ABSTRACT
The problem of environmental limits is one of the most important political challenges facing modern societies, because failure to address the limits could lead to catastrophic disasters. The most pressing environmental limit is anthropogenic greenhouse gases, but there are many others, including the destruction of habitats, loss of freshwater resources, and persistent chemical pollutants in the environment. Because markets do not adequately internalize long-term environmental costs, it is necessary for public policy to guide the redesign of large technological systems (LTSs) – such as electricity, transportation, and food production – so that they are more sustainable. However, the definition of the goal (the design of systems that are in some sense more sustainable) and the optimal pace of reform are highly contested politically. Thus, the study of the transitions of LTSs requires an approach that can interpret and understand the political processes involved. This chapter will outline the approach that I have been developing for the study of the sustainability transition, apply it to the case of the politics of the green-energy transition in the U.S. during the Obama administration, and discuss some general implications for theory development in science and technology studies (STS). The implications will include the importance of scale and geographical unevenness in the framework for the study of sustainability transitions.
