MAST667-016 Climate Change Law and Policy, Spring 2009 - This course will explore the developments in climate change law and policy. We will begin with climate change science and equity, examining the UNFCCC and the compliance mechanisms established under Kyoto Protocol. The course will compare and contrast, tradable permits, taxes, and command and control regulation approaches. The course will also consider other approaches at the international level (e.g., petitions to the World Heritage Committee, Fish Stocks Convention actions, Human Rights Petitions). The course also will examine US initiatives at the federal and state levels to advance renewable energy and to cap and decrease carbon emissions. Domestic litigation approaches (e.g., MASS v. EPA, and nuisance actions) will also be explored. Finally, we will consider one or more potential long-term solutions to climate change
MAST628 Offshore Wind Policy: Science, Engineering, and Policy, Fall 2008 – This course covers the multiple disciplines required to develop offshore wind resources for large-scale power production. As a case study, it integrates science, engineering and policy to ask whether wind could displace 50% of CO2 emissions in coastal states--a level not conventionally believed possible. It has three instructors and also will draw on numerous faculty to cover topics including: Geophysics of wind resources; understanding and assessing the offshore resource; Governing law for state, Federal and international waters; current policy (or lack thereof) for offshore development; policies to encourage and/or regulate the industry; Basic electrical and mechanical engineering aspects of wind turbines and power transmission; Connecting wind electricity to the electric grid; electric markets; relative electric costs; combining wind with other renewables; CO2 displaced from large coal and gas generators; Storage of intermittent wind power--engineering and economics; the synergistic role of an emerging hybrid, fuel cell, and/or electric vehicle fleet; Geology and bathymetry of the continental shelf, as they constrain anchoring technology and thus the size of the accessible wind resource; Environmental impact of large offshore wind developments; the EIS process; Public opposition to, and support for, wind power; communication strategies.
MAST674 Legal Aspects of the Coastal Zone, Fall 2008 - This course considers the constitutional, statutory and common law (and international law) governing the legal status and management of the U.S. ocean and coastal zone. The course examines the authority of Congress, the Executive (including a primer on administrative law), the Judiciary, Tribes, the States and private parties as it relates to the use, ownership and control of water, marine living and nonliving resources, and land beneath and bordering the water. Law, policy, federal and state agency and tribal practice affecting the use of fish, marine mammals, oil and gas, and marine protected areas off the U.S. coast are explored. The government's role as a trustee of natural resources; public access; coastal development, wetlands and private property rights; and environmental protection and legal controls of water pollution are also considered.
MAST670 U.S. Ocean and Coastal Policy, Fall 2002 - This course provides an introduction to the broader field of policy analysis as well as an introduction to policy dilemmas confronting policy makers and those attempting to influence policy formation in the U.S. ocean and coastal arena. We first look at the rationale for public policies such as commons problems and other market failures, receive an introduction to the dominant means of analysis of policy problems (cost-benefit analysis), critique that means, consider ethical frameworks for decisionmaking and alternative goals such as liberty, equity and security, and consider process concerns. In light of that framework, we than spend the balance of the semester considering specific ocean and coastal resources such as wildlife, fisheries, minerals, transportation, preservation, and water quality.
MAST677 International Ocean and Environmental Policy, Spring 2009 - This course builds on MAST 670. International Ocean and Environmental Policy (IOEP) is a many-layered, complex field—there are hundreds of international agreements—that looks and feels little like U.S. domestic law/policy. IOEP is premised on cooperation and shared responsibility, with little involvement of judicial organs, and its progressive development is grounded in norms such as sustainable development, precautionary principle, international equity, and cultural diversity. IOEP spans a wide range of topics (e.g., climate change, seabed mining, fishing, biodiversity, marine pollution) and interests (e.g., developing states, OECD countries, maritime powers, indigenous peoples) and varies in scope (bilateral, regional, global); institutional arrangement (U.N. Organs, autonomous intergovernmental organizations, hybrid international-nongovernmental organizations); and mechanism (e.g., framework conventions, custom, soft law.) In this course, we focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the legal and policy structure that governs, and the norms, concepts, and ethical principles behind that structure that influence the governance of ocean resources and ocean space beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. We evaluate the effectiveness of international institutions (such as UNEP, FAO, GEF, IWC, and IMO) and consider an array of environmental and ocean law declarations, conventions, agreements, and protocols that pertain to the ocean and coastal zone, including the Law of the Sea, the Fish Stocks Agreement, MARPOL, Regional Seas Agreements, and CITES. W%