In this project, I conducted a literature review comparing the strategies the governments of Vietnam and Thailand are implementing to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Southeast Asia is projected to be severely impacted by climate change. In particular, rising sea levels are likely to encroach on lowland coastal regions that account for much of the population and serve as centers of economic activity. Additionally, nations in this region continue to undergo rapid economic growth, and therefore face a dilemma in that the carbon emissions which have largely fueled their quick growth are also contributing to climate change imperiling their populations. The purpose of this study is to compare the climate response of two major growing economies in this region in terms of mitigation and adaptation, and in this manner discover how differences in political structure, national wealth, and the level of specific risk faced by each nation has shaped their climate policies. I conducted research by reviewing policy reports published by these governments, non-governmental organizations, and scholarly articles. My review suggests that both governments have tended to downplay the scale of climate adaptation needed to prepare for the massive population resettlement and economic adjustment from the inundation of several major cities. Additionally, the findings show that Vietnam has undertaken more extensive mitigation efforts than Thailand, in part stemming from a varying response to the 2008 financial crisis. In contrast to Thailand, which responded by further developing fossil fuel infrastructure to pursue greater energy independence, Vietnam worked toward the same aims by expanding green energy sources like wind and hydropower. By understanding the causes of these varying climate responses, we can better identify areas in which further action is needed to bring policy in line with scientific projections and understand how institutional structures influence the success of climate policy.

Climate change has two dimensions: mitigation and adaptation. In spite of progress towards net-zero emissions, climate change is already underway, and its effects are visible through extreme weather events including hurricanes. Many argue policymakers should focus on adaptation along with mitigation. Given that some climate effects are location-specific, adaptation requires that households carefully think about where they buy property, given that an investment in a home is the most important source of household wealth. To minimize property damage, households could take steps to enhance the resilience of their property, which should be reflected in property value. In the absence of federal regulation, only 29 states of the 50 U.S. have enacted laws mandating property owners disclose flood history and risk to a property. Louisiana was among the first states to enact these regulations, while in 2022, Texas strengthened its legislation. What explains this variation in flood disclosure legislation over time and space? Collecting data from federal and non-profit sources, I will examine a slate of factors: state partisanship (control of the legislature and the gubernatorial office) from 2017-2019; percentage of Trump votes in 2016; the number of water-related disasters from 2013-2018; percentage of flood hazard area; in-migration; length of coastline; percentage of forested area; and the number of flood related deaths from 2013-2018. In R, I will conduct linear regression models to estimate the effect and significance of these factors on the response variable: the grade/strength of flood disclosure legislation. I will also conduct a Cox Proportional hazard model to examine the effect of these factors on the passage of flood disclosure legislation. The results of the analysis will provide evidence as to why certain states are more likely to have strong flood disclosure legislation, and what events could result in a state passing flood disclosure legislation.

In the past year climate activists have engaged in increasingly disruptive tactics to try and draw attention to the looming climate crisis. To raise awareness for their cause, activist groups have utilized a variety of confrontational and controversial protest tactics, such as sit-ins, hunger strikes, road blockades, and occupations of crucial industries, for example, airports. However 2022 featured a unique new form of climate protest: art attacks and museum vandalization. This radical new protest tactic is designed to force public attention on the climate crisis by visually destroying and threatening precious artworks. A slew of climate art protests swept news headlines in 2022, drawing both condemnation and admiration. For this project I created a dataset of art attacks and museum vandalism focusing on when, where, and what group executes such attacks with the goal of understanding the context of this new protest phenomenon. Preliminary data was collected by tracking news reports and activist social media posts to determine the relevant data points. The preliminary findings from this project find that all instances of museum vandalism occurred in a 7-month period in 2022, with attacks concentrated in the days leading up to COP27 in November. In total, 39 protests occurred in 11 (primarily European) countries, with the majority occurring in England (7), Italy (8), and Germany (8). Established climate activist groups conducted the majority of these protests, with only a handful of these incidents being perpetrated by individual actors. The activist groups most implicated in the dataset are: Just Stop Oil (England), Letzte Generation (Germany), and Ultima Generazione (Italy), which aligns well with the countries in which the majority of the protests took place. The results of this project could indicate the future of climate protest tactics- and public reception- as the climate crisis worsens and activist groups become more desperate.