Courses > Economics of Climate Change

The Economics of Climate Change: Myths and Realities, by Peter Dorman, Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wasington, USA.

A faculty member in Political Economy at Evergreen State College, Peter has been a consultant with the International Labor Organization on the economic aspects of child labor. He is actively involved in environmental issues and is currently writing a book titled "Back from the Abyss: Science, Economics and the Challenge of Catastrophic Climate Change".

Course content

Climate Change remains “inconvenient” for nearly every political philosophy and economic interest. With so much at stake, propaganda crowds out objective analysis, and misconceptions proliferate. This course is grounded in the realities of the carbon cycle over eons of earth history as well as contemporary economic theory and evidence. Its purpose is to strip away the self-serving dogma on all sides and gain a clear understanding of the problem and how we can respond to it effectively. It shows that the risks of failure are enormous, but that we also have the knowledge, if not yet the will, to change course.

Daily topics / activities

MONDAY
Topics: Introduction. The carbon cycle, earth history, and the nature of the climate crisis.
Activities: Workshop: what do people believe about climate change? Data lab: how much carbon?

TUESDAY
Topics: Fossil fuels and economic development.
Activities: Workshop: direct and indirect carbon footprints. Data lab: Carbon emissions and economic development around the world.

WEDNESDAY
Topics: A carbon budget: what is it, and how much is left?
Activities: Data lab I: emission targets versus carbon budgets. Data lab II: The consequences of delay.

THURSDAY
Topics: Policy myths and realities: taxes, permits, offsets, subsidies, and their distributional consequences.
Activities: Workshop: role-playing climate policy debates.

FRIDAY
Topics: The political economy of climate policy: who pays the costs, and who makes the rules?
Activities: Reports of student teams on the design and effectiveness of different regional policy regimes.

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CHECK THIS OUT: just for pre-registering you will find in the e-mail a link to a paper by Peter Dorman that will give you a flavor of the course and whet your appetite.

So why wait? Pre-register now and pay soon. Your place in the course is guaranteed only after you've paid the registration fee which starts at a low € 480. So hurry: places are limited and this early bird rate is only until May 31.

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