Description

In the current context of severe political polarization and the mounting effects of climate change, American environmental policies constitute one of the most hotly contested areas of debate in the United States. The anti-environmentalism that has developed amongst conservatives since the Reagan years has made it difficult to agree on how to respond to this threat, indeed on the very existence of it. Once the precursor in environmental policy in the 1970s, the United States is seen today as one of the worst offenders due to the predominant consumerist lifestyle and attachment to fossil fuel energy, as well as its reluctance to commit to international treaties to mitigate climate change. Yet, the image of US recalcitrance and gridlock portrayed by the international media, although relatively accurate at the federal level, masks the environmental dynamism present in sub-federal levels of government and society. States, regions and local governments have risen to the challenge of combating climate change by initiating numerous programs and setting objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Citizen groups, institutions and businesses play a significant role in maintaining policies and advancing causes. In addition, the election of President Joe Biden ushered in a new approach and significantly increased the willingness of the federal administration to tackle environmental issues. 

Environmental protection, which affects nearly every aspect of life, is thus multi-layered and more complex than at first view. This course will explore the historical, cultural, and political contexts that shaped the current situation. Topics will include: a review of the political institutions involved in environmental and energy policy, political polarization and its impact on policy, the philosophical underpinnings of the dominant values in American culture, resource depletion and the corresponding rise of ecological thought, the American response to climate change, and international agreements.

Key events, developments, or periods will be highlighted during this course, including the creation of the first national parks, the epic battle over the Hetch Hetchy Dam project in Yosemite National Park (1908-1913), the Dust Bowl and federal conservation programs during the 1930s, growing citizen activism during the 1960s that led to the passage of major federal legislation regulating air and water pollution, which, in turn, provoked a powerful anti-environmental movement. Numerous issues will be explored through group presentations.

Compétences visées

Knowledge of the environmental history of the United States

Ability to identify and explain the importance of the federal system in environmental policies at different levels of government, as well as that of citizen groups and lobbies

Ability to explain current environmental policies drawing on the above

Ability to explain US policy in the international context of climate policies 

Disciplines

• Science politique
• Études anglophones
• Histoire et civilisations: histoire des mondes modernes, histoire du monde contemporain; de l'art; de la musique
• Géographie physique, humaine, économique et régionale
• Aménagement de l'espace, urbanisme

Bibliographie

Carson, Rachel, SilentSpring, Fawcett Crest, 1962
Clarke, Jeanne and Hanna Cortner, TheStateandNature:VoicesHeard,VoicesUnheardin America’sEnvironmentalDialogue, Prentice Hall, 2002
Fox, Stephen, TheAmericanConservationMovement:JohnMuirandHisLegacy, University of Wisconsin Press, 1985
Hays, Samuel P., A History of Environmental Politics Since 1945, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000
Leopold, Aldo, ASandCountyAlmanac, Oxford University Press, 1966
Nash, Roderick Frazier, WildernessandtheAmericanMind, Yale University Press, 2014 (or earlier editions, first published 1967)
Nash, Roderick Frazier, TheRightsofNature, University of Wisconsin Press, 1989
Runte Alfred, NationalParks:TheAmericanExperience, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2010
Steiguer J.E. de, TheAgeofEnvironmentalism, McGraw-Hill, 1997
Worster, Donald, DustBowl, Oxford University Press, 1979 and any of his other books
Yvard-Djahansouz, Gelareh, Histoiredumouvementécologiqueaméricain, Ellipses, 2010

MCC

Les épreuves indiquées respectent et appliquent le règlement de votre formation, disponible dans l'onglet Documents de la description de la formation.

Régime d'évaluation

CT (Contrôle terminal, mêlé de contrôle continu)

Coefficient

4.0

Évaluation initiale / Session principale - Épreuves