Rather than look at just one issue, this course will cover the range of environmental issues that have national implications. This includes climate change, oceans, renewable energy, endangered species and wilderness. The instructor, in her capacity as The Washington Post’s national environmental reporter, has covered these issues extensively in recent years, and will review the evolution and current status of both public attitudes and policy approaches to these questions. The course will examine topics including the science behind global warming, the role that various interest groups have played in environmental debates, battles between the Obama administration and House majority, and the international implications of the current U.S impasse. It will also feature talks by several guest speakers who have worked in the trenches on the issues, from environmental activists to corporate lobbyists.