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12.103

Strange Bedfellows: Science and Environmental Policy

Undergraduate · Historical course

Spring 2010 · Science and Policy of Natural Hazards

This course examines the science of natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and hurricanes and explores the relationships between the science of and policy toward such hazards. It presents the causes and effects of these phenomena, discusses their predictability, and examines how this knowledge influences policy making. This course includes intensive practice in the writing and presentation of scientific research and summaries for policy makers.

Fall 2005

Topics

  • Introduction
  • Science, Policy, and the Environment
  • Overview of Case Studies I and II: Biopreserves and Nuclear Waste Disposal
  • Overview of Case Studies III and IV: Climate Change and the Role of DDT in Malaria Control
  • Building Research Skills
  • Laws, Regulations, and International Treaties
  • Players, Problem Framing, and Science I
  • Players, Problem Framing, and Science II
  • Players, Problem Framing, and Science III
  • Players, Problem Framing, and Science IV
  • The Role of Modeling in Science and Policy
  • Modeling and Prediction I
  • Modeling and Prediction II
  • Modeling and Prediction III
  • Modeling and Prediction IV
  • Probability and Risk
  • Scientific Uncertainty I
  • Scientific Uncertainty II
  • Scientific Uncertainty III
  • Scientific Uncertainty IV
  • Looking Back
  • Is There A Better Way?
  • Final Reports
  • Final Discussion

Readings

  • Triplett, William. “Science and Politics.” CQ Researcher 14, no. 28 (August 20, 2004). 32 pages.
    Listed reading
  • “Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science.” Union of Concerned Scientists, March 2004.
    Listed reading
  • “Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: Further Investigation of the Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science.” Union of Concerned Scientists, July 2004.
    Listed reading
  • Mooney, Chris, “Science Wars,” The Boston Globe , Nov 21, 2004.
    Listed reading
  • Forest, Chris E., Peter H Stone, and Henry D Jacoby. How to Think about Human Influences on Climate. Report no. 68, October 2000. MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.
    Listed reading
  • Justus, John R, and Susan R. Fletcher. CRS Issue Brief for Congress . “Global Climate Change” March 27, 2002. Resources, Science and Industry Division. Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress.
    Listed reading
  • Keller, C. F. “1000 Years of Climate Change.” Advances in Space Research 34 (2004): 315-322.
    Listed reading
  • Webster, M., C. Forest, J. Reilly, M. Babiker, D. Kicklighter, M. Mayer, R. Prinn, M. Sarofim, A. Sokolov, P. Stone, and C. Wang. Uncertainty Analysis of Climate Change and Policy Response . Report no. 95, December 2002. MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.
    Listed reading
  • “Summary for Policymakers.” A report of working group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001. Technical Summary: A report accepted by Working Group I of the IPCC but not approved in detail. Coordinating lead authors D. L. Albritton, L. G. Meira Filho and about 50 other authors…. Review editors F. Joos, A. Ramirex-Rojas, J. M. R. Stone, and J. Zillman. (Technical summary of the Working Group I Report).
    Listed reading
  • Hansen, Brian. “Nuclear Waste.” CQ Researcher 11, no. 22 (June 8, 2001): 489-504.
    Listed reading
  • Ewing, R. C., and A. Macfarlane. “Yucca Mountain.” Science (Science’s Compass Policy Forum) 296 (2002): 659-660.
    Listed reading
  • DOE/RW-0345P: DOE’s Yucca Mountain Studies. U.S. Department of Energy, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project, and Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Education and Information Division, December 1992.
    Listed reading
  • “Federal Register, part IV Environmental Protection Agency, 40 CFR Part 197, Public Health and Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, NV; Final Rule.” Federal Register 66, no. 114 (June 13, 2001).
    Listed reading
  • “Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.” U.S. Department of Energy office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, March 2004. Nuclear Waste Policy Act, as Amended, with appropriations acts appended.
    Listed reading
  • Bodvarsson, G. S., W. Boyle, R. Patterson, and D. Williams. “Overview of Scientific Investigations at Yucca Mountain - the Potential Repository for High-Level Nuclear Waste.” Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 38 (1999): 3-24.
    Listed reading
  • Macfarlane, Allison. “Underlying Yucca Mountain: the Interplay of Geology and Policy in Nuclear Waste Disposal.” Social Studies of Science 33, no. 5 (October 2003): 783-807.
    Listed reading
  • Long, J. C. S., and R. C. Ewing. “Yucca Mountain: Earth-science Issues at a Geologic Repository for High-Level Nuclear Waste.” Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 32 (2004): 363-401.
    Listed reading
  • White, G. F., M. S. Bronzini, E. W. Colglazier, B. Dohrenwend, K. Erikson, R. Hansen, A. V. Kneese, R. Moore, R. Page, E. B., and R. A. Rappaport. “Socioeconomic Studies of High-Level Nuclear Waste Disposal.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91 (1994): 10786-10789.
    Listed reading
  • Hecht, Marjorie Mazel. “ Bring Back DDT, and Science With It! ” Editorial in 21st Century Science and Technology Magazine . Original full text version in Summer 2002 issue, this document labeled 9/9/2004. 5 pages. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Pollock, John. “Dying to be Politically Correct.” Acumen 1, no. 3: 46-52.
    Listed reading
  • “Resolving the DDT Dilemma: Protecting Biodiversity and Human Health.” WWF Canada and WWF U.S. (June 1998). 52 pages.
    Listed reading
  • Turusov, V., V. Rakitsky, and L. Tomatis. “Dichlorodipheyltrichloroethane (DDT): Ubiquity, Persistence, and Risks.” Environmental Health Perspectives 110, no. 2 (2002): 125-128.
    Listed reading
  • Cooper, Mary H. “Threatened Fisheries.” CQ Researcher 12, no. 27 (Aug 2, 2002): 617-648. 32 pages. Published by Congressional Quarterly Inc.
    Listed reading
  • Jackson, Jeremy B. “ What was Natural in the Coastal Oceans? ” PNAS 98, no. 10 (May 8, 2001): 5411-5418. Paper presented at the National Academy of Sciences Colloquium, “the Future of Evolution” held March 16-20, 2000. Irvine, CA. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Jones, P. S. “Marine Protected Area Strategies: Issues, Divergences and the Search for Middle Ground.” Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 11 (2002): 197-216.
    Listed reading
  • 310 CMR 10.00: Wetlands Protection Act Regulations. For administering M. G. L. Chapter 131, section 40. Effective May 12, 2000. Prepared by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
    Listed reading
Sources