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2017 Conference

June 21–24, 2017

Tuscon, AZ

AESS 2017 Draft Conference Session Schedule

American Environmental Politics in Historical Perspective

Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 11:00 AM–12:30 PM MDT
ENR2 S217
Abstract

The recent national elections in the United States seem to pose a challenge to progressive environmentalists. But American politics has experienced many periods of conservative reaction. Is the situation in 2017 so different from the situation in 1980, for example? How have shifts in the national political landscape influenced environmental politics in the past? What can history teach us about the contemporary political divide over environmental policy and the political challenges involved in our current energy transition? Donald Trump seemed to draw a great deal of support from regions strongly affected by the shift away from fossil fuels; can environmental historians shed light on how energy policies have shaped the politics in coal country? This panel explores the lessons we can learn from history about the prospects and dynamics of progressive environmental politics in the next few years.  

Primary Contact

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Kim Smith, Carleton College

Presenters

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Sarah Mittlefehldt, Northern Michigan University
Title of paper

The Politics of Green Energy: What History Can Teach Us About the Cultural & Political Challenges of Developing Renewable Energy Technologies

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Megan Chew, Independent Scholar
Title of paper

Smokestacks and Cornfields: Policies of Power in the Ohio Valley during the 1970s

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Jessica Hejny, Amherst College
Title of paper

Partisan Politics and the Environment Prior to the Reagan Revolution: What History Can Teach Us About the Current Political Divide Over Environmental Policy

Co-Authors

Chair, Facilitator, Or Moderators

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Kim Smith, Carleton College

Discussants

Workshop Leaders

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