Spring 2025 Sustainable Development GU4050 section 001

US WATER & ENERGY POLICY

Call Number 11146
Day & Time
Location
M 4:10pm-6:00pm
To be announced
Points 3
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor Paul A Gallay
Type SEMINAR
Method of Instruction In-Person
Course Description Course Summary: Water, one of humankind’s first power sources, remains critically important to the task of maintaining a sustainable energy supply, in the United States and elsewhere. Conversely, the need to provide safe drinking water and keep America’s rivers clean cannot be met without access to reliable energy supplies. As the impact of climate disruption and other resource constraints begins to mount, the water/energy nexus is growing increasingly complex and conflict-prone. Essential Connections begins by examining the development of America’s water and energy policies over the past century and how such policies helped to shape present-day environmental law and regulation. Our focus then turns to the current state of US water and energy resources and policy, covering issues such as oil and gas exploration, nuclear energy, hydroelectric power and renewables. We also examine questions of inclusion and equity in connection with the ways in which communities allocate their water and energy resources and burdens along racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines. The third and final section of the course addresses the prospects for establishing water and energy policies that can withstand climate disruption, scarcity and, perhaps most importantly, America’s seemingly endless appetite for political dysfunction. By semester’s end, students will better understand the state of America’s energy and water supply systems and current efforts to cope with depletion, climate change and related threats affecting these critical, highly-interdependent systems. As a final project, students will utilize the knowledge gained during the semester to create specific proposals for preserving and enhancing the sustainability of US water and energy resources.
Web Site Vergil
Department Earth Institute
Enrollment 22 students (20 max) as of 9:05PM Monday, December 2, 2024
Status Full
Subject Sustainable Development
Number GU4050
Section 001
Division Interfaculty
Section key 20251SDEV4050W001