Friday November 15, 2019
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Dampeer Room
Kelvin Smith Library*
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
Once upon a time, the United States was a leader in international health and safety regulation. Political scientists elaborated theories about why American standards were generally more stringent and enforced more strictly than policies in other rich democracies.
Times have changed.
The balance switched around 1990 – after the George H.W. Bush administration supported a strengthened Clean Air Act. In the U.S., as David Vogel writes, that was the, “last time that there was extensive bipartisan cooperation to address a major environmental risk.” Environmental activism is now far stronger in the European Union. We can see the difference in many policies, ranging from food safety to regulation of toxic chemicals. Yet they have been most prominent in conflict over issues that require international cooperation, especially climate change. The U.S. helped negotiate but did not sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. President Obama announced the U.S. would adhere to the 2016 Paris Agreement, but in June of 2017 President Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Agreement at the first opportunity. He did so last Monday, November 4, the first day that the U.S. was eligible to do so.
So would change in party control put the U.S. back into a leadership position on climate change and other environmental issues? Maybe not. Join us as Matt Hodgetts reports based on his own work as a scholar of environmental politics.
All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Dr. Matt Hodgetts joined the Department of Political Science in July 2018 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. He works in the field of environmental politics, focusing on issues surrounding the domestic and international politics of climate change as well as debates in contemporary political theory. His work with a colleague appears in the journal Environmental Values (fast track) and he is currently working on projects on the Green New Deal and green civil religion.
Dr. Hodgetts received his PhD in Political Science from Brown University in 2017. He also holds a MA in Political Science from McGill University and a BA(Hons) in Political Studies and Philosophy from Queen’s University, both in his native Canada. He previously taught at Roger Williams University.
Dr. Hodgetts previously worked for several years doing research and writing reports for a public health agency. Away from work, he is an avid rock climber all too happy to tell you about his latest ‘project’ and played this past year on one of the top ten trivia teams in Northeast Ohio.
Where We Meet
The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library.
* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.
Parking Possibilities
The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
November 22: The (New?) Israeli Government. With Peter J. Haas, Abba Hillel Silver Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies.
November 29: Thanksgiving break
December 6: Papers Please: Challenging Citizenship in the United States. With Cassandra Burke Robertson, John Deaver Drinko – Baker Hostetler Professor of Law and Director, Center for Professional Ethics. |
