Issue 5 - December 2008

United States’ Environmental Policy: Recommendations for President-elect Barack Obama’s environmental policy agenda

For this special issue of the IDEAS Journal, we have asked the Fletcher community to provide us with recommendations for President-elect Barack Obama’s environmental policy agenda. The transition to a new administration presents an opportunity for dramatic changes in the way that the United States approaches environmental policy, both at home and abroad. The following submissions provide an excellent array of recommendations for the President-elect as he builds his environmental platform.

Letter to the President-elect: Recommendations for Domestic Action and International Cooperation in Environmental Policy (Fletcher MALD Candidate 2009, Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning MA Candidate 2009)

Shaping the Debate: "Geopolitical Implications of the Environmental Policies of the Next Presidential Administration” (Professor of International Environmental Policy, The Fletcher School)

The Economics of Successful Environmental Policy by Jonathan Harris (Adjunct Associate Professor of International Economics, The Fletcher School)

Seizing the Initiative: An unorthodox approach to economic recovery and environmental progress by Erik Iverson (Fletcher MALD Candidate 2009)

A Call for a Proper Regulatory Regime for Nanotechnology (Fletcher MALD Candidate 2010)

Reflections:

• How can the United States better coordinate domestic and international environmental policy efforts?

• What can the United States do to encourage international action on issues like climate change?

• How can the United States create a shift in investment practices to encourage environmentally sound growth?

• Given the current financial crisis, what opportunities exist for environmental policy initiatives to influence industries and the market?

• What new regulations are necessary to protect environmental and human health from new technologies?