Sophisticated Interdependence in Climate Policy

Federalism in the United States, Brazil, and Germany

By (author) Vivian E. Thomson

Publication date:

15 February 2014

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

229x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781783081103

With the US as the world’s most prominent climate change outlaw, international pressure will not impel domestic action. The key to a successful global warming solution lies closer to home: in state–federal relations. Thomson proposes an innovative climate policy framework called “sophisticated interdependence.” This model is based on her lucid analysis of economic and political forces affecting climate change policy in selected US states, as well as on comparative descriptions of programs in Germany and Brazil, two powerful federal democracies whose policies are critical in the global climate change arena.

Acknowledgments; Tables and Figures; Introduction: The World’s Most Prominent Climate Change Outlaw; Chapter 1: Climate Change Contradictions in the United States; Chapter 2: Constraints and Opportunities: Forces Affecting State-Level Climate and Energy Programs; Chapter 3: Germany: “Wir Stehen Früher Auf” (We Wake Up Earlier); Chapter 4: Brazil: No More “Complexo de Vira-Lata” (Mongrel Complex); Chapter 5: Sophisticated Interdependence; Notes; Bibliography; Index

“In this engaging and carefully researched book, Vivian E. Thomson offers a politically astute roadmap for reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. Even when tackling a global problem like climate change, national and local institutions are as relevant as ever.” —Paul F. Steinberg, Professor of Political Science and Environmental Policy, Malcolm Lewis Chair in Sustainability and Society, Harvey Mudd College