the importance of climate change as a global environmental threat

The required paper, from 4 to 5 pages (double-spaced including diagrams), should present the student’s understanding of the most important current environmental issue, climate change. The paper might begin with a short description of the student’s understanding of the importance of climate change as a global environmental threat. A second section might describe the policies that would mitigate this threat, e. g., command-and-control regulation, taxation of carbon energy sources and marketable permits for emissions. The final and most important section should use the economic tools gained during the course to analyze which of these policies offers the best chance of reducing the effects of climate change at minimal cost. Students also might comment on the climate change policies of the Trump Administration.