Moving beyond technocratic approaches to climate action, climate justice articulates a paradigm s... more Moving beyond technocratic approaches to climate action, climate justice articulates a paradigm shift in how organizations think about their response to the climate crisis. This paper makes a conceptual contribution by exploring the potential of this paradigm shift in higher education. Through a commitment to advancing transformative climate justice, colleges and universities around the world could realign and redefine their priorities in teaching, research, and community engagement to shape a more just, stable, and healthy future. As inequitable climate vulnerabilities increase, higher education has multiple emerging opportunities to resist, reverse, and repair climate injustices and related socioeconomic and health disparities. Rather than continuing to perpetuate the concentration of wealth and power by promoting climate isolationism’s narrow focus on technological innovation and by prioritizing the financial success of alumni and the institution, colleges and universities have a...
Energy systems around the world are in the midst of major changes as renewable energy expands and... more Energy systems around the world are in the midst of major changes as renewable energy expands and related infrastructures and governance regimes adapt to a future with reduced reliance on fossil fuels. At the same time, human societies are also grappling with the consequences of an increasingly unstable and rapidly changing climate. The challenges and opportunities at the energy-climate nexus require educational innovations to more impactfully and effectively integrate engineering and social sciences to strengthen societal resilience.
As the threats of climate change grow, the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fos... more As the threats of climate change grow, the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel burning is increasingly acknowledged by governments around the world. The potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a set of technologies that offers a politically appealing vision of a ‘cleaner’ way to use fossil fuels, has provided powerful motivation for large public and private investments in CCS technology. But investing in CCS is controversial because, although some consider it a critical climate mitigation technology, others view it as an expensive fossil fuel subsidy that could inadvertently perpetuate, rather than reduce, fossil fuel reliance.
Purpose of Review This review explores how more transformative climate policies are emerging argu... more Purpose of Review This review explores how more transformative climate policies are emerging arguing that such policies require decision-makers to move beyond the dominant, narrow technocratic lens that I call climate isolationism. Recent Findings Climate isolationism refers to the common framing of climate change as an isolated, discrete, scientific problem in need of technological solutions. Stemming from dominant assumptions of patriarchal white-male conceptions of privilege and power, climate isolationism has not only been ineffective in responding to the climate crisis and mobilizing transformative change but it has also resulted in climate and energy programs, policies, and priorities that exacerbate inequities and perpetuate economic and racial injustice. Summary This paper reviews the inadequacy and dangers of climate isolationism, explores why climate justice provides an alternative more effective framing, and calls for more intentional consideration of power and power dyna...
Minimal research has assessed the policy process of developing solar programs at the state level,... more Minimal research has assessed the policy process of developing solar programs at the state level, and no research yet has investigated how these policies characterize and engage with the target populations they are designed to benefit. Grounded in Schneider and Ingram's social construction framework (SCF) and applying computational methods (i.e., text analysis and machine learning), this research examines how low-income households are socially constructed in policy provisions, how their social construction has been reinforced through public participation, and how to classify low-income households among target populations. Based on the case of Massachusetts, this research analyzes the 2020 Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Emergency Regulation as well as its public comments. We find that low-income households constitute a visible target group of this program and their characterizations as “deserving policy benefits” are positively constructed by policy makers. Furtherm...
While much of the research and investment on electrification focuses on technology and materials,... more While much of the research and investment on electrification focuses on technology and materials, the transformation away from fossil fuels to a more regenerative, sustainable future that relies on renewable energy also provides huge opportunities for advancing social justice. Unfortunately, society has so far underinvested in the research and development, demonstration, and deployment of social innovations in this energy transformation, so many electrification initiatives have disproportionately benefited wealthy communities and countries and exacerbated social injustices, economic inequities, health disparities, and further concentrated wealth and power. Energy democracy provides a valuable framework to identify and disrupt these trends and leverage the transformative opportunities for social innovation and social justice with electrification. As the sourcing and recycling of new and different materials required for renewable energy generation expands, social justice must be prior...
Moving beyond technocratic approaches to climate action, climate justice articulates a paradigm s... more Moving beyond technocratic approaches to climate action, climate justice articulates a paradigm shift in how organizations think about their response to the climate crisis. This paper makes a conceptual contribution by exploring the potential of this paradigm shift in higher education. Through a commitment to advancing transformative climate justice, colleges and universities around the world could realign and redefine their priorities in teaching, research, and community engagement to shape a more just, stable, and healthy future. As inequitable climate vulnerabilities increase, higher education has multiple emerging opportunities to resist, reverse, and repair climate injustices and related socioeconomic and health disparities. Rather than continuing to perpetuate the concentration of wealth and power by promoting climate isolationism’s narrow focus on technological innovation and by prioritizing the financial success of alumni and the institution, colleges and universities have a...
Energy systems around the world are in the midst of major changes as renewable energy expands and... more Energy systems around the world are in the midst of major changes as renewable energy expands and related infrastructures and governance regimes adapt to a future with reduced reliance on fossil fuels. At the same time, human societies are also grappling with the consequences of an increasingly unstable and rapidly changing climate. The challenges and opportunities at the energy-climate nexus require educational innovations to more impactfully and effectively integrate engineering and social sciences to strengthen societal resilience.
As the threats of climate change grow, the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fos... more As the threats of climate change grow, the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel burning is increasingly acknowledged by governments around the world. The potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a set of technologies that offers a politically appealing vision of a ‘cleaner’ way to use fossil fuels, has provided powerful motivation for large public and private investments in CCS technology. But investing in CCS is controversial because, although some consider it a critical climate mitigation technology, others view it as an expensive fossil fuel subsidy that could inadvertently perpetuate, rather than reduce, fossil fuel reliance.
Purpose of Review This review explores how more transformative climate policies are emerging argu... more Purpose of Review This review explores how more transformative climate policies are emerging arguing that such policies require decision-makers to move beyond the dominant, narrow technocratic lens that I call climate isolationism. Recent Findings Climate isolationism refers to the common framing of climate change as an isolated, discrete, scientific problem in need of technological solutions. Stemming from dominant assumptions of patriarchal white-male conceptions of privilege and power, climate isolationism has not only been ineffective in responding to the climate crisis and mobilizing transformative change but it has also resulted in climate and energy programs, policies, and priorities that exacerbate inequities and perpetuate economic and racial injustice. Summary This paper reviews the inadequacy and dangers of climate isolationism, explores why climate justice provides an alternative more effective framing, and calls for more intentional consideration of power and power dyna...
Minimal research has assessed the policy process of developing solar programs at the state level,... more Minimal research has assessed the policy process of developing solar programs at the state level, and no research yet has investigated how these policies characterize and engage with the target populations they are designed to benefit. Grounded in Schneider and Ingram's social construction framework (SCF) and applying computational methods (i.e., text analysis and machine learning), this research examines how low-income households are socially constructed in policy provisions, how their social construction has been reinforced through public participation, and how to classify low-income households among target populations. Based on the case of Massachusetts, this research analyzes the 2020 Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Emergency Regulation as well as its public comments. We find that low-income households constitute a visible target group of this program and their characterizations as “deserving policy benefits” are positively constructed by policy makers. Furtherm...
While much of the research and investment on electrification focuses on technology and materials,... more While much of the research and investment on electrification focuses on technology and materials, the transformation away from fossil fuels to a more regenerative, sustainable future that relies on renewable energy also provides huge opportunities for advancing social justice. Unfortunately, society has so far underinvested in the research and development, demonstration, and deployment of social innovations in this energy transformation, so many electrification initiatives have disproportionately benefited wealthy communities and countries and exacerbated social injustices, economic inequities, health disparities, and further concentrated wealth and power. Energy democracy provides a valuable framework to identify and disrupt these trends and leverage the transformative opportunities for social innovation and social justice with electrification. As the sourcing and recycling of new and different materials required for renewable energy generation expands, social justice must be prior...
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Papers by Jennie Stephens