PS 477/577—International Environmental Politics and Policy (4 credits)

Professor Brent S. Steel Director, Master of Public Policy Department of Political Science 311 Gilkey Hall Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331-6206 [email protected] phone: (541) 737-6133 fax: (541) 737-2289

A. INTRODUCTION Solving global environmental problems such as climate change, ozone depletion, trade in hazardous waste, protection of biological diversity and overfishing will require nations to cooperate. In recent decades thousands of international agreements and hundreds of international institutions have been developed with the goal of protecting the global environmental commons. This course will examine whether these efforts have made much difference by exploring concepts in international relations theory, such as the impact of power and ideas on the structure of international politics. It will examine the interactions between international agreements on environmental protection and changes in technology, and it will give special attention to the growing power of business and environmental non-governmental organizations in world politics. Some attention will also be given to the interactions between the World Trade Organization, the process of “globalization” and the quality of the environment.

This course is organized around key analytical issues, such as the impact of nongovernmental and governmental actors on the kinds of agreements that are negotiated, the relative effectiveness of binding and non-binding legal instruments, and the techniques for establishing that an international regime has actually caused a change in behavior that has improved the quality of the

This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465 environment. We will introduce basic concepts of international relations theory as applied to international environmental politics, utilize case studies as illustrations, and provide information about most of the major instances of international environmental cooperation as well as how to analyze those cases. Should you need additional information on a particular case, please look at my brief environmental website at: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/pol_sci/fac/steel/cl/www449/websites.htm Topics to be covered this course include:

• Climate Change • The European Acid Rain Regime • Ozone Depletion • Trade in Hazardous Waste • Protection of Biological Diversity • Whaling • Trade in Endangered Species • Forests • Desertification • Persistent Organic Pollutants • Population • World Trade Organization • NAFTA and Regional Trade Agreements

B. EXPECTATIONS Students will be expected to read all assigned materials. The course will emphasize not only learning about the subject matter but also the development of communication skills—written and electronic. There will be four policy response assignments, an international environmental briefing memo, and course participation required. Depending on the class size, several sessions will be given over to on-line debates on current policy topics, such as whether the U.S. should ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Teams and topics will be selected during week 2 of class.

Graduate students enrolled in the class will be expected to read and provide written summaries of all supplemental readings listed in the course schedule below. These materials are essential for a fuller understanding of the field.

Policy Response Assignments—100 points each [400 total points possible] Course participation—50 points International Environmental Briefing Memo—100 points Graduate student written summaries of supplemental readings—100 points

Student Research Project: Each student is required to write a briefing memo on some international environmental issue–the memo is important both for your own learning and as a source of information for others. Student memos will be shared with the class and will take the form of an actual memo that might be researched 2 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465 and written for a policymaker (e.g., president, governor, etc.). These guidelines should be viewed as a point of departure in your efforts; they do not cover everything you will need to do, but should get you started. Briefing memos should include: 1. Brief background and history of the issue; 2. Countries Involved; 3. Interest Groups and Business/Industry; 4. Major Figures (such as leading experts, etc.); 5. International Organizations; 6. Regimes Developed/in Process of Development; and 7. Trends, Analysis and Predictions. Briefing should be approximately 1,000 words in length, with three to five of the best sources cited for those students who would like to learn more about the topic.

C. LEARNING OUTCOMES: Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students:

To learn about the major international environmental issues facing the world today (including overfishing, tropical forests, whaling, climate change, ozone depletion, trade in endangered species, etc.) To develop an understanding of international environmental policy processes, including the various governmental and non-governmental actors involved in these processes. To gain knowledge of the various “driving factors” of international environmental politics and policy including population change, economic development, changing attitudes and beliefs, political culture, globalization, etc. To understand how various cultural (e.g., religion, etc.) and secular (e.g., neo- liberalism) perspectives shape individual group, and country orientations toward international environmental issues. To comprehend how the number of actors involved in international environmental issues affects the nature and development of international environmental protocols, treaties and regimes.

Graduate Students:

To evaluate existing international environmental regimes (e.g., whaling, climate change, etc.) to determine effectiveness using assessment criteria developed in course reading materials. To synthesize various socioeconomic and political factors that influence international policy processes, and then apply this synthesis to develop a long-term plan for international environmental cooperation to solve environmental issues. To analyze and then apply various theories encountered in the course to explain the development (or non-development) of international environmental regimes.

3 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465

D. READING MATERIALS: Almost all of the assigned readings for this course are included in a course reader, available at the OSU Bookstore. Undergraduates should purchase the main reader; graduate and advanced students should also purchase the supplemental reader.

Also available for purchase at the bookstore is the one assigned book:

Porter, Garth, Janet Welsh Brown, and Pamela S. Chasek (2000). Global Environmental Politics, (Boulder: Westview Press). (Referred to throughout the syllabus as PBC)

E. COURSE POLICIES:

Advanced notice is required for late assignments/exams. Extra credit will not be allowed in this course. All OSU academic regulations will be followed in the course. Academic regulations are available at: http://catalog.oregonstate.edu/. This includes the university policy concerning incompletes: "When a requirement of a course has not been completed for reasons acceptable to the instructor and the rest of the academic work is passing, a report of I may be made and additional time granted. The I is only granted at the discretion of the instructor. You are expected to do all required reading. Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated in this course. Engaging in such behaviors will result in a failing course grade. You are to do ALL of your own work. Appropriate citation must be used for all materials incorporated into you work. Proper spelling, grammar, and citation should be used in all assignments/exams.

F. ESSAY/EXAM EVALUATION CRITERIA:

The following criteria will be used for evaluating written assignments and exams:

[1=Poor; 2=Average; 3=Good; 4=Excellent]

COMMITMENT-did you cover all relevant materials/questions? AMBITION-did you take each issue to task? ENGAGEMENT-did you make connections between issues? CLARITY-was the paper readable and well organized? READINGS/COURSE MATERIALS-did you use appropriate reading and other course materials in your work? [note: cite everything appropriately]

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COMPARISON-in general, how did your work compare to the rest of the class? DIRECTIONS-a "no brainer" here. Did you follow directions?

G. FINAL GRADE DISTRIBUTION:

Letter Grade Percent of points possible A [95-100%] A- [90-94%] B+ [87-89%] B [83-86%] B- [80-82%] C+ [77-79%] C [73-76%] C- [70-72%] D+ [67-69%] D [63-66%] D- [60-62%] F [0-59%]

H. Reading Topics and Schedule:

WEEK 1: Driving Forces of Environmental Degradation: Population, technology, affluence, values, externalities and failure to cooperate PBC – Chapter 1

Course reader: Schor, Juliet. 1999. “What’s Wrong with Consumer Society?: Competitive spending and the ‘New Consumerism.” In Consuming Desires: Consumption,Culture, and the Pursuit of Happiness, ed. Roger Rosenblatt. Washington: Island Press. Available at the library (HC110.C6 C586 1999).

Web-based readings: Steel, Brent, Richard Clinton and Nicholas Lovrich. 2003. Environmental Politics and Policy: A Comparative Approach. Boston: McGraw Hill.- Chapter 1: The World of Environmental Politics and Policy. Available at: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/pol_sci/fac/steel/cl/ps477/chapt1.htm . Flavin, Christopher. 2001. “Rich Planet, Poor Planet.” Chapter 1 in State of the World 2001, ed. Lester R. Brown, Christopher Flavin, and Hilary French. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Available at: http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/sow/2001/ Lomborg, Bjørn. 2001. The Skeptical Environmentalist. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press- Chapter 1: Things Are Getting Better-an alternative perspective. Available at: 5 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465

http://www.lomborg.com/skeptenvironChap1.pdf White, Lynn, Jr. 1967. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis.” Science 155: 1203-1207. Available through JStor.

Web-based Supplemental Readings: Sen, Amartya. 1994. “Population: Delusion and Reality.” New York TimesReview of Books, September 22, 62-71. Downloadable at: http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~bhatta/ArticlesBy AmartyaSen/amartya_sen_on_population.html Kates, Robert W. 2000. “Population and Consumption: What we know, what Supplemental we need to know.” Environment 42(3): 10-19. Available through: Academic reading for Search Elite or graduate students and http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1076/is_3_42/ai_62277272 others Vitousek, Peter M., Harold A. Mooney, Jane Lubchenco, and Jerry M. interested in Melillo.1997. “Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems.” Science 277: further 494-499. (Also available online at: examination http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/277/5325/494.pdf) of the issues Stephen Schneider, John Holdren, John Bongaarts and Thomas Lovejoy.

2002. “Skepticism toward The Skeptical Environmentalist.” Scientific American’s response to Bjorn Lomborg. Available at: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00000B96-9517-1CDA- B4A8809EC588EEDF

WEEK 2 International Cooperation: Why cooperate, who cooperates, what are the requisites of cooperation, and how do scholars determine when cooperation is effective?

Course reader: Stone, Christopher D. 1993. The Gnat is Older than Man: Global Environment and Human Agenda. Princeton: Princeton University Press.- Chapter 2: The Condition of the Earth from the Legal Perspective. Available at the library, (HC79.E5 S75 1993).

Web-based Readings: Hardin, Garrett. 1968. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 162: 1243- 1248. Available through JStor or at: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243 Mitchell, Ronald B. 1994. “Regime Design Matters: Intentional Oil Pollution and Treaty Compliance.” International Organization 48(3): 425-58. Available through JStor.

6 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465

WEEK 3 International Cooperation: Bilateral to Multilateral: Regional and Global binding treaties (Part 1). PBC – Chapter 3

Course reader: Pacific Fur Seals: Regime Formation as a Means of Resolving Conflict.” Chapter 2 in Polar Politics: Creating International Environmental Regimes, ed. Oran R.Young and Gail Osherenko. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Available at the library, (JX4084.A68 P64 1993). Levy, Marc A. 1996. “European Acid Rain: The Power of Tote-board Diplomacy.” In Institutions for Environmental Aid: Pitfalls and promise, ed. Robert O. Keohane and Marc A. Levy. Cambridge: MIT Press. Available at the library, (HD75.6 .I573 1996).

Web-based Supplemental Readings: Kahler, Miles. 1992. “Multilateralism with Small and Large numbers.” Supplemental International Organization 46(3): 681-708. Available through JStor. reading for Downs, George W, David M. Rocke, and Peter N. Barsoom. 1998. graduate students and “Managing the Evolution of Multilateralism.” International Organization 52(2): others 397-419. Available through JStor. interested in Friedheim. 1996. “Moderation in the Pursuit of Justice.” Ocean Development further and International Law 27: 349-378. Available through Academic Search Elite. examination of the issues

WEEK 4 Cooperation with Numerous Actors: Global, legally binding treaties (Part 2) and Cooperation with Non-binding Agreements. Course Reader: Lyster, Simon. 1985. International Wildlife Law: An analysis of international treaties concerned with the conservation of wildlife. Cambridge: Grotius Publications Limited.- Chapter 12. Available at the library (K3525 .L971 1985). Web-based Readings: Sand, Peter. 1997. “Commodity or Taboo?: International Regulation of Trade in Endangered Species.” In Green Globe Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: http://www.greenyearbook.org/articles/97_01_sand.pdf Raustiala, Kal and David G. Victor. 1996. “Biodiversity Since Rio: The Future of the Convention on Biological Diversity.” Environment 38(4): 16-20, 37-45. Available through: Academic Search Elite. Web-based Supplemental Readings: ECOSOC. 2002. Ad Hoc Inter-Agency Task Force on Tobacco Control: Report of the Secretary-General. New York: United Nations, 1-26 July. Available through the UN at: http://ods-dds- ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/346/19/PDF/N0234619.pdf?OpenElement Haas, Peter, Marc A. Levy, and Edward A. Parson. 1992. “Appraising the

7 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465

Earth Summit.” Environment 34(8): 6-11, 26-33. Available through Academic Search Elite. Supplemental Bodansky, Daniel. 1995. “Customary (and Not So Customary) International reading for graduate Environmental Law.” Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 3(1): 105-120. students and Available through LexisNexis (click on Legal Research, then Law Reviews, others then advance search for title and author). interested in Abbott, Kenneth W. and Duncan Snidal. 2000. “Hard and Soft Law in further International Governance.” International Organization 54(3): 421-456. examination of the issues Available through Business Source Primer.

WEEK 5 Cooperation with Compensatory Mechanisms and “Issue Linkages”. Cooperation by Changing Underlying Values and Norms PBC – Chapter 4 Course Reader: DeSombre, Elizabeth R. and Joanne Kaufman. 1996. “The Montréal Protocol Multilateral Fund: Partial success story.” In Institutions for Environmental Aid: Pitfalls and Promise, ed. Robert O. Keohane and Marc A.Levy. Cambridge: MIT Press. Available at the library, (HD75.6 .I573 1996). Darst, Robert G. 2001. Smokestack Diplomacy: Cooperation and conflict in East-West Environmental Politics. Cambridge: MIT Press. - Chapter 1: Introduction Supplemental Reading (background on the issues). Available at the library (TD170 .D37 2001). Web-based Readings: Nadelmann, Ethan A. 1990. “Global Prohibition Regimes: the Evolution of Norms in International Society.” International Organization 44(4): 479-526. Available through Business Source Primer. Bonner, Raymond. 1993. “Crying Wolf Over Elephants,” New York Times Magazine, 17 February. Available through LexisNexis

WEEK 6 Unilateral Action, Globalization of Interest Groups: Industry, Environmental groups, and Consumer organizations

Course Reader: Housman, Robert and Durwood Zaelke. 1992. “The Collision of the environment and Trade: The GATT Tuna/Dolphin Decision.” Environmental Law Reporter 22: 10268. Esty, Daniel C. “Environmental Governance at the WTO: Outreach to Civil Society.” In Trade, Environment, and the Millennium, ed. Gary P. Sampson

8 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465

and W. Bradnee Chambers. 2nd ed. New York: United Nations Press.

Web-based Supplemental Readings: Supplemental Williams, David and Tom Young. 1994. “Governance, the World Bank and reading for Liberal Theory.” Political Studies 42: 84-100. Available at Academic graduate students and Search Elite. others Steinberg, Richard H. 1997. “Trade-Environment Negotiations in the EU, interested in NAFTA, and WTO: Regional Trajectories of Rule Development.” The further American Journal of International Law, Vol 91, 2: 231-267. Available at examination Jstor. of the issues

WEEK 7 Scientific Experts and Networks of Elites. Integrating “environment” into development and trade institutions

Course Reader: Haas, Peter M. and David McCabe. 2001. “Amplifiers or Dampeners: International Institutions and Social Learning in the Management of Global Environmental Risks.” In Learning to Manage Global Environmental Risks, Vol. 1, ed. The Social Learning Group. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Available in the library (GE170 .L43 2001). Bhagwati, Jagdish. 1993. “The Case for Free Trade.” Scientific American, November: 42-49. Daly, Herman E. 1993. “The Perils of Free Trade.” Scientific American, November: 50-57. Web-based Readings: Steel, Brent S., Peter List, Denise Lach, and Bruce Shindler, "The Role of Scientists in the Environmental Policy Process: A Case Study from the American West," Environmental Science and Policy 7(2004): 1-13. Available at ScienceDirect. Agrawala, Shardul. 1997. “Explaining the Evolution of the IPCC Structure and Process,” ENRP Discussion Paper E-97-05, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, August (Also available online at: http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/gea/pubs/e-97-05.htm) “For 80 Cents More.” 2002. The Economist, August 17. Available at LexisNexis. Web-based Supplemental Readings: Goldin, Ian, Halsey Rogers, and Nicholas Stern. 2002. The Role and Effectiveness of Development Assistance: Lessons from the World Bank Supplemental Experience. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. Available at reading for http://econ.worldbank.org/view.php?type=5&id=13080. graduate students and Martinot, Eric. 2001. “World Bank Energy Projects in China: Influences on others Environmental Protection.” Energy Policy 29: 581-594. Available at interested in ScienceDirect. further Charnovitz, Steve. 1994. “The NAFTA Environmental Side Agreement: examination 9 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465 of the issues Implications for Environmental Cooperation, Trade Policy and American Treatymaking,” Temple International & Comparative Law Journal 8: 257. Available at LexisNexis.

WEEK 8 Focus on the WTO: Do trade agreements require countries to abandon health and safety regulation? The Obsolete State?

Course Reader: Kates, Robert W. 2003. “The Nexus and the Neem Tree: Globalization and a Transition toward Sustainability.” In Worlds Apart: Globalization and the Environment, ed. James Gustave Speth. Washington, DC: Island Press. Sampson, Gary P. 2000. Ch 2. “The WTO in a Changing World.” In Trade, Environment, and the WTO: The Post-Seattle Agenda. Washington D.C: John Hopkins Press.

Web-based Readings: Yavitz, Laura. 2002. “The World Trade Organization Appellate Body Report, European Communities—Measures Affecting Asbestos and Asbestos- Containing Products.” Minnesota Journal of Global Trade 11: 43-67. Available at LexisNexis. Wirth, David A. 1998. “European Communities – Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products.” American Journal of International Law 92: 755. Available at LexisNexis. McNiel, Dale E. 1999. “The First Case Under the WTO’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement – The European Union’s Hormone Ban.” Virginia Supplemental Journal of International Law 39: 89-134. Available at LexisNexis. reading for Reinicke, Wolfgang H. 1997. "Global Public Policy." Foreign Affairs 76(6): graduate students and 127-138. Available online at LexisNexis. others interested in Web-based Supplemental Readings: further Eckersley, Robyn. 2004. “The Big Chill: The WTO and Multilateral examination Environmental Agreements.” Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 4 Issue 2. of the issues Available at: Academic Search Primer.

WEEK 9 Are International Obligations Enforceable and have the legalistic approaches run their course?

Course Reader: Henkin, Louis. 1979. How Nations Behave, 2nd Edition. New York: Columbia University Press.- Chapter 4: Is It Law or Politics? Available at the library (JX1395 .H45 1979). Skjærseth, Jon Birger. 1998. “The Making and Implementation of North Sea Commitments: The Politics of Environmental Participation.” In The Implementation and Effectiveness of International Environmental Commitments: Theory and Practice, ed. David G. Victor, et al. Cambridge: MIT Press. Available of the library (K3585.6 .I555 1998) 10 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465

Web-based Readings: Sand, Peter. 2001. “A Century of Green Lessons: The Contribution of Nature Conservation Regimes to Global Governance.” International Environmental Agreements 1: 33-72. Available at http://www.jura.uni- muenchen.de/einrichtungen/ls/simma/tel/materialien/21/

Web-based Supplemental Readings: Supplemental Dunn, Brian. 2002. “The Mexicali Tire Pile: Smoke on the Horizon.” The reading for Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 14(0): 409-427. graduate students and Available through LexisNexis. * Narrow search by clicking on Legal others Research (upper left), then to Law Reviews, additionally be sure to widen interested in search to ‘all available dates. further Downs, George W., David M. Rocke, and Peter N. Barsoom. 1996. “Is the examination Good News about Compliance Good News about Cooperation?” of the issues International Organization 50(3): 379-406. Available at JStor.

WEEK 10 Briefing memos due and distributed

Note: "Students with documented disabilities who may need accommodations, who have any emergency medical information the instructor should know, or who need special arrangements in the event of evacuation, should make an appointment with the instructor as early as possible (use email for this class), no later than the first week of the term. In order to arrange alternative testing the student should make the request at least one week in advance of the test. Students seeking accommodations should be registered with the Office of Services for Students with disabilities."

11 This course is offered through Oregon State University Extended Campus. For more information, contact: Web: ecampus.oregonstate.edu Email: [email protected] Tel: 800-667-1465