What is the Future of Environmental Governance?
Fifty-six years ago this week, the first Earth Day ushered in an era of unprecedented federal environmental policy-making in the United States. It also inspired the spread of global environment and climate movement during the 1990s. Since then, environmental policies in the U.S. have been relatively stagnant and environmental concern has become increasingly partisan and polarized. The current Trump administration is disassembling much of the federal bureaucracy that has implemented hallmark environmental policy– policy that has been emulated around the world. The Trump administration has also withdrawn the United States from key international climate and environmental institutions, even though humanity collectively faces environmental challenges that transcend political borders. Given all of this, what is the future for environmental governance to manage local, national, and transnational environmental challenges?
About the Speaker
Dr. Troy Abel, Professor, Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Western Washington University
Troy’s scholarship informs a teaching program committed to fostering an interactive classroom and student research collaborations. He has a bachelor’s degree in Public Health from Indiana University, and from George Mason University he earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Ph.D. in Public Policy. Dr. Abel’s expertise includes environmental justice, public policy, political science, sociology, and geography. His research includes measurement and modeling of risk geographies; social and ecological systems governance; state and local environmental policy analysis; environmental information disclosure; industrial environmental performance; and civic ecology.
Dr. Kendra Dupuy, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Western Washington University
Kendra researches and teaches on environment, climate, and energy politics in international relations and in the African context. She has conducted research on the environmental impact of war, climate finance coordination; gender, climate change, and livelihoods; the social acceptability of large energy projects in Europe and Africa; petroleum politics in African countries; and the impact of initiatives for community development and to enhance transparency and accountability in the extractive industries.
Dr. Mark Neff, Professor, Environmental Studies, Western Washington University
Mark’s teaching and research focus on the interfaces between the sciences and society. His work exploring opportunities to better govern scientific research in a democracy is motivated by multiple convictions: 1) that the sciences are transformative forces in our world, and it cannot be assumed that the transformations are inherently benign; 2) that the sciences can and should contribute to effective, just, and democratically-accountable decision making and innovation that serves public values; and 3) that mistaken expectations of certitude from the sciences undermine the functioning of democracy, contribute to polarization, and motivate distrust in technical experts.
Environmental Speaker Series
The Environmental Speaker Series is hosted by the College of the Environment at Western Washington University.
The Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30 pm in Academic Instructional Center West room 204 - AW-204. Parking is available in lot C.