Policy Topics: Environment Policy
Units: 6
This class will challenge students to consider and evaluate current environmental problems while developing tools for working in the policy world. Students will explore approaches from both environmental economics and policy, including regulatory, market-based, and voluntary tools. Students will apply their knowledge of cost-benefit analysis to controversial issues and discover and debate key challenges. The current issues will draw students to consider issues of governance, such as the reach of executive authority and the relationship between federal and state government. In exploring these matters of policy design and environmental management, the course will analyze issues in climate change, air quality, water policy, energy supply, and resource management.
The course goals are to 1) apply critical thinking and policy evaluation skills to current environmental regulatory problems, 2) analyze the complexities of establishing relevant performance measures, 3) evaluate the limits and opportunities for integrating scientific information into decision making, and 4) articulate (in oral and written form) policies to build a sustainable future.
Graduate Level Enrollment