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March 9, 2009
| Author: | Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change |
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This module features teaching notes by Michael A. Levi, director of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report, Confronting Climate Change: A Strategy for U.S. Policy, along with other resources to supplement the text. This report lays out a U.S. negotiating proposal for a global climate accord, including what the United States should be willing to offer and what it should expect others to do in order to confront climate change.
What is a CFR Academic Module?
Academic Modules—featuring teaching notes by the authors of CFR publications—are designed to assist educators in creating or supplementing a course syllabus. The modules are customized packages built around a primary CFR text, such as a book or report, and include teaching notes; additional readings; video, audio, and transcripts of CFR meetings; Foreign Affairs articles; and other online resources. Use of these modules is free of charge. They may be used in part or in their entirety.
June 2008
Task Force Report No. 61
Against the backdrop of increasing attention to climate change in the presidential campaigns, debate of the Lieberman-Warner climate bill in the Senate, and preparations for this summer’s G8 summit, this report recommends an overhaul of U.S. domestic and foreign policy to confront the challenges of climate change.
October 16, 2008
An in-depth, multimedia look at climate change, its global impact, and efforts to combat it.
Updated: July 7, 2009
President Barack Obama says he will seek vigorous climate-change policy. Efforts to curb greenhouse gases pose considerable economic pitfalls, as well as opportunities.
December 8, 2008
Natural gas seems an obvious alternative to coal and oil for new energy production, but its transportation remains expensive, technically challenging, and politically difficult.
Updated: January 25, 2008
G8 members offer a mixed picture on meeting Kyoto Protocol targets. The United States continues to refuse ratification.
Updated January 7, 2008
Loss of forests is a major contributor to greenhouse-gas emissions. Plans to devise a policy tool for using trees for carbon dioxide sequestration are now under way.
September 28, 2007
The debate over climate-change policy has moved to the top of agendas worldwide, but a vocal minority continues to fight what it regards as expensive and unnecessary public policy.
Updated: April 11, 2007
President Bush, in his January 31, 2006, State of the Union address, proposed an Advanced Energy Initiative to reduce American dependency on foreign energy sources. The following is a summary of U.S. energy sources and their potential for reducing America’s need for imports.
Updated, April 3, 2007
Despite foot-dragging on climate change, the United States has a strong history of environmental legislation, which could provide models for future greenhouse gas reduction efforts.
November 2007
Council Special Report No. 32
Connections between climate change and national security are receiving unprecedented attention from policymakers and analysts. Joshua W. Busby moves the discussion from broad assessments of the links between climate and security to a plan for action. This report is also available in Chinese.
April 2007
Council Special Report No. 28
This report examines the contributions that an expanded use of nuclear energy can make to improving energy security and reducing global warming while balancing these benefits against the risks and lingering questions over nuclear energy’s safety and security.
October 2006
Task Force Report No. 58
This report argues that the lack of sustained attention to energy issues is undercutting U.S. foreign policy and national security.
March/April 2009
Summary
As climate change accelerates, policymakers may have to consider "geoengineering" as an emergency strategy to cool the planet. Engineering the climate strikes most as a bad idea, but it is time to start taking it seriously.
September/October 2008
Summary
The United States can curb its own emissions and encourage energy effeciency and the development of clean-energy technology worldwide by rethinking carbon regimes.
May/June 2007
Summary
Thanks to high oil prices and hefty subsidies, corn-based ethanol is now all the rage in the United States. But it takes so much supply to keep ethanol production going that the price of corn -- and those of other food staples -- is shooting up around the world. To stop this trend, and prevent even more people from going hungry, Washington must conserve more and diversify ethanol's production inputs.
January/February 2009
Charles Ferguson and Michelle Smith argue that nuclear energy "will not be the miracle cure for energy dependence or global warming that boosters promise."
December 12, 2008
Report
November 2008
Report
October 2008
Daniel S. Hall, Michael A. Levi, William A. Pizer, and Takahiro Ueno look at policy options for encouraging cooperation between the developed and developing world on combating climate change.
September 24, 2007
The odds are high that humans will warm Earth’s climate to worrisome levels during the coming century. Policy makers in the United States, which historically has produced more CO2 emissions than any other nation while doing relatively little to tame the flow, can in particular learn much about creating viable carbon-cutting markets by studying Europe’s recent experience. In this Scientific American article, David Victor and Danny Cullenward offer several concrete suggestions on how the U.S. should go about constructing an effective national climate policy.
May 11, 2007
David Biello says if controlling global warming is a priority, then industries will have to become efficient energy users, which will require a transformation of their basic operations.
October 8, 2008
The UN special envoy on climate change for Papua New Guinea discusses the implications the financial crisis has for international efforts on climate change.
June 13, 2008
Michael A. Levi, who directed CFR's Independent Task Force on global climate change, says the United States needs to demonstrate how reducing carbon emissions can be balanced with economic growth.
May 19, 2008
Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Framework on Climate Change Convention, says “intelligent financing” for green technologies is key to a good climate change agreement.
March 7, 2008
CFR’s Sebastian Mallaby cautions the next U.S. president that “green tariffs” could undermine the legitimacy of the World Trade Organization.
January 25, 2008
Michael Levi, CFR fellow for science and technology, says the next president needs a strong domestic approach to climate change to be credible internationally.
December 13, 2007
CFR Fellow Michael A. Levi says the Bali climate conference made some headway on deforestation but questions the rush to a deal on setting binding emissions targets.
November 30, 2007
Joshua Busby, an expert on climate change politics, discusses what can be expected out of the Bali conference on climate change.
October 30, 2007
Former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman says the next president needs to focus on providing environmental leadership, and must include a new focus on climate change and water infrastructure.
May 31, 2007
William Drozdiak, an expert on transatlantic politics, says a major issue at the upcoming G8 meeting will be pressure on Washington to accept limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
April 2, 2007
The official overseeing the World Bank’s huge sustainable development division downplays concerns that environmental issues have been suppressed in a new push for infrastructure projects.
Updated: September 30, 2008
Experts debate the degree to which opening more federal lands and waters to drilling will improve U.S. energy security.
Updated: November 9, 2007
Michael Mariotte of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Steven Kerekes at the Nuclear Energy Institute debate the role of nuclear power in climate change policy.
Updated: August 1, 2007
Elizabeth Martin Perera, a climate policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Alex Farrell, director of UC Berkley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center, discuss the merits and challenges of coal-to-liquids as an alternative fuel.
April 18, 2007
CFR President Richard N. Haass testifies before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming about the implications of oil dependence and climate change.
November 2008
Report
Authors: Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins
September 2007
Book
Editors: Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins
2007
Report
McKinsey & Company
2007
Report
Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change
December 2004
Report
Authors: Jason Grumet, John P. Holdren, William K. Reilly, John W. Rowe, and Philip Sharp
International Nuclear Energy Resurgence: A Conversation with Dale E. Klein
| Speaker: | Dale E. Klein, Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Sherri W. Goodman, General Counsel, CNA |
On January 21, one day after his inauguration, President Obama released a comprehensive agenda for U.S. homeland security, which included a call to "establish a new international nuclear energy architecture... to meet growing demands for nuclear energy without contributing to proliferation." Join Dale E. Klein for a discussion of the policy and regulatory environment for international nuclear resurgence.
Transcript: International Nuclear Energy Resurgence: A Conversation With Dale Klein
Audio: International Nuclear Energy Resurgence: A Conversation with Dale E. Klein (Audio)
Video: International Nuclear Energy Resurgence: A Conversation with Dale E. Klein (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
World Energy Outlook 2008
| Speaker: | Fatih Birol, Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis Division, International Energy Agency |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Edward L. Morse, Managing Director, Head of Economic Research, Louis Capital Markets |
Audio: World Energy Outlook (Audio)
Video: World Energy Outlook (Video)
China and Climate Change Symposium
Session One: Chinese Energy and Climate Strategy
Zhou Dadi, Professor, Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), People's Republic of China
Trevor Houser, Director, Energy & Climate Practice, Rhodium Group (RHG); Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Taiya Smith, Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Presider: Elizabeth C. Economy, C. V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
8:00 to 8:30 a.m. Breakfast Reception
8:30 to 9:45 a.m. Meeting
Session Two: Energy Technology in China
Wu Zongxin, Director of Academic Committee, Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, and Director, Energy Environment and Economy Institute, Tsinghua University
Edward S. Steinfeld, Associate Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Director, MIT-China Program, and Co-Director, China Energy Group, MIT Industrial Performance Center
Presider: Andrew Revkin, Science Reporter, New York Times
10:00 to 11:15 a.m. Meeting
Session Three: Policy Options for the United States
This session will focus on the findings and recommendations of the CFR Independent Task Force on Climate Change. The Task Force begins by arguing that the United States must lead with domestic action. It then turns its attention to the major emerging economies, including China, proposing a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing emissions reductions.
George E. Pataki, Counsel, Chadbourne and Parke LLP; former Governor of New York; Co-chair, CFR Independent Task Force on Climate Change
Thomas J. Vilsack, Of Counsel, Dorsey & Whitney LLP; former Governor of Iowa; Co-chair, CFR Independent Task Force on Climate Change
Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and Environment, Council on Foreign Relations; Director, CFR Independent Task Force on Climate Change
Presider: Robert Bazell, Chief Health & Science Correspondent, NBC News/MSNBC
11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Meeting
12:45 to 1:30 p.m. Buffet Lunch
Transcripts: Symposium on China and Climate Change, Session One: Chinese Energy and Climate Strategy [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service], Symposium on China and Climate Change, Session Two: Energy Technology in China [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service], Symposium on China and Climate Change, Session Three: Energy Policy Options for the United States [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
Audios: Symposium on China and Climate Change: Session One: Chinese Energy and Climate Strategy (Audio), Symposium on China and Climate Change: Session Two: Energy Technology in China (Audio), Symposium on China and Climate Change: Session Three: Policy Options for the United States (Audio)
Videos: Symposium on China and Climate Change: Session One: Chinese Energy and Climate Strategy (Video), Symposium on China and Climate Change: Session Two: Energy Technology in China (Video), Symposium on China and Climate Change: Session Three: Policy Options for the United States (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics: What is the Right Economic Approach to Global Warming?
Related Project: McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics
| Presider: | Christine Todd Whitman, President, The Whitman Strategy Group LLC |
|---|---|
| Speakers: | Ian W.H. Parry, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future |
| Richard Sandor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Climate Exchange | |
| Robert H. Socolow, Professor, Princeton University |
The McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics is presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and the Corporate Program.
Transcript: McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics: What is the Right Economic Approach to Global Warming? [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
Audio: McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics: What is the Right Economic Approach to Global Warming? (Audio)
Video: McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics: What is the Right Economic Approach to Global Warming? (Video)
Climate Change and National Security
| Speaker: | Joshua W. Busby, Assistant Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin; Author, Climate Change and National Security: An Agenda for Action |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Irina A. Faskianos, Vice President, National Program & Outreach, Council on Foreign Relations |
12:00 to 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Audio: Academic Conference Call: Climate Change and National Security (Audio)
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Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
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