Syllabus: Bootcamp 2014
Day 1: Energy Transitions and Paradigms Transitions “The Pace of Energy Transitions” in Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects by Vaclav Smil (2010) p. 1 “Decarbonization: Doing more with less” by Nebojŝa Nakićenović (1996) p. 20 “Energy transitions research: Insights and cautionary tales” by Arnulf Grubler (2012) p. 36 “The Slow Search for Solutions : Lessons from Historical Energy Transitions by Sector and Service” by Roger Fouquet (2010) p. 45 “Future Global Energy Prosperity: The Terawatt Challenge” by Richard Smalley (2006) p. 56 Paradigms “Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken” by Amory Lovins (1976) p. 62 “Market Solutions” from The Infinite Resource by Ramez Naam (2013) p. 73 “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math” by Bill McKibben (2012) p. 97 “Energising humanity, humanising the planet” from Energise! A Future For Energy Innovation by James Woudhuysen and Joe Kaplinsky (2009) p. 107 “Coal Killer” [Executive Summary, Introduction, and Conclusion] by Alex Trembath, Max Luke, Michael Shellenberger, and Ted Nordhaus (2013) p. 183
Day 2: Decoupling for Conservation Concept Paper “Decoupling for Conservation” by Linus Blomqvist, Ted Nordhaus, Michael Shellenberger (forthcoming) p. 1 Contrasting Narratives on Decoupling “The Technological Flaw” from The Closing Circle: Nature, Man & Technology by Barry Commoner (1971) p. 59 “The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship” by Will Steffen et al (2011) p. 79 “The Next Industrial Revolution” from Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins (2000) p. 102 “Can Efficiency Improvements Reduce Resource Consumption?” by Jeffrey Dahmus and Timothy Gutowski (2014) p. 124 “Extinction, substitution, and ecosystem services” by Paul Ehrlich and Harold Mooney (1983) p. 177 [Optional] Intellectual Roots of Decoupling for Conservation “The Liberation of the Environment” by Jesse Ausubel (1996) p. 185 “Technophobia and Its Discontents” from Green Delusions: An Environmentalist Critique of Radical Environmentalism by Martin Lewis (1992) p. 203 “Technology and the Environment: An Overview” by Dominique Foray and Arnulf Grubler (1996) p. 237 “Long Waves, Technology Diffusion, and Substitution” by Arnulf Grubler and Nebojsa Nakicenovic (1991) p. 248 “A framework for sustainability science: A renovated IPAT identity” by Paul Waggoner and Jesse Ausubel (2002) p. 279 “Impact caps: why population, affluence and technology strategies should be abandoned” by Blake Alcott (2010) p. 285
Day 3: Innovation and the Role of the State Technology and Economic Growth “Can We Define Technology?” from Technology Matters by David Nye (2006) “Technological Change” from Human Choice and Climate Change Vol. 2 by Arie Rip & Rene Kemp (1998) “Engines of growth” by Loren King, Linus Blomqvist, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger (2013) The Role of the State “Is War Necessary for Economic Growth?” by V. Ruttan (2006) “Innovation and the Invisible Hand of Government” from State of Innovation: The US’s Government Role in Technological Innovation by Fred Block (2011) Making Clean Energy Cheap “How to Make Nuclear Cheap” [Intro & Conclusion] by Ted Nordhaus, Jessica Lovering, and Michael Shellenberger “Where the Shale Gas Revolution Came From” by Alex Trembath, Jesse Jenkins, Michael Shellenberger, and Ted Nordhaus (2014) “Public R&D and social challenges: What lessons from mission R&D programs?” by D. Foray, D. Mowery and R. R. Nelson (2012)
Day 4: Pragmatism and Paradigm Shifts Pragmatism "Pragmatism" from Break Through by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger (2007) "Pragmatism and Environmental Thought" by Kelly Parker (1996) "The Pursuit of the Ideal" from The Crooked Timber of Humanity by Isaiah Berlin (1991) “Law Amid Diversity” from Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict by Cass Sunstein (1996) “PostPartisan Power” (Introduction) by BTI Part 2 from Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly by John Kay “Climate Pragmatism” by BTI Paradigm Shifts Extract from "The Pollution Paradigm" in Break Through by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger (2007) "Shift Happens" by David Weinberger (2012) Extract from “A General Theory of Scientific/Intellectual Movements” by Scott Frickel and Neil Gross (2005)
Day 5: The Anthropocene Technology... “The Dynamics of Land Utilization” and “The Interdependence of Land Use and Technical Change” in The Conditions of Agricultural Growth by Ester Boserup (1965) ...Has Shaped Nature... "The Ultimate Ecosystem Engineers" by Bruce Smith (2007) "The global metabolic transition: a historical overview" by Fridolin Krausmann (2011) "Used Planet: A Global History" by Erle Ellis et al. (2013) “Ragamuffin Earth” by Emma Marris (2009) ...And Shaped Humans "Introduction: Only Three Systems" in The Artificial Ape: How Technology Changed the Course of Human Evolution by Timothy Taylor (2010) What To Make Of It? "Evolve: The Case for Modernization as the Road to Salvation" by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus (2012) “Conservation in the Anthropocene” by Tim Caro et al. (2011)
Day 6: Malthusianism and Cornucopianism Varieties of Malthusianism, Past and Present An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus (1798) “History of Our Future” from Road to Survival by William Vogt (1948) “Limits: A Constrained View” from Living Within Limits by Garrett Hardin (1993) “The Limits to Growth” by Club of Rome (1972) Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher (1973) “Too Many People” from The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich (1968) Beyond Growth by Herman Daly (1996) “Optimum Human Population Size” by Daily et al (1994) “Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy” by Mathis Wackernagel et al. (2002) “Shrink and share: humanity’s present and future Ecological Footprint” by Kitzes et al. (2008) “A safe operating space for humanity” by Johan Rockström et al. (2009) “Money ≠ Happiness. QED.” by Bill McKibben (2007) “An Economic and Social Hurricane” from The Great Disruption by Paul Gilding (2011) “Twilight at Easter” from Collapse by Jared Diamond (2005) Varieties of Cornucopianism, Past and Present “Outlines Of An Historical View Of The Progress Of The Human Mind” by the Marquis de Condorcet (1794) The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon (1981) The Infinite Resource by Ramez Naam (2013) "The Great Reversal" by Jesse Ausubel “The Catallaxy: Rational Optimism for 2100” from The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley (2010) “Escaping Goblins, Only to be Chased by Wolves?” from The Precautionary Principle: A Critical Appraisal of Environmental Risk Assessment by Indur Goklany (2001) Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis (2012) The True State of the Planet by Ronald Bailey (1995) The Skeptical Environmentalist by Björn Lomborg (2001) “Finite Resources and the Prospects for Economic Growth” from A Poverty of Reason by Wilfred Beckerman (2002) The Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook (2004) Hard Green by Peter Huber (2000) The Final Word “Optimism, Meliorism, and Faith” from The Community Reconstructs by James Campbell (1992)
Day 7: Science, Policy & Wicked Problems "How science makes environmental controversies worse" by Dan Sarewitz (2004) "Limited Rationality" in A Primer on Decision Making by James March (2009) "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning" by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber (1973) Purity and Danger by Mary Douglas (1966) “Collective Representations of Nature” by Stever Rayner "Democracy and Environmentalism" by Bryan Norton (2002) Extract From The Community Reconstructs by James Campbell (1992) Chapter 15 from The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics by Roger Pielke Jr. (2003)
Day 8: Development, Energy Access & International Innovation Perspectives on development “The perspective of freedom” from Development as Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen (1999) “Abstract and Introduction” from The Theory of human development: A crosscultural analysis by Wezel, Inglehart, Klingemann (2003) “Abandoning hope” from Getting Better: Why Global Development is succeeding by Charles Kenny (2003). Energy and development “Energy for a sustainable future: Summary Report and Recommendations” by UN’s secreatry general’s advisory group on energy and climate (2010) “Making energy access meaningful” by Morgan Bazilian and Roger Pielke “Our High Energy Planet” by M. Caine, J. Lloyd, M. Luke, L. Margonelli, T. Moss, T. Nordhaus, R. Pielke Jr, M. Roman, J. Roy, D. Sarewitz, M. Shellenberger, K. Singh and A. Trembath Energy Access and Clean Energy innovation “Energy Pathways in Low Carbon Development: The need to go beyond technological transfer” by Byrne, Smith, Watson, Ockwell (2012) “Cooperative advantage” from The Breakthrough Journal Vol.4 by Charles Kenny (2014).
Day 9: How We Think About the Future “Escaping Goblins, Only to be Chased by Wolves?” from The Precautionary Principle: A Critical Appraisal of Environmental Risk Assessment by Indur Goklany (2001) “Love Your Monsters” by Bruno Latour (2012) “Improving the way we think about projecting future energy use and emissions of carbon dioxide” by M. Granger Morgan and David W. Keith (2008) “The Art of the Long View” by Peter Schwartz (1996) “Scale, Scope, Stakes, Speed” from Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand (2009) “The postConcorde world and the risk of planetary entrapment” “Planet of the Future”, Boom Magazine interview with Kim Stanley Robinson (2014)