ESPP 90G: The Law and Policy of Climate Change: Influencing Decision Makers

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Course goals:

The course will begin with a brief introduction to the projected impacts of climate change and then review the evolution of climate change related laws in the United States and related litigation. This analysis will focus on the federal level, but also consider the separate authority of states and municipalities to take actions. Massachusetts and Boston will be the primary case studies for the class.
Substantive issues that will be addressed in this course include: (i) administrative law and the relationship between Congressional statutes and agency regulations, (ii) the structure of the federal Clean Air Act and history of air regulation in the United States, (iii) federalism, particularly the relationship between federal, state, and municipal governments in regulating air pollution, and (iv) the judicial review processes. In addition to learning about these substantive legal issues, students will develop or practice legal research skills associated with researching statutes and regulations, and interpreting judicial decisions.
Students will apply this legal framework to an in-depth review of several climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. This will provide a window into the relationship between legal and policy strategies at the federal, state and municipal levels, including how these relationships create opportunities and obstacles, both to private actors, such as businesses, and to climate change efforts. The class will evaluate strategies for improving climate change regulations, including identifying technical and legal challenges that need to be addressed.
Through this analysis students will learn about substantive legal issues, such as preemption and takings law, procedural aspects of rulemakings, and opportunities for public involvement in policy and regulatory development. Students will also gain experience with activities relevant to designing, influencing, and implementing climate change strategies by, for example, writing comments on regulations, drafting statutory or regulatory language, and/or developing corporate climate change policy statements and risk disclosures.
Climate change is a very broad topic; we won't be able to cover it all!  For example, we focus on U.S. laws and policies, but not international regimes.  Many of our case studies/examples of climate change action will focus on the building sector, energy systems and flooding.  We will spend less time on emissions from sectors such as agriculture and transportation.  

Course format:

This is a seminar, so there is a lot of discussion interspersed with presentations. 

Typical enrollees:

There are no prerequisites or particular skills required for this class.  The course is designed to provide you the information you need to successfully complete the assignments.  Students with diverse backgrounds can do well in the class and contribute to good discussions.  Many of the writing assignments are likely to present a style of writing that is new to most people, e.g., writing a comment letter or drafting legislation.  You will learn to write in different formats and for different audiences (I will provide examples of most types of these writings before you write your own.) 

When is course typically offered?

For the last few years, the course has been offered in the Fall semester. 

Assignments and grading:

In addition to the readings, there are approximately 8-10 writing assignments during the assignment. Many are relatively short, ranging from a few paragraphs to a few pages.  But most of the assignments use a different form of writing.  For example, one assignment is to summarize a case and another is to write a comment letter.  The class focuses on introducing you to multiple writing types, rather than repeating particular types of writing.  For example, after you write a comment letter, your next assignment will be a new type of writing, rather than a second comment letter.

Brief descriptions of the writing assignments are provided below; further details will be reviewed in class.

  • Reading Responses: Periodically throughout the semester you will be given prompts for discussion on that week’s reading assignment. Prior to class you should post a response to the prompt on the Canvas discussion board, reply to at least one other student’s response, and come to class prepared to discuss the issues. Posts and responses should be 1-2 paragraphs each.
  • Legal Check-Ins: These assignments focus on developing your skills interpreting legal documents. You will summarize a court opinion and apply federal regulations. These assignments will be approximately 2 pages in length (single spaced).
  • Short Writing Assignments: These assignments focus on practicing different writing styles for presenting ideas to decision-makers and stakeholders. You will write (i) public comments on an agency policy, (ii) a corporate statement on climate change, and (iii) legislation. Each assignment will be 2-4 pages in length (single spaced).
  • Case Study Response (final paper)

Grading is based on participation (15%); legal check-ins & short writing assignments (60%); and final paper (25%).

Sample reading list:

The reading will include a mix of court decisions, regulations, reports, studies, newspaper articles, public comment letters, and other material. All assigned readings will be available electronically on the Canvas website. Readings will be posted approximately a week in advance. In addition to the assigned readings, students will take turns finding and sharing relevant news articles with the class.

Enrollment cap, selection process, notification:

Because this is a seminar with a focus on class participation there is limited enrollment.  Upper-level students and ESPP concentrators are prioritized.  If you are interested in the course, please submit a petition via my.harvard and include information about your year, concentration and interest in the course.  Upper-level students and ESPP concentrators will be admitted on a rolling basis; others will be informed closer to the end of the registration period. 

Absence and late work policies:

Late assignments will receive a 10% penalty for each date of late submission; assignments more than one week late will not be given a grade. You will have one “free” late pass that you can use on a legal check-inor short writing assignment other than the legislation assignment; you may submit any one of these assignments up to 4 days late with no penalty. (You cannot use the late pass on reading responses, the legislation assignment or the final paper).

 

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due