Prof. Takacs: America is the only Western democracy not to have any climate change laws! 

President Biden attended the Glasgow Climate Conference, COP26, with much fanfare, suggesting that America could lead the fight against climate change by the power of its example. But as Professor David Takacs explains the history of America's climate change commitments in this episode, the U.S. doesn't come out quite the exemplary leader to spearhead this enormous effort. Ask yourself this: how did the U.S. handle the Kyoto Protocol? Or the Paris Agreement?  But surely, you may say, that even though the U.S. has disappointed the international community in the past when it comes to climate change, we've done a great job back home... right? No. Not right! The United States of America, the biggest historical polluter of greenhouse gases, is the only Western democracy not to have any climate change laws.   

In this podcast episode, Professor Takacs explains how our federal government's climate policies are implemented in the absence of laws, and the real and political ramifications of this lack of laws on climate. Professor Takacs further teaches us that rules and laws won't do any good, and they may not even pass, without the participation of those who are negatively impacted by our shift to a low or zero carbon emission economy. As he tells it, we need a just transition for workers that will lose their jobs due to our efforts to combat climate change.  

To learn more about Professor Takacs's important scholarship and contributions to climate studies, visit his academic homepage at U.C. Hastings College of the Law (link: https://www.uchastings.edu/people/david-takacs/), and read his numerous publications and book (link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1393231). And here is an Amazon link to Professor Takcas's book on biodiversity: https://www.amazon.com/Idea-Biodiversity-Philosophies-Paradise/dp/0801854008/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=The+Idea+of+Biodiversity&qid=1621394881&sr=8-2. 

One last point, in addition to teaching law, Professor Takacs has a Ph.D. in the history of science and has taught undergraduates for a decade. Prior to that, he has spent time in Keyna and Senegal and witnessed climate change firsthand. In this episode, he shares the depth of his expertise and breadth of experience with us.  

Professor Takacs Recommendations: Novel by Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior (Amazon link). My Octopus Teacher, a film on Netflix.