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61. A Green Recovery? Assessing US Economic Stimulus and the Prospects for International Coordination

Author:
Trevor Houser, Shashank Mohan, and Robert Heilmayr
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
Abstract:
As the 111th Congress begins and a new president takes office, the economic crisis dominates the US policy agenda. The financial system remains in a tenuous state despite massive bank recapitalization, and the economy, more than a year into the current recession, shows no signs of recovery. Given the scale of the challenge Washington faces and the amount of money required to combat it, there will likely be little room for other legislative priorities. As a result, policymakers are hoping to direct government spending over the next two years in a way that not only generates short-term economic growth and employment but also addresses long-term policy goals sidelined by the current crisis.
Topic:
International Relations, Climate Change, Economics, Environment, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States

62. Addressing the Risks of Climate Change: The Politics of the Policy Options

Author:
Elaine Kamarck
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
It often takes a long time for a policy issue to get to the point where all the complex factors required for change through the American political process come together. Take health care. President Harry Truman advocated universal health care for all Americans in the late 1940s, universal health care was provided for senior citizens and the poor in 1965, and now we are well into the 21st century and still arguing about whether and how to guarantee health care coverage for all Americans.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States and America

63. Emerging U.S. Climate Policy: Where We are and How We Got Here

Author:
Geoffrey Clemm and Mark Griffin Smith
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Economics and Business, Colorado College
Abstract:
After eight years of non-engagement, the new administration and the U.S. Congress, led by a majority in the President's party, are rapidly developing climate policy legislation. This paper summarizes past efforts to establish a national climate policy in the United States as well as the major forces influencing the current debate. While this debate is largely shaped by domestic considerations, it takes place as the international community moves to agree on a post-Kyoto policy regime in Copenhagen next December. Whether the United States is willing to take strong action will significantly influence the actions of other nations.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Globalization, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States

64. Environmental Change and Security Report: Issue 13

Author:
Geoffrey D. Dabelko, editor
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
"We are not your traditional environmentalists," General Gordon Sullivan (USA, Ret.), former U.S. Army chief of staff, wryly told reporters as he presented the Center for Naval Analysis' (CNA) report National Security and the Threat of Climate Change in April 2007 (Eskew, 2007). Arguing for more aggressive U.S. action on climate change, Sullivan said the incomplete scientific understanding of global warming was no excuse for delay. Military leaders make battlefield decisions based on partial information all the time-otherwise, more lives would be lost. Penned by Sullivan and 10 other former U.S. generals and admirals, the launch of the CNA report is but one event that marked the return of environmental security to the world stage in 2007 and 2008.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States

65. Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Ecological and Feminist Economics in Policy Debates

Author:
Julie A. Nelson
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
The field of ecological economics includes both economic analysis on the one hand, and discussions of values and visions for society, on the other. Using feminist insights into cultural beliefs about the relative "hardness" and "softness" of these two sides, this essay discusses how ecological economists can use this unique "between" space in order to better inform policy. The current crisis of global climate change, it is argued, requires that economists move beyond modeling and measurement, while ecological thinkers need to re-examine beliefs about markets and profit.
Topic:
Climate Change, Economics, Environment, and Gender Issues
Political Geography:
United States

66. Five Alternatives that Make More Sense than Offshore Oil

Author:
Whitney Leonard
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Foreign oil currently fuels 55 percent of all transportation in the United States. As it struggles to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, the United States will have to completely rethink its energy policies. Instead of replacing imported oil with domestic oil, extracted at high environmental costs from new rigs offshore and across the western states, the country could opt for cleaner alternatives like higher fuel economy standards, hybrid-electric vehicles, plugin hybrids, cellulosic ethanol, and new commuting patterns. By decreasing demand rather than increasing supply, energy alternatives could reduce or eliminate the need to expand offshore oil production. This paper explores the economic and environmental costs of offshore oil and investigates a range of cleaner energy options.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Oil
Political Geography:
United States

67. U.S. Climate Change Policy: A New Chance for Leadership

Author:
Samiksha Nair
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
U.S. climate change policy has been glacial in its progress over the past fifteen years, as its development has been subject to significant economic and political forces. Even though there has been a gradually narrowing global consensus in the great debate on climate change, a distinct impression exists that the United States, as one of the principal producers of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world, has delayed signing on to the leading international accords that seek to reduce and control their harmful effects. U.S. policy regarding climate change over the past eight years has been subject to the less-than-friendly approach of the recently completed Bush Administration, but a new, almost diametrically opposed stance is now expected from the Obama Administration. While wholesale reversals of policy are predicted, realists see less of a policy shift in the offing, and in fact expect to see the continuation of earlier policies in many areas.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
United States

68. U.S.-India and India-East Asia Relations Chronology

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Comparative Connections
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
International Relations and Environment
Political Geography:
United States, India, East Asia, and Myanmar

69. Trilateral Cooperation in the 21st Century: First Summary Report of the Trialogue21 Initiatve

Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
From 2006 to 2008, the EastWest Institute (EWI) and the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) coorganized the first three annual discussions of the Trialogue21 initiative – an off-the-record process involving public and private sector leaders from China, the United States and Europe. The meetings, which were held in Berlin (December 2006), Beijing (November 2007), and Washington, D.C. (December 2008), served as an annual review of relations among the three powers and addressed a wide range of common domestic and foreign policy concerns.
Topic:
Political Violence, Climate Change, Environment, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, China, Europe, Washington, and Berlin

70. U.S.-China Cooperation on Low-Emissions Coal

Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The Atlantic Council of the United States (the Council) and the U.S./China Energy and Environmental Technology Center (EETC) at Tsinghua and Tulane Universities cosponsored a Dialogue, “U.S.-China Cooperation on Low-Emissions Coal Technologies” in Beijing from June 24-26, 2009. This report synthesizes and summarizes the information presented during the Dialogue to allow for an ongoing exchange of information and ideas between the meeting participants and key stakeholders in the effort to lower emissions from the use of coal.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Atlantic Ocean