Summer School is In
THB Insider #21
This week in Washington, DC at AEI, I am teaching a summer short course in the AEI Summer Honors Program.
My class is titled: Climate Risks and Realities: Science and Policymaking.
Here is the course description:
Climate change is a defining issue of our time. Both climate and climate policy have profound implications for the global economy, leading people to have legitimate differences of opinion on the best course of action. Too often, debates over these differences often produce more heat than light. This course focuses on the intersection of climate science, policy, and politics, carefully examining evidence and narratives, as well as climate impacts and potential solutions. Grounded in consensus scientific research, the course will navigate the complexities of climate policy, emphasizing pragmatic solutions that are robust to the heated politics of climate change.
This course is designed to provide students with a unique understanding of climate science, policy, and politics–with a focus on energy systems, climate scenarios, decarbonization policies, and extreme weather. The course is problem-oriented, contextual and multi-method.
A problem orientation recognizes that facts never speak for themselves, science and values are inextricably interwoven, and policy focuses on achieving shared goals;
Contextuality recognizes that the interpretation and significance of any data depends upon its relationship to policy, politics and society;
The use of multiple methods recognizes that context and how a policy issue is formulated as a problem informs what methods are appropriate as analytical tools.
For avid THB readers over recent years, the course will be nothing new. My lectures synthesize what you’ve read here in THB posts, the underlying literature, and my, and colleagues, peer-reviewed scholarship.
THB paid subscribers can access the course syllabus and readings at the bottom of this post. The readings are designed to be supplementary to my five lectures this week, and to offer the students a chance to take a deeper dive, and access a wide diversity of further perspectives. All readings are public domain, but the reading list collects the course materials all in one place — all 381 pages (sorry students!).
Enjoy!
PS. If you missed THB Insider #20, you can find that here.
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BONUS CONTENT! I sat down with Mark Lynas on his podcast — Saving the World from Bad Ideas — to discuss climate science and policy, extreme weather, being canceled (or not), trans athletes, and more. You can see it below or go here to download from your favorite podcast platform.