Energy Geographies and Policy

Catalog description

This course explores the motivations, key concepts, and contemporary challenges of US and international energy policy. The approach of the course is inherently geographical in that we engage the concepts of scale, place, landscape, and materiality to evaluate energy policy issues. The course addresses the following questions: 1) Why and how is energy governed? 2) How does energy policy differ across political scales and energy sectors? 3) Who are the key stakeholders influencing energy policy? 4) How are the costs and benefits of energy policy distributed? 5) How can a geographic perspective advance energy policy making? 6) How well do existing tools and policy frameworks address emerging challenges in energy policy and governance? The course is designed to explore these questions through interactive discussion, drawing on examples from various political levels and in various geographical contexts. A combination of independent writing and presentations will provide students with the expertise to be careful and critical observers of policy developments, and to prepare students for future roles as policy advisors in business and government settings. The course is divided into four parts: 1) overview of US and international energy policy; 2) key concepts and debates in analyzing energy; 3) case studies; and 4) emerging issues and challenges. After successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Analyze the origins, motivations and distributional impacts of U.S. and international energy policies; 2. Apply key concepts from the energy social sciences to contemporary energy debates; 3. Critically assess how geographic perspectives can advance energy policy making