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About the author
Todd A. Eisenstadt is professor of political science at American University, where he serves as research director of the Center for Environmental Policy (CEP) in the School of Public Affairs. He has published ten books and dozens of articles on development issues and environmental politics. Part of his work on this text was conducted at The World Bank, where he spent 2018-19 as a recipient of the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured Professors.
Stephen MacAvoy joined the faculty of American University in 2003 and has been Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental Science since that time. He became Chair of the Department of Environmental Science in 2016. Recent publications have appeared in Applied Geochemistry, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Ecological Engineering and Marine Mammal Science.
Summary
Designed for undergraduate courses in "climate change" politics within environmental studies, politics, and international relations curricula, for which there presently is no basic textbook. The text will integrate science and policy within each chapter by considering technical issues but also their political implications. Moving beyond the "Does climate change exist?" question this text seeks to present the questions students need to address in an
interdisciplinary approach seldom used in textbooks. Specialized texts are currently available to explain the scientific scope of the problem, the natural resource economics and the international diplomacy or public administration dimensions. But none explains all of these. This text will address these broad
approaches, as well as considering the broad philosophical and ethical debates behind the specific issues raised. The premise of the book is that while the science of the problem is well understood, with several chapters devoted to solutions, climate change is also increasingly a political problem.
The text will address "the collective action problem" early in the text, discuss the strength of the scientific evidence, the failure to come to terms with related social and political problems, and discuss the scope of the problem and will address why so little has been done. The text will also consider the clash between theories of collective action and interest group theories, and the increasingly prevalent view of climate change as a security threat affecting some groups and countries more
than others.
The second part of the book discusses that there is no single magical solution, but there are many partial measure solutions which are already underway. We also discuss forms of solving the associated political problems but note that different solutions produce different "winners" and "losers." Changes to how we produce and consume energy will be driven by market forces and by steady efforts to inform the public. The best indications are that "sacrifice-based" solutions do still exist but
that we all need to be informed and make choices that will lead us in that direction.
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I love the level of detail the authors have included. The range of topics covered is truly impressive (and to treat them with adequate detail is a real feat). I think the intent is excellent. It seems like this could be a new kind of book on climate change
