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CHAPTER 16
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: NAVIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL
DISASTER
Overview
This chapter combines and updates some of the themes on energy and the environment from
Chapters 19 and 20 in the sixth edition of the text. We hope that this chapter’s focus on the
growing interconnections between energy and the environment will be intellectually
stimulating for students. We stress the historical transformation that is occurring from fossil
fuels (oil, gas, and coal) to alternative sources of energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, and
hydroelectric.
The first part of the chapter provides a brief overview of some key public and private actors
involved in energy and environmental policies and some key concepts that scholars use to
explain them. Next is a discussion of some interconnections between energy and the
environment, with an emphasis on shifts in energy markets and political-economic conditions
We next discuss some of the political and economic tensions that arose due to the ever-
tightening interdependence amongst oil producing and consuming nations over the next three
decades. As globalization accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, environmental problems
became even more international and interconnected, generating conflicts with development,
energy, and national security goals. Mounting scientific research pointed to climate change as
a scientific fact and spurred a sense of urgency to develop alternative energy sources. At the
1997 Kyoto meetings, countries agreed on the need to lower carbon emissions and created a
number of market-based mechanisms to help make that possible.
However, with continued high oil prices before the financial crisis in 2007, major oil
producers continued to push for increased production. Natural gas production increased
dramatically along with criticism of the impact of fracking on the environment. Major debates
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Surprisingly, in 2015 all but three countries signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change,
through which they agreed to voluntarily comply with emissions reduction targets. The effects
of climate change were clearer than ever: major ice sheets in the Arctic, Greenland, and
Antarctica were melting quickly; major droughts persisted in many places; and scientists
documented record-high temperatures nearly everywhere. Many large corporations accepted
this evidence and invested more in green energy. There was also strong public support for the
Paris Agreement and efforts to deal with climate change.
From a global perspective today, many claim that the overall supply of energy is no longer the
problem; instead, the problem is that because fossil fuels are still the dominant sources of
energy, and they are severely impacting “spaceship earth.” U.S. president Trump has thrown
“monkey wrench” into global environmental cooperation, adding further evidence to one of
the text’s themes that the postwar era is ending. Under his leadership the United States risks
perpetuating a global tragedy by pursuing energy and environmental goals that are out of sync
with global political, economic, and social conditions.
Key Terms
•
Paris Agreement on Climate Change
•
renewable energy
•
climate change
•
cartel
•
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
•
peak oil
•
fracking
Teaching Tips
• When introducing this chapter in class (as when introducing other chapters), outline the
major problems that it addresses and the main arguments in its introduction. Mention that,
like other chapters with some history in them, this one gives attention to the
transformation of structures and issues. It also shows how energy and the environment
impact each other.
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• Mention other big environmental problems, such as melting ice, the loss of rainforests, and
rising ocean levels and temperatures, and how they are connected to themes in this
chapter. Use a short video from YouTube to help make these problems come to life and
stimulate student interest.
• Instructors might begin a class session with a discussion of the impact President Trump is
having on energy and environmental issues. Many students are upset that Trump pulled
the United States out of the Paris Agreement. Ask students what they know about this
• Consider showing a full-length documentary film such as An Inconvenient Truth on a
school night. Students who cannot make the screening can watch it on a commercial site
such as Netflix or Amazon. Ask students to write down comments or questions during the
film and then discuss some of them afterwards. Inform them that you will ask several
multiple-choice questions about the film on an exam. The documentary could also be the
basis of a “term paper” or other writing assignment.
• At the end of some class sessions, we occasionally have students draw a picture of a
particular concept on one side of a page of paper. Easy examples are “renewable energy
resources” and “climate change”; harder ones are “the tragedy of the commons” and
• What do students think the energy sector will look like 30 years from now? What will be
the most popular source of energy? Which countries will benefit most from the transition
to green energies?
• Break the class up into four groups. Have each group present either the economic,
security, environmental or political implications of dependence on foreign oil.
• Have students form groups and have each group write a mini proposal for an
environmental non-profit that has been nominated to receive a million-dollar grant. How
would they spend this money? Have students present and vote on the best proposal.
Sample Essay Questions
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2. Other possible questions might pertain to: OPEC; resource curses; shifting economic
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions
1) OPEC is an example of a cartel. A cartel is
a) an organization like a Japanese keiretsu made up of companies.
2) The headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is in which
d) Mexico City, Mexico
3) Which of the following is an international body established in 1988 under the auspices of
the UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization and made up chiefly of climate
scientists from all over the world who assess the scientific, technical, and socio-economic
information about climate change and its future risks?
4) In which year did the first oil shock take place?
5) Iraq accused this country of cheating on its OPEC production quotas and siphoning off
oil from the neutral zone between it and this country, which led to the Persian Gulf War
in 1990.
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d) Qatar
6) Who said that dealing with the shortage of oil was “the moral equivalent of war”?
a) Ronald Reagan
7) Which statement about the 1992 “Earth Summit” in Rio is incorrect?
d) It produced another treaty—the Convention on Biological Diversity.
8) Which of the following is not one of the “mechanisms” recommended by the Kyoto
Protocol to help countries reduce their levels of greenhouse gas emissions?
a) cap-and-trade emissions trading
9) Between 2004 and 2007, global investments in renewable energy more than quadrupled,
with solar, wind, and biofuels receiving 82 percent of this money in countries such as
China, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. In which did form of energy did the United
States make the preponderance of its new investments during this period?
a) wind power
10) Which of the following statements about the Obama administration’s energy policies is
d) Obama believed that economic recovery after the financial crisis limited how
aggressively renewables could be funded.
11) Which of the following is not an accurate statement about deniers of climate change?
a) Some of them question whether rising carbon levels are due to human causes and
whether the rise in temperatures is a permanent long-term trend or just a normal,
relatively short-term fluctuation when seen in historical perspective.
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12) Which of the following is not one of the reasons the Trump administration gave for
withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change?
a) The United States needs to act tough and “win” negotiations both at home and on the
13) Which of the following statements about energy in China is incorrect?
a) China is the largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world.
14) Which of the following is not a feature of China and Africa’s new energy relationship?
a) China has invested billions of dollars in Africa’s energy sector since 2010.
15) Between 2014 and 2016, which of the following countries or regions made the most new
investments in clean energy?
Suggested Readings and Links
Bridge, Gavin, and Philippe Le Billon. Oil. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Polity, 2017.
Dannreuther, Roland. Energy Security. Malden, MA: Polity, 2018.
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Romm, Joseph. Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2018.
United Nations Environment Programme. https://www.unenvironment.org/.
Worldwatch Institute. http://www.worldwatch.org/.
Audiovisual Resources
The Island President. John Shenk, dir. AfterImage Public Media, 2011. Follows the efforts by
Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives, to bring global attention to the issue
of climate change.
Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered the World. Declan Healy, dir. Narrated by Iain
Stewart. BBC, 2015. Three episodes. “Travelling to many oil and gas producing territories
around the world, Planet Oil traces how humans have developed fuels and how geology,
technology, politics and commercial pressures have affected and driven the world’s
insatiable consumption” (Film Media Group website).
The Prize: An Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. An 8-part series on the history of the
oil industry that originally aired on television in 1992. Based on the book of the same
name by Daniel Yergin.
