Climate Change (Welton)
Additional Information
Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Expository Writing
Grading
25% Participation,
40% Paper,
35% Other (Other components of grade include shorter writing assignments and student presentations. )
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can send you an email with instructions for accessing the recording for the class session(s) you missed.
Meeting Times/Location
M 4:30PM - 6:30PM
Tanenbaum Hall 112
Category
Seminar
Credits
3.0
Climate change presents an imminent threat to social and ecological systems and a fascinating set of legal and governance challenges. This course explores the institutions and policy tools available for responding to these challenges, with emphasis on the political economy and distributional consequences of action at various scales. After an introductory unit on the science and politics of climate change, the course examines potential and actual legal and policy responses at the local, state, federal, and international levels; the possibility and limits of addressing climate change via litigation and private governance; the social and racial justice implications of climate change and climate change policy; and the ways in which multi-scalar regimes fit together in a complex and contested legal tapestry. Seminar sessions will be heavily discussion oriented. Grades will be based on a combination of writing assignments and class participation, including student presentations and a simulated climate diplomacy exercise.
Perspectives on the Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Environmental Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of environmental law; Perform legal analysis in the context of environmental law; Communicate effectively on topics related to environmental law; Demonstrate an understanding of how environmental law affects other areas of law.
Administrative and Regulatory Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of administrative and regulatory law and the administrative process, including the role of statutory authorization and work of administrative agencies; Perform legal analysis in the context of administrative and regulatory law; Communicate effectively on topics related to administrative and regulatory law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role administrative and regulatory law play in our legal system and in society as a whole.