
The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) invites our Washington DC colleagues to attend a discussion hosted by the Wilson Center/Canada Institute featuring CLOSUP Director, Barry Rabe, and our collaborating National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) partners, Christopher Borick, Director, Muhlenberg Institute of Public Opinion, and Erick Lachapelle, Assistant Professor, University of Montreal. The discussion will feature findings from the FALL 2015 round of ongoing survey work in both Canada and the US. Key themes will include public views on whether climate change is occurring, response to a range of possible policy options across levels of government, and reaction to Pope Francis' recent engagement on the issue. The U.S. portion of the survey will also include an early look at how Americans want their states to respond to the new Clean Power Plan. The session is free but requires registration. Please call 202-691-4000 or email [email protected] to reserve your seat.
In recognition of Earth Day, please join us for a very special lecture about what it takes to pass historic air quality legislation. Margo Oge served at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 32 years, the last 18 of which she directed the Office of Transportation Air Quality. Ms. Oge led the Obama Administration’s landmark 2012 Clean Air Act deal with automakers, the nation’s first action targeting greenhouse gases. This regulation will double the fuel efficiency of automakers’ fleets to 54.5 mpg and cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2025.
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.
Presenting Rip Rapson, President & CEO of the Kresge Foundation Free and open to the public. A reception will immediately follow in the hallway outside of room 250. About the speaker: Rip Rapson is president and CEO of The Kresge Foundation, a $3.1 billion private foundation based in metropolitan Detroit and founded by S.S. Kresge in 1924.
Anthrax scares, nuisance lawsuits and political attacks and are all in a day's work for some climate scientists. In his July 2012 feature story in Popular Science, journalist Tom Clynes investigated the people and organizations behind the harassment—and their influence on scientific research, public opinion and policy.
Free and open to the public. Screening of Death by China will begin after the debate in the same room. About the event In this inaugural Ford Policy Union debate, Peter Navarro, the director and producer of the movie Death by China, will argue China's unfair trade and membership in the World Trade Organization are the primary causes of job losses and weak growth in the United States.
Professor Mann is renowned for his work on documenting temperature changes over the last millennium. He will speak on his science and on his experience as the target of climate change deniers who attack scientific research, and why they do so. This is a crucial issue of academic freedom for our times!
The Tanner Lecture on Human Values 2011-2012 presents Professor John Broome, the White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. All events are open to the public without charge.
Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Wendy Abrams Founder of Cool Globes, Inc.National Council of Environmental Defense Waterkeeper Alliance, TrusteeThe Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Trustee About the lectureIn this talk, Wendy Abrams will share how her concern of climate change affecting her children's future kick-started her journey from career businesswoman to environmental advocate, a journey on which U-M students can model their own paths as they combine their academic knowledge, networking skills, and passion for the environment t
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Betty Ford Classroom
Free and open to the public. Panelists: Christopher Borick Professor and Director, Muhlenberg Institute of Public Opinion, Muhlenberg College Erick Lachapelle Départment de science politique, Université de Montréal Barry Rabe Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R.
Pablo Suarez is the Associate Director of Programs, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and a consultant to the Environment Finance Group, United Nations Development Programme. His work as researcher and consultant investigates the integration of climate information into decision making for reducing vulnerability, both at community level and through national and global policies.
The world's response to climate change is deeply flawed. The conventional wisdom on how to deal with climate change has failed and it's time to change course. To date, climate policies have been guided by targets and timetables for emissions reduction derived from various academic exercises. Such methods are both oblivious to and in violation of on-the-ground political and technological realities that serve as practical 'boundary conditions' for effective policy making. Until climate policies are designed with respect for these boundary conditions, failure is certain.
A lecture by Roger Pielke, Jr., University of Colorado, BoulderThe world's response to climate change is deeply flawed. The conventional wisdom on how to deal with climate change has failed and it's time to change course. To date, climate policies have been guided by targets and timetables for emissions reduction derived from various academic exercises. Such methods are both oblivious to and in violation of on-the-ground political and technological realities that serve as practical 'boundary conditions' for effective policy making.
Emissions trading policies initially relied on 'squatter's rights' principles granting emissions allowances to existing polluters for free. Recently, however, policy designers have largely abandoned this approach, requiring polluters to buy allowances from the public through auctions. Given the high financial stakes, this is a momentous shift. Given how skeptical experts and decision makers have been of the political viability of allowance auctions, and the opposition of powerful economic interests, it is also a remarkable political development.
U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel is a Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is Chairman of the Atlantic Council and a Member of the Secretary of Defense's Defense Policy Board.
Dallas BurtrawDallas Burtraw is Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research - rooted primarily in economics and other social sciences - on environmental, energy, and natural resource issues.
Naomi OreskesProfessor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego Co-Sponsored by the University of Michigan Science, Technology & Society Program and School of Natural Resources and Environment 4:00-5:30pm in the Betty Ford Classroom (1110 Weill Hall) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
A one day conference with beginning and ending keynotes, and two intermediate panel discussions. On-line registration will commence in early September. Go to the Erb Institute web page for more information. Co-sponsors: The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, The Association of Religious Counselors, The Program in the Environment, Center for Faith & Scholarship, Lord of Light - Lutheran Campus Ministries, and Religious Trust Fund.
