ERG 151 is an introductory survey course for upper-division undergraduates and graduate students with little or no background in the social and political dimensions of energy and environmental policy. Open to ERG graduate students only with permission from Prof. Rochlin (251 is usually more appropriate). The primary focus is on the politics and political economy of the two intertwined systems of energy production and use and environmental insult and remediation. The approach is an interactive double survey: different aspects of energy and the environment will be used to explore different approaches to analysis and understanding; different tools for analysis will be used to explore selected issues in some depth. On the way, we will also survey such history and technical detail as might be appropriate. The focus will be primarily on the United States: elements of regional or global politics will be introduced where they influence or shape domestic politics and policies.
The first part of the course is organized around specific issues and/or problem areas (e.g., oil, renewable energy sources, nuclear power, electrical utility deregulation, the Clean Air Act, global warming), using them as a means to explore various analytical and descriptive tools drawn from political economy (e.g., a combination of history, economics, political relations, and socio-cultural factors), with excursions into policy analysis, organization theory, a little bit of sociology, and even some social anthropology, as well as `straight' political science theory. The purpose is to familiarize the students with these various approaches to understanding and analyzing the existing technical and policy literature -- and to reframe it.
There are no prerequisites, but Energy and Resources 100, or
the equivalent, is recommended. Students
will be expected to be familiar enough with energy technology
and the sources of environmental harm to deal with the appropriate
policy issues in an informed way. Some familiarity with social
science language and methods will also be helpful. The class has
typically been a mix of students from such diverse fields as political
science, natural resources, environmental science, public policy,
political economy, anthropology, engineering, and, various of
the physical and biological sciences. The details and structure
of the course will depend to some extent on the class mix, as
determined during the first week.
. Required are:
David Howard Davis, Energy Politics, 4th ed. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993), and Norman J. Vig and Michael E. Kraft, Environmental Policy in the 1990s, (Washington D.C.: CQ Press, 3d ed, 1996).
There will also be occasional readings from various other sources, and a few video viewings. There are no problem sets or sections. Grades will be based on a mid-term examination (about 1/3 of the grade), and a final (the remaining 2/3).