Law & Climate Change

Catalog description

This course will examine legal efforts to address climate change, both at the national and international level. It will include detailed examination of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol and the extent to which these policies have been adopted in the U.S. at the national and local levels. Attention will also be given to non-statutory responses in the U.S. to the addressing climate change including judicial decisions that have attempted to mitigate the effects of climate change. Among the specific aspects of climate change that will be examined are coastline impact, auto emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, limitations on fossil fuel development and utilization, and human rights issues including environmental justice. Students will be asked to develop climate change policies and assess the U.S. response to the global impact of climate change.