GEOGRAPHY
370 Spring 2014
Problems of Resource Management:
Energy and Climate Change
Time: MW 12:30 - 2:20 PM
Classroom:
MEB 248
Instructor: Craig ZumBrunnen
Office: Room 412E Smith Hall
Office Hours: MW 11:30-12:15
PM or by appointment
Phone Office: 206-543-4915 E-mail:
craigzb@uw.edu
Class website access
URL: https://catalyst.uw.edu/workspace/craigzb/38018
Login: Your UW
NET id
PW: Student id #
Course
Goals:
The goal of this course is to help
students become more effective participants in environmental
decision making as citizens and professionals,
especially with regard to energy and climate. The
course content includes some history of natural
resource and energy use, core ecosystem and
natural processes focusing on energy
use/policies and climate change/policies leading to discussion,
analyses, and critiques of alternative
decision-making methods and strategies mainly, but not
exclusively, regarding the US. You should take this
course if you are interested in an environmental
career, or simply want to be a more informed
citizen.
What
students can expect to learn from this course:
Students can expect to learn about: 1) a
survey history of American resource use practices &
environmentalism; 2) basic economic concepts as applied
to natural resource management and
their critique; 3) major ecosystem concepts
and processes; 4) natural (e.g., thermodynamic) and
historical-geographic human-economic processes, and
problems bearing on local, national and
global energy use & climate change; 5) the
strengths and shortcomings of various strategies and
policies for environmental and resource
protection; and 6) some appreciation for the
complexities involved in the controversies
surrounding the energy use, concept(s) of Òsustainable
development.Ó
I wish to strongly emphasize that the purpose and perspective
of this course
is as much to develop critical thinking and
questioning skills, as it is to convey a specific body
of information. Accordingly, expect this class to
generate more questions than answers.
General
methods of instruction:
The primary methods of instruction which
will be employed include: 1) lecture and class discussions /
debates, 2) small group activities and issue oriented
debates, 3) relevant energy and climate
change videos, 4) classroom Òwalk throughÓ of
sample benefit-cost problems, B-C treatment of
uncertainty and the inherent problems of only using B-C or economic
analyses to evaluate energy
and climate policies and 5) possibly even
short field trips to energy installations - wind, hydro, solar,
in the region.
Recommended
preparation for success in the course:
There are no formal course prerequisites
for the class. However, some
general geography
background gleaned from such courses as Geog 123,
Geog 205, and Geog 207 would be
beneficial.
Interest in and background reading in natural resource history,
introductory
biology/ecology, energy, climate science and
economics would be helpful and useful; but the lectures
will be given and topics discussed assuming
no such general student background education and training.
General
nature of assignments:
There will be two major types of
assignments used inside and/or outside the classroom:
1) assigned
readings, and 2) in-class group exercises/debates/discussions.
Basis
on which grades are assigned (tentative depending on group project or not):
Grading will be based upon four different
components: (1) a take-home essay exam (30% of grade)
due at beginning of the class on May 12, (2)
a set of graded Benefit/Cost – Cost Effectiveness
exercises (10%) due on May 14, (3) class participation
involving discussions, and two group process
activities (a Cognitive Conceptual Content Mapping
(3CM) activity and an 8-Sector CO2
Stabilization Wedge activity (combined total worth 20% of grade), and (4) a final essay exam
(40% of grade) due on
or before 5 PM on Wednesday, June 11. The two take-home
exams will be
given based on assigned readings and lecture
materials. The first essay exam with have a 4-page
limit and the final essay exam will have a
6-page limit and both essay exams will have a choice of
responding to one of two questions. The potential questions will be handed
out approximately f
ive days prior to their due dates and will
include point evaluation schemes.
Academic Honesty:
A number of students across campus are finding themselves
accused of academic misconduct
when other students have
submitted their work. One source of
the problems is that papers, assignments
and essays are being copied from
computers and especially JUMP DRIVES when students leave their
computers unattended. This is happening on campus, and
especially in the dorms. Please
make
yourselves aware of the rules and
parameters involved with the academic code of conduct. Accordingly,
the following link is a useful summary
to clarify the expectations of academic honesty.
http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm
Required TEXTs:
Gavin
Bridge & Philippe Le Billon, Oil.
Cambridge, UK Malden, MA, 2013.
(hereafter, O).
[ISBN 978-0745649269].
Lester R. Brown, World
on the Edge. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company, 2011.
(hereafter, WoE). [ISBN 978-0-393-33949-9].
Charles L. Harper, Environment
and Society: Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues,
Fifth
Edition. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2011. (hereafter,
ES). [ISBN-13: 978-0-205820535].
Michael T. Klare, The Race for WhatÕs Left: The Global
Scramble for the WorldÕs Last Resources.
New York:
Picador, 2012. (hereafter, RWL) [ISBN
978-1-250-02397-1].
Laurence C. Smith, The World in 2050: Four Forces
Shaping Civilization's Northern Future. New York: Plume, 2011. (hereafter, W) [ISBN
978-0452297470].
DATE TOPIC/ISSUES READINGS
March 31 Introduction
to course, ÒResources are not, they become,Ó ES xi-32;
W 1-25;
concepts
of property rights WoE ix-20; O 1-34; RWL 1-40
April 2 Economic
& Ecosystem concepts
W 29-120
April 7 Conceptual
Content Cognitive Mapping (3CM) group process will be
introduced
& used to develop the position papers concepts
April 9 Class
time devoted to working on 3CM group reports
April
14 3CM
oral reports
April 16 Return
to Ecosystem concepts
ES 223-257
April 21 Ecosystem
Concepts & American Conservation History
April 23 Conclusion
to brief Conservation History
April 28 Introduction
to Benefit-Cost analysis & Cost Effectiveness
&their shortcomings,
B-C exercises handed out
April 30 Alternative
Evaluation Methods of Ecosystem Services ES 191-222
May 5 In-class
Game & HardinÕs ÒTragedy of CommonsÓ WoE 21-98
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243.full
ÒEcological EconomicsÓ thanks to Robert
Costanza ES 127-190
Read and respond to Costanza's
ÒFour Visions of the FutureÓ: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol4/iss1/art5/
May 7 Mineral
Resources and land
RWL
128-208
B-C
exercises due, first exam handed out
May 12 Processes,
problems, issues and approaches to the management
ES 33-60
of air
quality
First exam due at beginning of class
May 14 Processes,
problems, issues and approaches to the
management of
water resources,
May 19 Intro
to Energy & Society O
35-205, ES 93-126;
RWL 41-127; WoE
99-150
ÒHistory of OilÓ video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DCwafIntj0
ÒHistory of Oil PropagandaÓ
http://www.crankmychain.com/plentytv/history-of-oil-propaganda-video_fa3fdd62b.html
May 21 Continue
discussion Geopolitics of Energy Issues
Other reading selections:
Michael T. Klare, ÒThe New Geopolitics of
Energy,Ó
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080519/klare/print
http://www.thenation.com/article/new-geopolitics-energy
Michael T.
Klare, ÒAnatomy of a Price Surge,Ó
http://thenation.com/doc/20080707/klare/print
http://www.thenation.com/article/anatomy-price-surge
Michael T.
Klare, ÒBeyond the Age of Petroleum,Ó
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071112/klare/print
http://www.thenation.com/article/beyond-age-petroleum
May 26 Memorial Day
Holiday: No Class
May 28 Global
Climate change, a new type of environmental problem ES 61-92;
W 123-220
June 2 Climate
science & climate change impacts
Other
reading selections:
Walsh,
Bryan. (2007) ÒThird World Smoke Alarm.Ó Time
Magazine
May 10, 2007 -accessed at
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1619098,00.html
Environmental Protection Agency. (2007) ÒClimate Change – Health and
Environmental Effects.Ó (Optional) access at
www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/health.html
June 4 Climate
Change - Global warming cont.
WoE 151-202; W 223-261;
RWL 209-234
In-class group
process: 8-sector Stabilization Wedges:
A Concept & Game:
http://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/pdfs/teachers_guide.pdf
Summary discussions
Final essay exam
questions handed out
-------------------------------------
June 11 Take-Home Final Exam: due before Wed.
@ 5:00 PM in Rm 412E Smith Hall.
OPTIONAL: Examples of other assigned reading selections, podcasts, etc. may also be used as
appropriate and available either on-line or on reserve.
History of Oil parts 1-5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4sykoUWZ8g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TfRH-atfLQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDkvhPGHwkk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJDacQbRL_k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtNtlQ2Gso0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ34C-Mec8s&list=PL09E0ADC205908EAD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpbF84kB7hM&list=PL09E0ADC205908EAD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5QqidiEEHw
Peak Oil Roller-Coaster - A Brief History of Fossil Fuels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYr6GnTSS-s
There's No Tomorrow
(Peak Oil) Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IipwQryubIE
BP Energy Outlook
2030: The World's Energy Future
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B3dLWv7HNs
BP Statistical
Review of World Energy 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtWoPZluI2E
BP U.S. Energy
Outlook 2030 - America's Energy Trends
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j2yzL0PdOw
Climate of Change in
China
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoL-53QQnEU