Jeremy Rodriguez
Annotated Bibliography for Scientific Controversy Position Paper
Arvesen, A., Bright, R. M., & Hertwich, E. G. (2011). Considering only first-order effects? How simplifications lead to unrealistic technology optimism in climate change mitigation. Energy Policy, 39(11), 7448–7454. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.09.013
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. This article discusses how many of the articles on technological progress are over optimistic because of the simplifications made. In the paper it is used to justify the claim that “the unforeseen effects of climate change and the lack of connection interaction of the society the assumptions we make about technology are overly optimistic”. In the context of the paper this it argues to rely less on technology because there are more unpredictable variables. The article is not recent almost being written 9 years ago. Since the paper was on economics and not a constantly developing field of research it was still relevant.
Arrhenius, S. (1896). On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground. Retrieved November 10, 2019, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/14786449608620846?scroll=top&needAccess=true
This author was a Nobel prize-winning chemist who did research on carbon which laid the foundation for the discovery that was set for the understanding of climate as we do now as well as the precursor to proving CO2 in the atmosphere lead to man-made climate change. In the paper, it is used to justify the claim that, “The first predictions of CO2 being released into the atmosphere and influencing the Earth’s global temperature we released as early as 1896 by physicists when showing CO2 can absorb radiation.” It is also used it showed that climate change has been a predictable and observable reality since it was first indicated in 1896. It also showed that little has been done to change anything even after the link was first made for over 120 years. In the context of the paper, it makes the prediction that CO2 has an ability to retain heat in the atmosphere. The article is old however since it had a large historical significance it was worth keeping as a nice reference to history.
.
Kim, H., Wohl, M., Salmon, M., & Santesso, D. (2017). When do gamblers help themselves? Self-discontinuity increases self-directed change over time. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 148.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article describes the tendency for gamblers to self-admitted into programs to adjust their behavior. In the paper it is used to justify, “(humans) … have the capacity to seek help and to try and adjust when we’re off, even in the most addictive behaviors like gambling.” The use was to show that the automatic response like addiction or in the case of climate change our normal routines are able to be changed because of the ability to self adjust. The article is recently being released in 2017 and had little to suggest it was invalid.
Mansyur, C., Pavlik, L., Hyman, V., Taylor, N., & Goodrick, D. (2013). Self-efficacy and barriers to multiple behavior change in low-income African Americans with hypertension. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 36(1), 75-85.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article describes how people resist or are barred from changing behavior. In the paper’ “Individuals who smoke and have hypertension often maintain behavior even when there are severe consequences looming. (Mansyur, 2013)”. This was used to support that there is an uphill battle to changing behavior which puts humanity in danger with CO2 emissions. The article was specifically with people who are likely to get or have a disease that could be avoided with habit change but do not. The study is old being written in 2013 however it clearly shows a common psychological phenomenon on the persistence of unwanted behavior.
Dietz, Thomas, Frank, Kenneth A., Whitley, Cameron T., Kelly, Jennifer, & Kelly, Rachel. (2015). Political influences on greenhouse gas emissions from US states. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, 112(27), 8254-8259.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article discussed how politicians had a large effect on CO2 emissions in states they were elected in. This paper originally seemed to counter what I expected however it supported how these politicians are a reflection on the beliefs of the county. The office is effective if there is a consensus for change, which was the barrier mentioned in the political route difficulty. The article was written in 2015 which was recent.
Moser, S., & Kleinhückelkotten, S. (2018). Good Intents, but Low Impacts: Diverging Importance of Motivational and Socioeconomic Determinants Explaining Pro-Environmental Behavior, Energy Use, and Carbon Footprint. Environment and Behavior, 50(6), 626-656.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article discusses how wealthier people use more CO2, even when using things commonly associated with a green lifelike shopping locally for produce, energy saver technology, using electric cars. This was used to support the same claim as the article, that the wealthier emit more. The article was released in 2018 which means it is more up to date.
United Nations, (2019) Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change, Speakers Warn during General Assembly High-Level Meeting | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. (2019, March 28). Retrieved November 9, 2019, from https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.htm.
The authors of the article are from the United Nations a respectable source however it was delivered by politicians who many are given the most recent research on climate science. The article describes the statement that the world is getting dangerously close to having irreversible side effects on the world. This was to place that the situation of climate change needs to begin getting resolved. The article is recent, however, if it was not it would be much worse for humanity.
Smith, N., & Leiserowitz, A. (2014). The Role of Emotion in Global Warming Policy Support and Opposition. Risk Analysis, 34(5), 937-948.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The paper discussed how voters were swayed to vote by the appearance of certain words as well as what drove them to make the votes they made. My paper used this to claim, even though emotions can be favorable to make decisions in favor of good policy it can be a detriment. The article was written in 2014 making it older however it displayed something generally expected.
Fisher, D. R., Waggle, J., & Leifeld, P. (2013). Where Does Political Polarization Come From? Locating Polarization Within the U.S. Climate Change Debate. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(1), 70–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764212463360
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. This article discusses the difficulty to implement political policy due to polarization. In the paper I used it to describe “Policymakers may know that science but have the same difficulty in its execution as scientists due to polarization and conflicting opinions (Fisher, 2013)” which showed that more is required to get something done then have facts, it requires consensus, the major obstacle to change politically. The article is older however the effects are still seen because polarization is a common occurrence in politics.
Ryabchuk, A. (2016). Voter abstention in South African 2014 elections: Beyond the apathy argument. Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa 92, 37-59. doi:10.1353/trn.2016.0026.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. As shown in one nation, South Africa after questions this assumption it was found that “respondents expressed deep dissatisfaction with elections as a way to influence politics – some did not see alternatives to the ANC (one of the parties) rule, even though they would be willing to support a smaller party, and others did not think that they could make themselves heard through elections, choosing instead other forms of political engagement.” (Ryabchuk, 2016)
IPCC (2014). Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change . EXIT Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. This studied showed the divisions of where most of the CO2 emissions came from. In the paper it was used to elaborate that these markets exist because people are exchanging their money for something they want. This leads to the fact that sacrifice to these industries is required to get CO2 under control quickly. This article was generated in 2014 and there were likely more recent sources on more accurate distributions that I could not find.
Lane, J. (2011), “CO2 emissions and GDP”, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 38 No. 11, pp. 911-918. https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1108/03068291111171414
The author has a PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The paper discusses CO2 emissions are linked with GDP growth over time. This lets the discussion talk about how CO2 was then linked with the standard of living. A cut to emissions would likely be cut to GDP for some time which would cost people certain luxuries. The article was written long ago in 2011 however discussed a big relationship that had yet been described.
Jin, W. (2012). Can technological innovation help China take on its climate responsibility? An intertemporal general equilibrium analysis. Energy Policy, 49, 629–641. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.07.007
The author has a PHD and has had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. This paper discusses how new technology could allow the hitting of the targets set for China without any new policy. This was used in the paper to justify that technology did not require a political change to help and was very effective. It was also the starting point to question optimism brought along by technology. The article is older, 2012 and with hindsight, the article was overly optimistic as China currently will not which was why it was brought up.
Gaspar, R. (2013). Understanding the Reasons for Behavioral Failure: A Process View of Psychosocial Barriers and Constraints to Pro-Ecological Behavior. Sustainability, 5(7), 2960–2975. doi: 10.3390/su5072960
The author has a PHD and has had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article is one paper that describes the difficulty in behavior change even when expected is still underestimated. In the paper it was used to show that the largest obstacle to climate change is human behavior which underlies each of the other methods of change. The article is old but the topic it discusses is accepted in the field as common knowledge.
Liu, W., & Li, H. (2011). Improving energy consumption structure: A comprehensive assessment of fossil energy subsidies reform in China. Energy Policy, 4134.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article discusses a case in the best way to mitigate China’s CO2 by cutting subsidies. An outright count would have major effects on the economy. The article was used to show that a large scale economic change that could be implemented like remove the subsidies in the US would lower CO2 but could have large consequences to the economy. The study is being conducted in 2011 however it was echoed in the case study brought in the US.
Rau, G. (2011). CO2 mitigation via capture and chemical conversion in seawater. Environmental Science & Technology, 45(3), 1088-1092.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article describes the current usage of technology to remove CO2 from the air and chemical conversion of sea water. In the article it was used to show how technology has a powerful effect on what we can do which would lead to an overly conservative approach to have the greatest impact on CO2 which was the assumption that no new technology would come to help. The study was old however the technology has only gotten better with more nuanced pricing but with more downsides than initially presumed.
Xu, B., & Lin, B. (2017). Does the high-tech industry consistently reduce CO2 emissions? Results from nonparametric additive regression model. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 63, 44.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article uses regressions to show that technology is a good predictor of lower emissions and is directly causing it. This was used in the paper to support that technology has a positive effect and clearly could aid society. The paper was written recently which aids even though it was commonly assumed.
Hinnells, M. (2008). Technologies to achieve demand reduction and microgeneration in buildings. Energy Policy, 36(12), 4427-4433.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. This article is a case study in the UK with the statistic that most of the emissions from Britain are related to housing. This was used in the paper to support that emissions are directly controllable by everyday individuals and not other companies. The article was written in 208 and likely is out of data and not a good source to use.
Shapiro, J. (2016). Trade Costs, CO 2 , and the Environment †. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 8(4), 220-254.
The author had the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. This paper showed the difficulties smaller nations have in giving up CO2 since their economies are more fragile. In the paper it justified that giving up CO2 has a cost that needs to be accounted for. Since smaller nations like the ones discussed, island nations with small economies would be hardest hit by climate change related issues the peer review shows one reason why these nations are dependent on CO2. The article is from 2016, still recent enough since the economies of the nations have not changed rapidly.
Kaufmann, R., & Vaid, D. (2016). Lower electricity prices and greenhouse gas emissions due to rooftop solar: Empirical results for Massachusetts. Energy Policy, 93(C), 345-352.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article is a case study in Massachusetts showing how the usage of solar panels saved the power grid a substantial amount of money on energy with no CO2 emissions. The peer reviewed paper used showed that there are powerful economic incentives for solar and renewables. The article was written in 2016 which was recent.
Erickson, P., Down, A., Lazarus, M., & Koplow, D. (2017, October 2). Effect of subsidies to fossil fuel companies on United States crude oil production. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-017-0009-8.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article articulates the effect that subsidies had in the US market, spurring more production of fossil fuel companies which lead to more CO2 emissions. In the essay it was used to share “In the United States oil subsidies have made more than half of the oil deposits profitable further making the nation more dependent on fossil fuel (Erickson, 2017).” Showing that the continued push towards oil is not due to active demands but through economic incentives that could be used to fund renewables. The article was written in 2017 and little has changed in the US regarding the subsidies.
Nejat, P., Jomehzadeh, F., Taheri, M., Gohari, M., & Abd. Majid, M. (2015). A global review of energy consumption, CO2 emissions and policy in the residential sector (with an overview of the top ten CO2 emitting countries). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 43, 843-862.
The authors have the PHD and have had the source peer reviewed by their respective field. The article describes one of the largest sources of energy consumption and CO2 emissions, housing. In the article, the quote “In total, about 17 percent of global CO2 emissions come from households” (Nejat, 2015) allowed the discussion of how much CO2 is under direct control. The article is from 2015 which is 4 years old and likely getting out of data for estimates on CO2 creation however while looking for other statistics on where most CO2 and energy consumption comes from these were the most available in the CCNY academic library, using a form of Google to discover articles felt like cheating.
