David Monda: Political Science – Climate Change Assignment
This resource was developed for the Teaching and Learning Center’s (TLC) Focused Inquiry Group (FIG) which studies how to teach climate change across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. This Climate Change assignment is part of a collection of interdisciplinary resources for teaching climate change available through the Climate Across Curriculum website
CLASS ACTIVITY: Controlling Climate Change at home and abroad
INTRODUCTION: Our goal is to identify how various levers of domestic and international policy can impact the spread of climate change. We will be applying seven policy tools to address an impending climate change catastrophe for the United States and the rest of the world. More specifically, we will evaluate how presidential power can impact American policy on climate change in the domestic and international arenas.
The goal of this climate change policy analysis is twofold:
(1) Understand how different domestic and international policy tools affect climate change.
(2) Explore the differences in presidential leadership for and against climate change policy.
Have each student (or group) assume they are in the executive position of US president. Imagine that you are in the position to move the levers that affect climate change policy. Assume an impending climate change crisis as president of the United States. Indicate what you would do with these seven tools to mitigate the effects of spreading climate change.
- Stricter federal emissions standard on vehicular traffic
- International agreements like the Paris Climate Accords
- Subsidies to oil companies
- Funding to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Funding to United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)
- Research into renewable energy
- Building and maintenance of “dirty fuels” in coal and nuclear energy
The summary should highlight the following areas:
- Develop a list of positive and negative impacts applying each of the seven tools in the United States
- Develop a list of positive and negative impacts applying each of the seven tools on the international community
- Identify one Republican and one Democrat president and describe how each president approached the climate change crisis during their presidential term in office
Video references:
- What is climate change: Al Jazeera
- Climate change in the desert: Morocco
- Climate of doubt: PBS Frontline
- Center for Strategic and International Studies :”Climate Smart Foreign Policy”
- House Climate Crisis Committee: “Climate Change”
- C-Span: Mark Steyn: “Climate Change: The Facts“
Podcasts:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies: Podcast features conversations with global experts to discuss their Theories of Change
Resources for further reading:
- National Geographic “Climate Change Encyclopedia”
- Earth Institute – Columbia University “19’s Long term impact on climate change”
Additional Resources:
