SYLLABUS
GLOBAL WARMING LAW AND POLICY (851-001)
Professor William Snape, Office 381 (wsnape@wcl.american.edu)
Class Time: Monday and Wednesday, Noon to 1:20pm, EST
Office Hours: By appointment
Cell #: 202-536-9351
Course Description:
This interdisciplinary course examines the most important environmental issue of our day. It focuses on
the science of climate change, the U.S. domestic response, and international efforts to curb greenhouse
pollution. While knowledge of environmental law is not mandatory as a prerequisite, statutory and
administrative interpretation of various U.S. laws will be a central component of the course. The class
will also include various simulations, including multilateral negotiations and federal moot courts. Finally,
the course will consider whether and to what extent global warming represents a threat to our current
social fabric, and will analyze potential solutions or mitigation devices available to lawyers and other
policy-makers.
Text:
Wold, Hunter and Powers , Climate Change and the Law, Lexis Nexis , 2nd. Ed. (2013).
** There will also be FREQUENT postings for supplementary reading on MyWCL, which should be
checked REGULARLY. These readings will tend to be current, cutting-edge cases and articles that will
bring life to the class and your learning. The professor will emphasize in class which assignments to
“read” and which assignments to “skim”. Class attendance, thus, is also crucial for many reasons. **
Reading and Other Assignments:
Class #1:
(August 24) General introductions and discussion of climate science, pp. 1-57 (main text)
Class #2:
“Mitigation” strategies, pp. 61-111
Class #3:
Adaptation, pp. 113-155
Class #4:
Introduction to international climate law #1, pp. 159-98 (plus first half of UNFCCC)
Class #5
Introduction to international climate law #2 , pp. 198-224. (plus second half of UNFCCC)
Class #6:
Introduction to U.S. climate policy and the Clean Air Act, pp. 603-636
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Class #7:
New Source Performance Standards under the Clean Air Act, Excerpts, Final Rules on
Existing and “New” EGUs (Obama Climate Action Plan):
http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/cpp-final-rule.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/airquality/cpp/cps-final-rule.pdf
Class #8:
Permitting, State Implementation Plans, and National Ambient Air Quality Standards
under the Clean Air Act, pp. 668-709
Class #9:
National Environmental Policy Act and global warming, pp. 710-738 (plus CEQ NEPA
regulations)
Class #10:
Polar Bears, Penguins and Pikas, pp. 738-770
Class #11:
Moot Court and Case Brief re: Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA (US Supreme Court,
decided June 23, 2014)
Class #12:
Standing and Other Justiciability Issues in US Courts, pp. 955-1006
Class #13:
The Common Law and Global Warming in the United States, pp. 1007-1049
Class #14:
The Global Geopolitics of Climate Change: How Negotiations Actually Work (through the
lens of land use, forestry, markets and offsets), pp. 417-61
Class #15:
The World Trade Organization and Climate Change, pp. 531-561
Class #16:
The Convention on Biological Diversity, Law of the Sea, CITES, Montreal Protocol and
Other Multilateral Instruments, pp. 463-527
Class #17:
The US Clean Water Act and global warming, pp. 770-791
Class #18:
Administrative “Hot Seat” Exercise based upon excerpts of the Obama/EPA Climate
Action plan, as well as the proposed rule on federal implementation plans (TBA)
Class #19:
State and Local Responses to Climate Change, pp. 1051-1108 (California Dreamin’?)
Class #20:
Dysfunctional U.S. energy law and policy. Does FERC Work?, pp. 793-859
Class #21:
The challenge of methane. Proposed rule by EPA on oil and gas NSPS (excerpts):
http://www.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/pdfs/og_nsps_pr_081815.pdf
Class #22:
The promise of Section 115 of the Clean Air Act, Frostpaw Addresses Global Warming:
Solving a Big Problem with Old Legal Tools and New Administrative Systems, 63 Am.
U.L.R. 1587 (2014) and EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, US Supreme Court, 2014 WL
1672044 (April 29, 2014)
Class #23:
The Kyoto Protocol, pp. 225-80 (and discussion of opening statements and strategy for
multilateral negotiation on 11/30)
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Class #24:
Nobels, Copenhagen and Paris, pp. 281-362
Class #25:
Beyond Kyoto and Copenhagen, for better or for worse, pp. 1183-1207 + Copenhagen
Declaration
Class #26:
350 and back to the future: putting it all together (Thanksgiving Lecture), pp. 1117-1160
Class #27:
(November 30) In-class multilateral negotiation exercise and evaluation: “WCL in Paris”
Class #28:
(December 2) Review
Expectations:
Near 100% class attendance is strongly encouraged as the breadth and depth of the reading will be
elucidated upon by class lectures, methods and exercises. Not all reading is equal, and the professor will
discuss the next class’s reading at the end of each previous class session. Issues or problems should be
brought to the professor’s attention as early as possible. The longer you wait, the bigger headache it
usually becomes. Stay on top of the class and you will do fine.
Evaluation:
Final exam: 60%
Case Brief and Moot Court: 10%
Administrative Hot Seat exercise: 10%
Negotiation exercise: 10%
Overall class participation (quality not quantity): 10%
** All dates tentative but provided for planning purposes.
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