Climate Change Policy: A Survey

by Stephen H. Schneider (Editor), Armin Rosencranz (Editor), John O. Niles (Editor)

Overview

Questions surrounding the issue of climate change are evolving from "Is it happening?" to "What can be done about it?" The primary obstacles to addressing it at this point are not scientific but political and economic; nonetheless a quick resolution is unlikely.

Ignorance and confusion surrounding the issue -- including a lack of understanding of climate science, its implications for the environment and society, and the range of policy options available -- contributes to the political morass over dealing with climate change in which we find ourselves. Climate Change Policy addresses that situation by bringing together a wide range of new writings from leading experts that examine the many dimensions of the topics most important in understanding climate change and policies to combat it. Chapters consider:

• climate science in historical perspective
• analysis of uncertainties in climate science and policy
• the economics of climate policy
• North-South and intergenerational equity issues
• the role of business and industry in climate solutions
• policy mechanisms including joint implementation, emissions trading, and the so-called clean development mechanism

Regardless of the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, the issues raised in that debate will persist as new climate protection regimes emerge; this volume treats most of those topics. Tying the chapters together is a shared conclusion that climate change is a real and serious problem, and that we as a society have an obligation not merely to adapt to it but to mitigate it in whatever intelligent ways we can develop. Cost-effectiveness is not disdained, but neither is the imperative for valuing species threatened by rapid climate change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597268424
Publisher:	Island Press
Publication date:	08/01/2002
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	584
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Stephen H. Schneider is professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University. Armin Rosencranz is a consulting professor in the Department of Human Biology at Stanford University. John O. Niles is a graduate student in energy and resources at the University of California at Berkeley. In addition to the editors, contributors include Daniel Kammen, Jonathan Wiener, Frederick Meyerson, Lawrence Goulder, John Berger, Orie Loucks, Reimund Schwarze, Richard Wolfson, Anil Agrawal, and others.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
 
PART I. Science and Impacts
Chapter 1. Understanding Climate Science  Richard Wolfson and Stephen H. Schneider
Chapter 2. Uncertainty and Climate Change Policy  Stephen H. Schneider and Kristin Kuntz-Duriseti
Chapter 3. Regional Impact Assessments: A Case Study of California  Elenor G. Turman
 
PART II. Economic Analysis 
Chapter 4. International Approaches to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions  Lawrence H. Goulder and Brian M. Nadreau
Chapter 5. Designing Global Climate Regulation  Jonathan Baert Wiener
Chapter 6. Carbon Abatement with Economic Growth: A National Strategy  Stephen Bernow, Alison Bailie, William Dougherty Sivan Kartha, and Michael Lazarus
 
PART III. Policy Context 
Chapter 7. U.S. Climate Change Policy  Armin Rosencranz
Chapter 8. The Climate Policy Debate in the U.S. Congress  Kai S. Anderson
Chapter 9. Population and Climate Change Policy  Frederick A. B. Meyerson
Chapter 10. Global Climate Change: A Business Perspective  Thomas G. Burns
Chapter 11. Activities Implemented Jointly  Reimund Schwarze
 
PART IV. Forests and Agriculture
Chapter 12. Climate Change and Agriculture: Mitigation Options and Potential  Holly L. Pearson
Chapter 13. Tropical Forest and Climate Change  John O. Niles
 
PART V. Development and Equity 
Chapter 14. A Southern Perspective on Curbing Global Cilmate Change  Anil Agarwal
Chapter 15. Equity, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Global Common Resources
 
PART VI. Energy Choices 
Chapter 16. Renewable Energy Sources as a Response to Global Climate Concerns  John J. Berger
Chapter 17. Fuel Cells, Carbon Sequestration, Infrastructure, and the Transition to a Hydrogen Economy  Michael B. Cummings
Chapter 18. Energy R&D and Innovation: Challenges and Opportunities  Robert M. Margolis and Daniel M. Kammen
Chapter 19. Business Capitalization on Energy Transition Opportunities  Orie L. Loucks
Chapter 20. Earth Systems: Engineering and Management  Stephen H. Schneider
 
Appendix A. Climate Negotiation History\Leonie Haimson
Appendix B. ""Hot Air"" and ""Hot Air"" Policies  Reimund Schwarze
Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

Scientists, economists, and political scholars and practitioners explore some of the fundamental issues regarding climate change that the short-term planning horizon of most political and economic institutions have trouble even perceiving, let alone addressing. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR