Environmental issues have never loomed large in U.S. presidential elections; the latter, though, often have a considerable impact on environmental issues both domestic and global. This holds particularly true in 2024. While public debates focus on inflation, immigration, and abortion rights, the most consequential question may be whether the U.S. stays on the path charted by the 2022 “Inflation Reduction Act” which directs vast public funds towards carbon neutrality and puts the country at the forefront of global efforts to tackle climate change. In this talk, Dr. Bergthaller will discuss what is at stake for the environment in the 2024 presidential election and reconsider U.S. climate policy since the Clinton era.

 

Dr. Hannes Bergthaller is a professsor at the English Department of National Taiwan Normal University. His research focuses on the literature and cultural history of US environmentalism, environmental philosophy, and systems theory. With Eva Horn, he co-authored Anthropozän zur Einführung (2019); he co-edited Foodscapes of the Anthropocene: Literary Perspectives from Asia (2024) with Chen You-Ting.