Transcript conservative environmentalism

ENVIRONMENT AND POLITICS
Deliberating climate science
ENVIRONMENT & POLITICS FALL 2015 SEMESTER SCHEDULE
week
3
September 14
due
annotation 3
homework film, Hot Politics (55 min)
film, Climate of Doubt (55 min)
class
panel, “Deliberating Climate Science” with
Professors Hirsa, Kilduff, Persans, Gowdy ,Fortun
September 17
(debate groups A + B)
due
debate paper (or following Thursday)
journaling 2
class
debate, Should the United States accelerate effort to
address climate change?
week
4
September 21
due
annotations 4 + 5
homework Powering the Planet (53 minutes)
Energy Quest USA (53 minutes)
class
Troy tour (on Thursday if weather is bad)
September 28
due
annotation 6
homework film, The Future of Energy (65 minutes)
website review, Audubon International’s
Sustainable Communities Programs
class
panel, “Greening Communities” with Joanna
Nadeu from Audobon International
commentary on The Future of Energy by Prof Hirsa
September 24
[ (debate groups A + C)
due
debate paper (if didn’t submit previous week)
journaling 3
class
debate, “Should the United States government further
invest in Green Energy?” (possibly switch to Tuesday)
October 1 Homecoming *CCC event *
due
journaling 4
homework short article, UN Report: Climate Change Will Deepen
Poverty, Hunger
short article, Can Pope Francis bridge the political divide
over climate change?
class
panel(at the Campus Chapel & Cultural Center),”Moral
Implications of Climate Change: Reflections on Pope Francis’
Encyclical”
October 8
due
journaling 5
class
form project groups and choose project focus
week
5
week
6
week
7
week
8
October 5 ** Monday evening film: Bidder 70 **
due
project ideas
class
panel, “Greening Troy” with Anasha Cummings
(RPI alum running for Troy City Council this fall),
TUESDAY, October 13
due
annotation 7
homework film, Nuclear Aftershocks (53 minutes)
class panel, “Deliberating Nuclear Power”
October 19 (mid-term assessment)
due
project memo, “Imagining Change” (group)
project memo, “Imagining Solutions” (group)
project memo, “Stakeholder Analysis” (group)
October 15 (debate groups B + C)
due
debate paper (optional)
journaling 6
class
debate, “Should the US further invest in nuclear power?
October 22 (Family Weekend)
due
project memo, “Organizing Expertise” (group)
project memo, “Technical Justification” (group)
project memo, “2 Article Annotations” (individual)
journaling 7
October 29 (debate groups A+B)
due
debate paper
journal entry 8
class
debate, “Should the Keystone Pipeline be extended?
week
9
October 26 (Advising Week)
due
annotation 8
homework film, Pipe Dreams (38 minutes)
week
10
November 2
due
annotation 9
homework feature article, End of the Miracle Machines:
Inside the power plant fueling America’s drought
class
commentary on water law by Professor Kilduff
November 9
due
project memo, “2 Article Annotations” (individual)
“pitch a project” (group)
class
project pitches
November 16
due
annotation 10
draft project proposal
homework film, Alaska’s Last Oil (ANWR) (45 minutes)
November 23 no class
November 5 (debate groups A + C)
due
debate paper
journaling 9
class debate, Should the Navajo Generating Station be closed
within five years?
November 12
due
journaling 10
class
project pitches
November 30
class
project presentations
December 3
due
journal entry 12
class project presentations
December 7
due
project portfolio (final proposal + memos)
project memo, “Team and Self Evaluation”
memos, Two “Peer Review of Projects”
class
exam
December 14
poster session (2-4pm DCC Hall)
December 10
class discussion, futures!
week
11
week
12
week
13
week
14
week
15
study
period
November 19
(debate groups B + C)
due
journaling 11
class
debate: Should the US Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be
opened for oil and gas development?
November 26
no class (Thanksgiving Recess)
DEBATE TOPICS, FALL 2015
 Week 3: Should the United States accelerate effort to address climate
change? (groups A + B)
 Week 4: Should the United States government further invest in green
energy? (groups A + C)
 Week 7: Should the US further invest in nuclear power? (groups B + C)
 Week 9: Should the Keystone Pipeline be extended? (groups A + B)
 Week 10: Should the Navajo Generating Station be closed within five
years? (groups A + C)
 Week 12: Should the US Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be opened for
oil and gas development? (groups B + C)
JOURNAL ENTRY #2
The films that you watched this week -- Hot Politics (55 min) and Climate of
Doubt (55 min) -- showed many problems associated with climate science
and politics, especially in the United States. In this journal entry, list ten of
these problems, and specific initiatives that could be taken to address them.
One item on the list, for example, could be "poor public understanding of
carbon emissions from vehicles." An initiative to address this could be
required carbon footprint education as part of drivers' education in the United
States.
Another item on the list could be the advertising power of front groups for the
energy industry. An initiative to address this could be support for
Sourcewatch, and the Center for Media and Democracy.
Simple descriptions like those above will be sufficient. Credit will be based
on the seriousness and creativity of your response.
ENVIRONMENT AND POLITICS
climate change: Why worry?
DEAR FUTURE GENERATIONS: SORRY
WATCHING RISING SEAS FROM SPACE
WHAT THE EARTH WOULD LOOK
LIKE IF ALL THE ICE MELTED
Animation:
http://www.sciencealert.com/this-animation-shows-what-earth-would-look-like-if-all-the-ice-melted
BLUE OR BLUES?
LEFT, RIGHT OR COLOR?
DEFINITIONS
STAKEHOLDERS
 Any person, group, or organization that can place a claim on an
organization’s attention, direction, or resources.
 “People, groups or entities that have a role and interest in the
objectives and implementation of a program or project.
DEFINITIONS
QUESTIONING STAKEHOLDERS
 What is their interest in the issue or project?
 What are their demographic characteristics?
 What resources can they draw on to get what they
want?
 What constraints will they struggle against?
 What ideological framework do they share?
DEFINITIONS
IDEOLOGY
 “a body of ideas that reflects the beliefs and interests of a group, society,
nation, political system, etc., and underlies political action”
 “the combined doctrines, assertions, and intentions of a social or political
group that justify its behavior”
 “a system of beliefs in which one or more organizing principles connect the
individual's views on a wide range of issues”
 “a relatively coherent system of values, beliefs, or ideas shared by some
social group and often taken for granted as natural or inherently true”
 “mental frameworks that different classes and social groups deploy in order
to make sense of, define, figure out, and render intelligible the way society
works”
EXAMPLE:
IDEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS
conservative
environmentalism
 Economic growth is necessary for well-
being.
 Innovation should be prioritized
 Government regulation undermines
growth, innovation and freedom.
 Commercial interests themselves are
inherently moral interests.
liberal
environmentalism
 Continued economic growth is not
sustainable.
 The Precautionary Principle should be
prioritized.
 Government regulation is necessary to
ensure long term, well distributed
prosperity.
 Commercial interests are often in tension
with social and moral interests.
EXAMPLE:
IDEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS
conservative environmentalism
liberal
environmentalism
 Corporations are internally motivated to
protect the environment, only partly
because environmental protection is good
for “the bottom line.”
 Corporations must prioritize the interests
of shareholders.
 Environmentalism should deal with what
can be seen, not the nebulous effects of
computer models.
 Corporations must be regulated or they
will not protect the environment.
 Corporations must (be forced) to
recognize the interests and rights of
multiple stakeholders.
 Environmentalism must figure out ways to
deal (scientifically and politically) with what
is invisible -- toxics, ecological systems,
natural cycles, climate change.
 Science often represents ideology and the
self-interest of scientists, not the truth.
 Science, with proper peer review, should
guide environmental decision-making.
QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT
IDEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS:
 What is considered intrinsically valuable?
 What is considered practically valuable?
 What is considered risky or dangerous?
 How are differences among social groups dealt with?
 What forms of knowledge are considered legitimate?
 What is thought to be true?
 How is the ideological framework evident in everyday life and decisions?
RESOURCE CURSE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse
Africa has long been plagued by the resource curse, where
abundant oil, gas and minerals in places like Equatorial
Guinea or the Republic of Congo have made a select few
rich, led to widespread corruption and left the majority of
citizens poor.
http://fortune.com/2014/10/13/another-african-resourcecurse-iea-says-energy-boom-not-helping-poorest/
ENERGY POVERTY
 Energy poverty is lack of access to modern energy services. It refers
to the situation of large numbers of people in developing countries
whose well-being is negatively affected by very low consumption of
energy, use of dirty or polluting fuels, and excessive time spent
collecting fuel to meet basic needs
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_poverty)
ISSUE ANALYSIS
Problematic (though not necessarily false) claims often
 Ignore or under-account for the long term.
 Ignore or under-account for past actions.
 Ignore or under-account for potential innovation.
 Extrapolate inappropriately (I.e. suggesting that dissimiliar things are similar or generalizing from
an atypical or unrepresentative example).
 Depend on sweeping generalizations.
 Are highly selective in the presentation of data or quotations.
 Present false, overly limited or impractical choices
 Become news-worthy because they are contrarian.