Global Climate Change - Class 1

This semester, my last at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, I am taking the class "Climate Change and the Law" taught by Prof. Jennifer Smokelin, Esq. (adjunct, practitioner at Reed Smith LLP). Since this class corresponds with my blog topic, I will post my notes from class - hopefully in a cleaned up and understandable form.

The 3 main topics we will cover are:

1. science of climate change and technologies to mitigate effects


2. climate change control systems & regulation (at the international and national levels); the components of a successful system


3. US law in regards to climate change - in the absence of specific regulation, what can be done using existing law; [and if there is time] international litigation

The question which is hoped will be answered by addressing these topics hopes is how lawyers can add value to a discussion of problems associated with climate change, through an understanding of climate change.

We will refer to climate change and global warming as 'global climate destabilization'

There are 6 factors that need to be affirmatively answered to make global climate destabilization an issue capable of regulation:
A. There must be an identified issue or problem
B. The issue/ problem must be defined by someone
C. Human action must be the cause of the problem
D. Can and should humans address the problem
E. Who can address the problem
F. When can it be addressed, and how much will it cost

Addressing each of these factors:

A. Is there an issue/ problem?

• For complete affirmation, we must be able to prove that there is climate change
  
• Climate change can be looked at globally, but effects are felt locally (and is really how people determine if there is a problem)
  
• For instance here in pgh there is no definite problem because people are happy with the unseasonably warm weather!
  

B. Defining the problem

• define 'climate' - long term weather patterns
• define 'change' - not the same as what has happened before

how do we know that there is climate change?

• is there a certain period of time over which we look?
• it is difficult to define the terms and what they entail
• global climate destabilization is a better way to describe climate change because it is not an ambiguous description
  

Implications of this difficulty:

• since there are different climates around the world, there are different interests regarding climate change
  
• lack of consensus
• there must be 'buy in' by the relevant population (such as politicians who can institute regulatory changes)