Transportation and Green House Gas Mitigation

Description

As we have discussed during this quarter, the anthropogenic emissions that are the driving force behind climate change come from a wide variety of human activities such as transportation, agriculture, and deforestation, to name a few. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change are requiring that governments adapt in a variety of ways to new climatic conditions. Thus, the strategies to address emissions mitigation and adaptation are multifaceted.

For the purposes of this assignment, I would like each student to investigate a specific example or category of climate policymaking. You will be asked to pick a policy/topic from the list below and present a brief discussion of the specific problem being addressed and the mechanisms by which the policy problem is being addressed. If there is a topic that is not on this list, but you are interested in researching a bit more, please let me know. Many of the themes on the Possible Topics list are quite general. Please try and find an instance of a governmental intervention related to the topic. For example, if you are interested in agriculture and climate change, try and find a policy being implemented in a specific country/state/province on the issue. Targeted internet searches can help you find information.

The topics will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so please post your topic in the submissions folder as soon as possible.

To get information about your assigned topic, I would suggest doing internet searches using google and google scholar. Avoid using Wikipedia in your paper–although it may be useful to find more detailed sources on your assigned policy. I would like your paper to have at least five sources. You should particularly be on the lookout for government sources describing the policy.

The paper should address the following themes:

First, it should give a general background of the problem or policy being discussed.
Second, explain why it is a problem and why it should be addressed urgently given the specific context of the government implementing the policy.
Third, provide information about how governments (or other policy actors) are addressing the problem. How are the policies carried out and implemented? What are the challenges in implementation and adoption?
Fourth, evaluate the ways in which the problem is being addressed? How effective and efficient are the policy approaches that are being deployed?