Climate Governance and Federalism


Book Description

A review of federal and decentralised systems of governance, and whether these facilitate or hinder climate change mitigation and adaptation.




The New Normal


Book Description

The Canadian Prairies in a Changing Climate is a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of climate change in the prairie provinces, the impacts on natural resources, communities, human health and sectors of the economy, and the adaptation options that are available for alleviating adverse impacts and taking advantage of new opportunities provided by a warmer climate.




Energy Policy Analysis: A Conceptual Framework


Book Description

Presented in nontechnical terms, this book offers a unique and powerful conceptual framework for analysis of energy technologies (standard and alternative) in terms of their respective dollar costs, environmental costs, and national security costs. Energy technologies examined include coal, nuclear, oil, natural gas, solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, biomass and biogas, energy conservation and efficiency, ocean power, hydrogen, electric power and transmission, and transportation. This three-point framework allows examination of issues and problems associated with implementation of U.S. energy policies in the context of major social goals (such as growth and equity), with treatment of conflicts and trade-offs between energy development and other social values (such as health and safety, cultural, historical, and aesthetic values). These are the key political issues for policy makers formulating national energy policy and decisions makers implementing it.




The American Energy Initiative


Book Description




A Critical Approach to Climate Change Adaptation


Book Description

This edited volume brings together critical research on climate change adaptation discourses, policies, and practices from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Drawing on examples from countries including Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Russia, Tanzania, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands, the chapters describe how adaptation measures are interpreted, transformed, and implemented at grassroots level and how these measures are changing or interfering with power relations, legal pluralismm and local (ecological) knowledge. As a whole, the book challenges established perspectives of climate change adaptation by taking into account issues of cultural diversity, environmental justicem and human rights, as well as feminist or intersectional approaches. Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.




Carbon Province, Hydro Province


Book Description

Why has Canada been unable to achieve any of its climate-change targets? Part of the reason is that emissions in two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan – already about half the Canadian total when taken together – have been steadily increasing as a result of expanding oil and gas production. Declining emissions in other provinces, such as Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, have been cancelled out by those western increases. The ultimate explanation for Canadian failure lies in the differing energy interests of the western and eastern provinces, overlaid on the confederation fault-line of western alienation. Climate, energy, and national unity form a toxic mix. How can Ottawa possibly get all the provinces moving in the same direction of decreasing emissions? To answer this question, Douglas Macdonald explores the five attempts to date to put in place coordinated national policy in the fields of energy and climate change – from Pierre Trudeau’s ill-fated National Energy Program to Justin Trudeau’s bitterly contested Pan-Canadian program – analysing and comparing them for the first time. Important new insights emerge from this analysis which, in turn, provide the basis for a new approach. Carbon Province, Hydro Province is a major contribution to the vital question of how our federal and provincial governments can effectively work together and thereby for the first time achieve a Canadian climate-change target.




Achieving Regulatory Excellence


Book Description

Whether striving to protect citizens from financial risks, climate change, inadequate health care, or the uncertainties of the emerging “sharing” economy, regulators must routinely make difficult judgment calls in an effort to meet the conflicting demands that society places on them. Operating within a political climate of competing demands, regulators need a lodestar to help them define and evaluate success. Achieving Regulatory Excellence provides that direction by offering new insights from law, public administration, political science, sociology, and policy sciences on what regulators need to do to improve their performance. Achieving Regulatory Excellence offers guidance from leading international experts about how regulators can set appropriate priorities and make sound, evidence-based decisions through processes that are transparent and participatory. With increasing demands for smarter but leaner government, the need for sound regulatory capacity—for regulatory excellence—has never been stronger. In addition to chapters by editor Cary Coglianese, and a foreword by Jim Ellis, president and chief executive officer of the Alberta Energy Regulator, contributors include Robert Baldwin (London School of Economics and Political Science), John Braithwaite (Australian National University), Angus Corbett (University of Pennsylvania), Daniel Esty (Yale University), Adam Finkel (University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan), Ted Gayer (Brookings Institution), John Graham (Indiana University), Neil Gunningham (Australian National University), Kathryn Harrison (University of British Columbia), Bridget Hutter (London School of Economics and Political Science), Howard Kunreuther (Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania), David Levi-Faur (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Shelley H. Metzenbaum (Volcker Alliance), Donald P. Moynihan (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Paul R. Noe (American Forest and Paper Association), Gaurav Vasisht (Volcker Alliance), David Vogel (University of California–Berkeley), and Wendy Wagner (University of Texas School of Law).




When Green Growth Is Not Enough


Book Description

Is the pursuit of endless economic growth compatible with the deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions required to avoid the worst extremes of climate change? In When Green Growth Is Not Enough, Anders Hayden analyzes the political battle between three competing approaches to this question and how it has played out in Canada and Britain. Defenders of the "business-as-usual" approach reject climate action as too costly and in conflict with economic growth, while downplaying the severity of climate change. Supporters of ecological modernization, or "green growth," on the other hand, aim to use technology and efficiency to delink economic expansion from emissions and find business opportunities through environmental action. While mainstream debate has focused on these two pro-growth models, Hayden pays particular attention to the struggles and limited inroads of a third, more radical perspective: the idea of sufficiency, which challenges the continued growth of production and consumption in the already-affluent global North and asks, how much is enough? Drawing on interviews, participation in climate-related events, and analysis of key documents, Hayden shows the role these paradigms have played in Britain, one of the world’s leaders in climate reform, and in Canada, a nation at the bottom of international climate change rankings. Rich in detail, When Green Growth Is Not Enough is a lively account of the theory and real-world politics of climate action.




International Climate Change Law and Policy


Book Description

Climate change poses fundamental and varied challenges to all communities across the globe. The adaptation and mitigation strategies proposed by governments and non-governmental organisations are likely to require radical and fundamental shifts in socio-political structures, technological and economic systems, organisational forms, and modes of regulation. The sheer volume of law and policy emanating from the international level makes it uncertain which type of regulatory or policy framework is likely to have a positive impact. The success or failure of proposed measures will depend on their acceptability within the local constituencies within which they are sought to be applied. Therefore there is an urgent need to better comprehend and theorise the role of cultural legitimacy in the choice and effectiveness of international legal and policy interventions aimed at tackling the impact of climate change. The book brings together experts to present perspectives from different disciplines on the issue of international climate change law and policy. Beginning from the premise that legitimacy critiques of international climate change regulation have the capacity to positively influence policy trends and legal choices, the book showcases innovative ideas from across the disciplines and investigate the link between the efficacy of international legal and policy mechanisms on climate change and cultural legitimacy. The book includes chapters on with a theoretical basis as well as specific case-studies from around the globe. The topics covered include: land use planning as a tool of enhancing cultural legitimacy, indigenous peoples in international environmental negotiations, transnational advocacy networks, community-based forestry management and culture and voluntary social movements.




Climate Capitalism


Book Description

Believe in climate change. Or don't. It doesn't matter. But you'd better understand this: the best route to rebuilding our economy, our cities, and our job markets, as well as assuring national security, is doing precisely what you would do if you were scared to death about climate change. Whether you're the head of a household or the CEO of a multinational corporation, embracing efficiency, innovation, renewables, carbon markets, and new technologies is the smartest decision you can make. It's the most profitable, too. And, oh yes—you'll help save the planet. In Climate Capitalism, L. Hunter Lovins, coauthor of the bestselling Natural Capitalism, and the sustainability expert Boyd Cohen prove that the future of capitalism in a recession-riddled, carbon-constrained world will be built on innovations that cutting-edge leaders are bringing to the market today. These companies are creating jobs and driving innovation. Climate Capitalism delivers hundreds of indepth case studies of international corporations, small businesses, NGOs, and municipalities to prove that energy efficiency and renewable resources are already driving prosperity. While highlighting business opportunities across a range of sectors—including energy, construction, transportation, and agriculture technologies—Lovins and Cohen also show why the ex–CIA director Jim Woolsey drives a solar-powered plugin hybrid vehicle. His bumper sticker says it all: "Osama bin Laden hates my car." Corporate executives, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and concerned citizens alike will find profitable ideas within these pages. In ten information-packed chapters, Climate Capitalism gives tangible examples of early adopters across the globe who see that the low-carbon economy leads to increased profits and economic growth. It offers a clear and concise road map to the new energy economy and a cooler planet.