Climate change and mobility in the USA: who makes the Law?
June 2, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
at SciencesPo, salle Érignac, 13 rue de l’Université, 75007 Paris
With Elizabeth Deakin, Professor of City & Regional Planning and Urban Design, UC Berkeley, and Albert Bressand, Aristotle Onassis Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) and Director of the Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Affairs.
Discussant : Benoît Lefèvre, Research Fellow, Institute of sustainable development and international relations (IDDRI).
Download the program and preliminary questions.
In the United States, the country of small government and the free market, many observers and decision makers nevertheless consider that climate change and energy issues are a matter for the public authorities. In fact, the promoters of the market in general and of Cleantech firms in particular expect government to make political commitments and issue ambitious laws and strict regulations in these areas, including transportation and mobility. Is climate change in the process of overturning American values with regard to mobility, not through the markets but through a transformation of public action, of its role in society and of its legal resources?
What about the laws discussed in the Senate or the much media touted Californian laws? Are they really exempt from the influences and competition of the businesses involved in transportation and fuel? Are they opening up new possibilities for action for citizens or NGOs? What real effects can we expect from them?
To answer these questions, we have chosen to treat legal frameworks and laws as indicators of change or inertia. These rules are supposed to frame the new respective positions of the parties concerned and to set new priorities.
Do these priorities need to be revised to take account of the largely uncontested reality of climate change, to cast doubt on "free movement", that epitome of American freedoms.
We will explore these questions with particular reference to two situations: California and its successive laws on climate change, which have a significant impact on mobility; and New York where there is a competition between State and City on this issue.
For questions or information, contact: marc.scherer@vilmouv.com
Comments