The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, issued
in February 2007, concludes that humans, rather than nature, are to be blamed
for global warming. Designed for those
who wish to teach environmental issues from social-science perspectives,
the purpose of this course is to study the existing greenhouse gas (GHG)
control policies implemented in various parts of the world, using economics
as analytical framework. This course is suitable for those with little to
no knowledge of introductory-level economic theory.
We will spend the first two and a half days covering the key concepts and analytical
tools from basic microeconomic theory and environmental economics. Although
the coverage will be very limited due to our time constraint, we will cover
just enough so that the participants will be equipped with the necessary tools
to analyze existing global warming policies.
Then, the instructor will provide an overview of the Kyoto Protocol, followed
by the participants’ presentation of domestic and/or foreign GHG control
policies. Finally, we will study these policies together to see how we could
apply what we learned during the first half of the week.
Before coming to Lawrence, participants are asked to choose a case from
one of the existing GHG control policies of his/her interest (e.g., California’s
state-level measures; joint GHG emissions control measures by several of the
Eastern states; other policies by foreign
countries, such as Japan or Western European nations) and study the case as
much as possible — the goals, target industries/pollutants, policy instrument/mechanism,
etc. Try to cover the basic aspects of the policy — i.e., do
not worry about going into too much detail. On Day 4 of the session, each participant
will do a 10- to 15-minute presentation in front of the class (please prepare
either some handout or other form of presentation, such as PowerPoint).
No textbooks are required. At the end of the week, the instructor
will provide a list of suggested textbooks for participants’ future use.
Instructor: Yoko Nagase, assistant professor of economics, Lawrence University