Environmental Strategic Missteps

In this course we will examine instances in which well-meaning positions and strategies intended to protect the environment have been unsuccessful and, in some cases, resulted in long-term deleterious effects. While our primary focus will be on climate change, other environmental issues will be considered. Students will learn to think critically about the potential consequences of specific strategies and appreciate that ideological drivers can, in some cases, have unintended, negative consequences with the potential to do harm. Case studies may include successful campaigning against nuclear power plants, withholding funding and support for infrastructure projects to undermine fossil fuel use, rejecting carbon offsets and other voluntary market mechanisms as a climate solution, undercutting investment in combined heat and power plants, demanding overly difficult compliance standards and thresholds, and overburdening environmental initiatives.



Ms. Vujic runs Novi Strategies, a climate and energy strategic consulting firm and formerly co-chaired Jenner & Block's Transitions in Energy and Climate Solutions and ESG Practices. Ms. Vujic served as an assistant professor of the practice in the Environmental Sciences & Policy Division at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and was an Energy & Equity Seminar Instructor for Duke University's Global Inequality Research Initiative. Ms. Vujic mentors undergraduate and graduate students related to academic and career pursuits.