CSSN is an international network of social science scholars focused on understanding the cultural and institutional dynamics of the political conflict over climate change.

ABOUT CSSN

The Latest

Latest
How Do Right-Wing Populist Parties Influence Climate and Renewable Energy Policies? Evidence from OECD Countries
CSSN Scholar Matthew Lockwood analyzes the influence of right-wing populist party (RWPPs) governmental representation on climate and renewable energy policy for several countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Latest
Tiwi Islands offshore gas fight shows public banks are under real pressure over fossil fuel funding
Through an article published in The Conversation, CSSN Scholar Christian Downie addresses the change in attitudes toward leveraging support for public banks and export credit agencies, which have historically funded highly polluting sectors.
Latest
Constructing Environmental Compliance: Law, Science, and Endangered Species Conservation in California’s Delta
From a larger project that focuses on the Delta Smelt, CSSN Scholar Caleb Scoville conducts a study highlighting the importance of scientists in shaping environmental law and the construction of legal compliance.
Latest
Experts and climate change politicisation. A case study of the Environmental Protection Agency (1983–2015)
By analyzing the Environmental Protection Agency through longitudinal data, CSSN Scholar Loredana Loy explores how governmental experts balance the growing politicization in advocating for climate action policy.
Latest
Toward Global Urban Climate Mitigation: Linking National and Polycentric Systems of Environmental Change
CSSN Scholar Benjamin Leffel conducted a study that explores how polycentric systems of normative expertise and political-economic forces have contributed to the reduction in urban greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Latest
The U.S.-Canada (Clean) Electricity Relationship: Challenges and Opportunities in Policy Design and Coordination
In efforts to maximize the efficiency of the clean electricity transition in North America, the CSSN State Politics Working Group Co-Chair Joshua A. Basseches conducted a study that focuses on analyzing the existing policy landscape across both sides of the U.S.-Canada border while showing how renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have the potential to impact cross-border transmission.
Read More

CSSN in Action

The Latest Research
 The latest releases of research from CSSN Scholars around the world, advancing knowledge about climate conflicts and organizations obstructing action on climate change.
Our Working Groups
 CSSN working groups bring together scholars with shared interests, for discussion and collaborative research. The working groups will provide input into the CSSN Research Agenda. The groups are self-organizing and directing, and we hope to provide seed funding.
Our Projects
 CSSN scholars have several projects underway that evaluate the institutional and cultural dynamics of climate-related political conflicts.

Welcome to CSSN

CSSN Seeks to:

  • Coordinate, conduct, and support peer-reviewed research into the institutional and cultural dynamics of political conflicts around climate change,
  • Assist scholars to communicate the results of this research to policymakers, the public, and the wider climate change community, and
  • Conduct educational activities regarding the results of the research to inform the political, legal, and media communities.

Featured Scholar: Matto Mildenberger

 

Matto Mildenberger is an assistant professor of political science at the University of California Santa Barbara. His research explores the politics of climate change in the United States and around the world. His work has been published in the American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, Nature Climate Change, Political Science Research Methods, Nature Energy and elsewhere. Mildenberger’s second book, Carbon Captured: How Labor and Business Control Climate Politics, is available from MIT Press.

In addition, at UCSB he co-runs the Energy and Environment Transitions (ENVENT) Lab, as well as fulfilling a role as Associate Deputy Editor at Climatic Change.

Matto Mildenberger’s website.

Learn more about Matto Mildenberger.

 

Featured Research

Solar Geoengineering Research in the United States: Key Critical Questions

In a new CSSN Position Paper, CSSN Scholars Prakash Kashwan, Duncan McLaren, Jennie Stephens, and Kevin Surprise outline three areas of key questions to ask about any effort to advance solar geoengineering research using public funds.

Read More