Many Americans hear the word “economics” and quite literally start to talk business: bulls and bears, stocks and bonds, revenues and profits—you know the drill. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, though, economics is “a social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.” For Dr. Sam Stolper, this meaning rings especially true when it comes to distribution. Sam is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), where he researches and lectures on the intersecting issues of economics and environmental justice, particularly as they apply to how the impacts of energy use and production are distributed.
Economists have a reputation of being pragmatists who live their lives guided solely by the matter of fact, sometimes to a fault. But Sam doesn’t quite fit that mold. As he’ll put it, “I don’t like being totally rational.” When it comes to reducing carbon emissions, he just wants a policy that will get the job done. Despite occasionally seeming hopeless in our current political moment, justice issues are still very much rocking the environmental boat, and Sam believes that economics augments the push for energy justice. That’s why he taught a seven-week seminar on economics and environmental justice at SEAS, and why he says that the coalition of those who value economic analysis and those who value environmental justice are a chief motivator for his work.
Aurora and Ed had the opportunity to ask Sam about several of the environmental justice-oriented questions that so often come up among the Hot In Here crew. On this episode, we talk about the utility of a dollar for the poor and for the rich, the relative merits of market-based solutions and “command & control” policies, the marked ambiguity of policy interaction, as well as the Green New Deal and what Sam believes to be the most pressing issue brought on by climate change. Stick around ’til the end of the show to hear about Sam’s favorite sneakers and what you’ve all been dying to hear—his take on whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich.
Find out more about Sam and his courses on the SEAS faculty page or on Twitter.
Until next time, keep it hot, keep it here.