Course Section | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

This course concerns the issues of law and policy that are involved in the regulation of climate change. Most of the course concerns U.S. law but a consiberable amount of international law is studied as well. It begins with an overview of the causes and effects of global climate change and the methods available to control and adopt to it. We will then examine the negotiation, implementation and current status of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol. The focus will then turn to the past and proposed actions of the U.S. Congress, the executive branch and the courts, as well as regional, state and municipal efforts. The Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and relevant energy laws will receive special attention. We will evaluate the various legal tools that are available to address climate change, including cap-and-trade schemes; carbon taxation; command-and-control regulation; litigation; information disclosure; and voluntary action. Implications for international human rights, energy security, economic competitiveness, federalism, environmental justice, and international and intergenerational equity will be discussed. Adaptation to climate change and geoengineering are examined as well.