Each student must make three oral presentations focused on three of the 14 scenarios available in this section. Two students will sign up at the start of the semester for each scenario. The third presenter will be selected at the beginning of the class to speak about that day’s scenario. Students will be graded on both their answers to the assigned questions and the clarity of their presentation. Short descriptions are provided below. These presentations account for up to 30 points of your final grade.
Scenario 1: Federal environmental policy-making in the context of the scientific and political considerations behind fisheries management.
Scenario 2: The policy-making process in the renewables context and how organizations can seek to influence it.
Scenario 3: Evaluating the outcomes of environmental policies in the context of pollution control and ensuring the credibility in the eyes of the science, business, and environmental advocacy communities.
Scenario 4: Comparative policy analysis across nations in the context of food production and agriculture, how to generalize policy across nations with divergent histories, political structures, and cultures.
Scenario 5: Environmental ethics and a philosophical argument for the precautionary principle.
Scenario 6: Philosophical underpinnings of sustainable development.
Scenario 7: The best ways we can incorporate indigenous knowledge into the public policy-making process.
Scenario 8: Environmental impact assessments in the offshore wind farm context, which dimensions of “impact” should count in NEPA-mandated impact assessments?
Scenario 9: Cost benefit analysis in environmental policy-making in the context of superfund sites and pollution cleanup.
Scenario 10: The risk assessment process in policy-making: who is at risk and how do we manage these risks?
Scenario 11: Wetland loss, ecosystem services, and payment for ecosystem services schemes.
Scenario 12: How to involve the public in the policy-making process, in the context of land use planning.
Scenario 13: How to generate informed consensus over policy issues in the context of dwindling water supply in the Southwest.
Scenario 14: Environmental dispute resolution in the context of pollution control.
