11:374:102 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
8/14/09
Fall, 2009 MTh Lecture 9:15-10:35 HCK-205
Digital version of this outline; go to the Department Web Site: http://humanecology.rutgers.edu/
Click on Courses and this web site gives you digital access to a copy of the course syllabus (with links), homework assignments (with links), handouts, and class notes.
Computer Lab: 221 Blake Hall
If you are registered for this course or are an EPIB major you have access to the lab that we share with the LA program 231, Blake Hall.
Instructor:
George E.B. Morren, Professor Emeritus.
Department of Human Ecology
208 Cook Office Building
Office hours: Monday-Thursday 10:45-11:45 AM and by appointment
Telephone: 732/932-9153 x315
E-Mail: morren@aesop.rutgers.edu Don’t hesitate to contact me regarding your work in the course.
Course Overview:
This course is about your role as a consumer, citizen, and future professional in global environmental change. It aims to provide you with the tools necessary to measure your personal impact on the world and to assess your role as a citizen of the world. In short, this is an international ‚ 'civics course,' aimed at preparing students to be citizens of the world, able to express opinions regarding global issues and policies and to evaluate their own connections to the rest of the world and its peoples.
In order to do this, we need to know more about the historical, economic, technical-scientific, socio-cultural, institutional and policy dimensions of environmental problems and issues. We also need to look at things at different scales and levels of analysis; for example, the relationship between environmental policies at the local (e.g., your town) and the international (e.g., the UN) levels.
Ethical consumption/product life cycle analysis, institutional actors, and regime 'theory,' are among the tools we will use to examine such problem-topics as global climate change, deforestation, trade, war, mining, and agriculture/food production.
Course Requirements (and approximate value: Total = 100):
a. 2 examinations: total of 50 points.
b. 6 written Web assignments: 40 points.
c. Regular attendance and participation: 10 points. Attendance will be taken at all class meetings.
Web Assignments:
You will be graded on enterprise, ingenuity, comprehensiveness, accuracy and personal meaning. You must cite your sources.
Required Reading:
Your reading assignments can be found in two locations: (1) unless noted otherwise, your assignments are on electronic reserve in Chang Library,* and otherwise (2) web sites with links in the digital version of this syllabus.
*Link to electronic reserves: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/
COURSE OUTLINE
Week 1: Introduction to the 'Big Picture' and Course Overview: 3 September
Jimmy Carter, ‘As a Citizen of a Troubled World’
Weeks 2 & 3 World Citizenship & Ethical Consumption 8-17 September
Stuff
- N.Y. Times, Union, Students Demand Gap End Sweatshop Production
- Tony Smith, Difficult Times for Coffee Industry as Demand Falls
- Katharine Q. Seelye “Environmental Groups Gain as Companies Vote on Issues”
- N.Y. Times, ‘When Nike Speaks’
- Abby Ellen, Suit Says Chevron-Texaco Dumped Poisons in Ecuador
- D. Gonzalez et al., Banana Workers Get Their Day in Court
- Archon Fung, et als., Realizing Labor Standards
- Ginger Thompson, Behind Rose’s Beauty, Poor and Ill Workers
- David Gonzalez “Latin Sweatshops Pressed by U.S. Campus Power”
- Sherry Day, Move Over Starbucks, Juan Valdez is Coming
- Jon Mooallem. ' The Unintended Consequences of Hyperhydration.' N.Y. Times Magazine, May 27, 2007
- Bill Marsh, The Battle between the Bottle and the Faucet. NY Times July 15, 2007
- Louise Story & David Barboza, 'Mattel Recalls 19 Million Toys Sent From China.' NY Times, August 15, 2007.
Mining
- Perlez & Johnson, Behind Gold’s Gllitter
- USGAO, Environmental Liabilities
- Keith Schneider, Old Peril of Abandoned Mines Stirs Calls for Action in West. NY Times, April 27, 1993
- Kelly Patterson, Miners, retailers to certify ethical production of metal. Labels on cutlery, cars, jewelry would show environmental, rights standards upheld.’ The Ottawa Citizen Wednesday,
- June 14, 2006
- World Bank, ‘Riverine Tailings Disposal and Submarine Tailings Disposal.’ World Bank
- Extractive Industries Review (2005) http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/eir.nsf/
"The Story of Stuff" http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html
Web Assignment No. 1 Ethical Consumption
Week 4 & 5: International Institutions II, Actors & Processes 21 September - 1 October
1. Kenneth Dahlberg, "Environmental Actors"
2. L. K. Caldwell, "Issues and Problems of International Environmental Concern"
3. David Armstrong, 'International Regimes'
4. Anon. “If the U.N. Were Being Created Today”
5. Joanne Kaufman Need Press? Repeat: ‘Green,’ ‘Sex,’ ‘Cancer,’ ‘Secret,’ ‘Fat.’ NY Times, June 30, 2008
Visit the following United Nations web site, follow links and read the relevant materials in order to gather a basic understanding of the structure and operations of the organization including the details of the UN Charter, the major divisions of the UN (such as UNEP and the International Court of Justice), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This is a reading assignment. You will be responsible for the contents. Consider such questions as: What is the relationship of all this to the environment and environmental quality? What "rights" that you might have expected to see are "missing from the ‘Declaration?’
Download copies of the 'Environmental Actors Grid' blank' and 'filled in'
Web Assignment No. 2 Environmental Actors and the 'Law of the Sea'
Weeks 6 & 7: Capitalism and Global Trade 5 - 15 October
1. Alexei Barrionuevo, 'Globalization in Every Loaf.' NY Times, June 16, 2006
2. Belinda Coote: "The Trade Trap"
3. Celia W. Dugger, 'CARE Turns Down Federal Funds for Food Aid.' NY Times, August 16, 2007
4. Harry Flood, ' Manufacturing Desire.' Adbusters Magazine WINTER, 2000
5. Tina Rosenberg, “The Free Trade Fix,”
6. George Morren, “Trade Trap, Third-World Debt, North-South Trade, and the Development of Underdevelopment”
7. Global Exchange Staff, “Understanding the Class Nature/Democratic Conditionality”
8. Bruce M. Rich, “Greening of the Development Banks”
9. Virginia Postrel, “The Rich Get Rich and the Poor Get Poorer. Or Do They?”
10. N.Y. Times, “When Nike Speaks”
11. Elizabeth Olson, “The WTO’s Next Chief”
12. Steven R. Weisman, Emerging States Seek Clout at World Bank and I.M.F., NY Times, September 18, 2006
13. Andrew Downie, Fair Trade in Bloom, NY Times, , October 2, 2007
14. Reuters, World Bank, IMF Unsuited for Africa Aid - U.N. Agency, NY Times, September 21, 2006
15. NICHOLAS BAKALAR, Rise in TB Is Linked to Loans From I.M.F. NY Times, 22 July 2008.
Web Assignment No. 3: The World Bank
Week 8 & 9: Global Climate Change as An International Environmental Case Study 19– 26 October
1. Alexei Barrionuevo, 'The Energy Challenge: For Good Or Ill, Boom In Ethanol Reshapes Economy Of Heartland.' NY Times, June 25, 2006
2. Keith Bradsher, 'China To Pass U.S. In 2009 In Emissions,' NY Times, November 7, 2006
3. Claudia H. Deutsch, ' Global Warming Subject for Directors at Big Companies.' N.Y. Times, September 21, 2006
4. Jeremy Leggett, "The Nature of the Greenhouse Threat"
5. Felicity Barringer, Flooded Village Files Suit, Citing Corporate Link to Climate Change. February 27, 2008
6. Jad Mouawad, The Greener Guys NY Times, May 30, 2006
7. Corey S. Powell, 'Black Cloud' [a review of Big Coal, By Jeff Goodell] NY Times, June 25, 2006
8. Andrew C. Revkin News Analysis: Into Thin Air: Kyoto Accord May Not Die (or Matter)
9. Andrew C. Revkin , Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts. NY Times October 2, 2007
10. N.Y. Times, “Kyoto Protocol in Peril”
11. Andrew C. Revkin, ' Talks To Start on Climate Amid Split on Warming.' N.Y. Times, November 5, 2006
12. Heather Timmons, 'British Science Group Says Exxon Misrepresents Climate Issues.' NY Times, September 21, 2006
13. The MIT Energy Research Council, MIT ethanol analysis clarifies benefits of biofuel. n.d.
14.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Climate Change Refugees
(extended version): As global warming tightens the availability of water,
prepare for a torrent of forced migrations. Scientific American, June 1, 2007.
Go to the UNEP website http://climatechange.unep.net/ and check out the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Early Warning Map
Go to the U.S. Senate Report debate on 'scientific consensus:'
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport
Web Assignment No. 4: Kyoto Conference on Global Climate Change
Week 9: REVIEW & MID-TERM EXAM -
Review 29 October
Exam 2 November
Week 10 & 11 War: The Human & Environmental Impacts 5-12 November
1. Adam Bowles, 'Settling In, Restlessly.' NY Times, January 2, 2005
2. Johnny Dwyer, 'Shelter From The Storm.' NY Times, October 1, 2006
3.
Barbara Rose Johnston, ‘Nuclear War and Its Consequences:
Reparations (and a Little Justice) for the the People of Rongelap.’ Counterpunch
Weekend Edition
April 21 / 22, 2007
4. Mark Landler, '60 Years Later, Buried Bombs Still Frighten Germans, and Kill Some.' N.Y. Times, October 24, 2006
5. George Morren, “War, Preparation for War and Environmental Consequences”
6. Mireya Navarro, 'Diamonds Are For Never?' NY Times, December 14, 2006
7. Cathy Scott, “Spectre Orange“
8. Anon., “Environmental Problems Breed New Forms of Violence”
9. Thomas Shanker “U.S. Remains Leader in Global Arms Sales”
10. Kurt Vonnegut, Letter from Pfc. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. to his family, May 29, 1945. In: Armageddon in Retrospect, New York, Putnam's 2008, pp. 11-14.
Web Sources to Consult:
Database on refugees www.un.org/databases
On Env. Impacts http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/infodocs/st_environment.html
On Agent Orange http://research.yale.edu/ysm/article.jsp?articleID=48
Comprehensive List of UN Peace-keeping Operations http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/home.shtml
Web Assignment No.5 War and the Plight of Refugees
Weeks 12, 13 & 14: The Product Life Cycle of What People Eat 16 November - 7 December
1. Carol & John Steinhart, “The Energy We Eat”
2. Lester Brown & John Young, “Feeding the World in the Nineties”
3. Elizabeth Becker & David Barboza “Battle Over Biotechnology Intensifies Trade War”
4. Francis M. Lappe & Joseph Collins, Selections from Food First
5. Jack Doyle, “The Green Revolution II”
6. Sherri Day “Move Over Starbucks“
7. Tony Smith “Difficult Times for the Coffee Industry”
8. Tina Rosenberg “The Free Trade Fix”
9. Somini Sengupta “World Hunger Increasing”
10. Hynes, Patricia "In the Shadow of Silent Spring
11. David Bull, “Pesticides and the Third World Environment; A Victim Every Minute”
12. D. Weir & M. Schapiro, “Dumping: Business as Usual”
13. Anon. “Group Names Most Contaminated Produce”
14. David Gonzalez & Samuel Loewenberg “Banana Workers Get Day in Court”
15. Ginger Thompson “Behind Roses’ Beauty: Poor and Ill Workers”
16. Environmental Working Group “A Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce Reuters
17. “EPA Proposes Cancer Guidelines for Children (NYT) [bundled with EPA Proposes New Cancer Risk Guidelines [AP]/EPA Seeks to Update Guidelines for Cancer Risk Assessment (EPA Press Release)]
18. Katharine Q. Seelye & John Tierney “EPA Drops Age-Based Cost Studies”
19. Saritha Rai „Hazardous Waste is Shipped From India to U.S. Recycling Plant”
20. Elizabeth Becker & Jennifer Lee, "Europe Plan on Chemicals”
21. Elisabeth Rosenthal, The Food Chain: Environmental Cost Of Shipping Groceries Around The World, NY Times, April 26, 2008
Visit the MEATRIX at: http://www.themeatrix.com/ and http://www.themeatrix2.com/
Explore the site.
Week 15: (Last Day of Class) Summary and Review 8-10 December
FINAL EXAM Check grid in current schedule of classes for date and time.