Joshua Basseches
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science | The David and Jane Flowerree Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Environmental Studies | Tulane University
New Orleans, LA, UNITED STATES
Joshua Basseches is an expert in energy and climate politics and policymaking, especially in the U.S. states.
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Biography
Joshua Basseches is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and is the David and Jane Flowerree Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Environmental Studies at Tulane University.
Basseches received his PhD in Sociology from Northwestern University, where he was also affiliated with the Legal Studies Program and the Institute for Policy Research.
Basseches' current research examines the politics of energy and climate policymaking at the state level, which, in the U.S. context, is where the action has been. He looks at the ways in which state legislators, executive branch rule makers and a range of public and private interest groups shape the design of the policies that emerge from state capitals.
Basseches' research has been published in peer-reviewed outlets such as Climatic Change, Mobilization: An International Quarterly, and Research in Political Sociology, among others.
Basseches' work has been supported by the American Political Science Association, the Climate Social Science Network and the Dispute Resolution Research Center, among others.
Basseches' research and teaching are interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on sociology, political science, public policy, economics and history. He is active in a number of professional associations and working groups, including the American Sociological Association, the American Political Science Association, the Social Science History Association, and the Scholars Strategy Network. He co-chairs the State Politics Working Group of the Climate Social Science Network.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Inflation Reduction Act
Climate and Energy Policy
Political Sociology
State Politics
Polical Science
Education (3)
Northwestern University: Master of Arts, Sociology 2017
Brandeis University: Bachelor of Arts, Sociology and Political Science 2012
Summa Cum Laude
Northwestern University: Doctor of Philosophy, Sociology 2020
Affiliations (8)
- Co-Chair, U.S. State Politics Working Group, Climate Social Science Network , 2020-Present
- Contributing Editor, Mobilizing Ideas Blog, Center for the Study of Social Movements, University of Notre Dame. 2019-Present
- Member, Scholars Strategy Network, 2018-Present
- American Sociological Association
- American Political Science Association
- Social Science History Association
- Midwest Sociological Society
- Midwest Political Science Association
Languages (2)
- Spanish
- English
Articles (22)
New climate assessment details litany of threats closing in on Louisiana
Nola.com | Times-Picayune
Mark Schleifstein
2023-11-23
Joshua Basseches, assistant professor of environmental studies and public policy at Tulane University, said the report reinforces the need for political leadership in addressing climate change. Rising insurance premiums threatening to price out Louisiana residents is one effect that can already be felt, he said.
Why some power companies support climate laws, but others don’t
Route Fifty
Joshua Basseches
2023-09-25
Joshua Basseches, a professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University, noted that investor-owned electric utilities are among the most powerful political actors in almost every state capitol.
Commentary: Regardless of Pine Tree Power’s fate, Maine utilities will retain ‘green’ focus
Portland Press Herald
Joshua Basseches
2023-09-06
Joshua A. Basseches is the Flowerree Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Public Policy at Tulane University.
A climate cash spending spree is about to get underway in Washington state
Idaho Capital Sun
JACOB FISCHLER
2023-05-13
Joshua Basseches, a public policy and environmental studies professor at Tulane University who focuses on state-level climate policy, said the federal law could only build on state climate efforts.
A climate cash spending spree is about to get underway in Washington state
New Hampshire Bulletin
NewsPub
2023-05-10
Joshua Basseches, a public policy and environmental studies professor at Tulane University who focuses on state-level climate policy, said the federal law could only build on state climate efforts.
Will clean energy incentives, EV tax credits survive debt ceiling showdown?
ReportWire
ReportWire
2023-05-09
Joshua Basseches, a climate change policy and politics expert at Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts, believes a big part of the Republican’s proposed solution is to speed up the permitting process for fossil fuel projects and control the energy supply.
Red states are leading on renewable energy, while Mass. ranks 29th, new analysis shows
Boston Globe
Dharna Noor
2023-03-08
Many red states are also less populated and include more rural areas, making it easier to build large projects, said Josh Basseches, a professor of environmental studies and public policy at Tulane University in New Orleans who studies renewable energy policy in red states. Still, he said, some states aren’t taking advantage of their geographies, such as South Carolina, which has massive solar potential but has restrictive policies on the books.
Ky. governor candidate Daniel Cameron’s anti-climate track record
Louisville Public Media
Ryan Van Velzer
2023-03-01
Kentucky has done among the least of any state in the country at tackling climate change compared to other conservative states, said Joshua Basseches, assistant professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University.
New Orleans prepares for President Macron
WWL-TV (CBS) New Orleans
Eleanor Tabone
2022-12-01
Professor Joshua Basseches from Tulane University said, "The Louisiana coast is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”
Families in over 20 states are scrambling to place a bet on what their energy bills will be in the future. A wrong decision could cost them hundreds of dollars.
Business Insider
Jacob Zinkula
2022-09-27
"It's almost analogous to the stock market," Joshua Basseches, an assistant professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University, told Insider. "It's putting a lot of these decisions into the hands of consumers, sort of betting on what's going to happen to these different prices of these different fuels."
Policy Primer: The Grid Isn’t Broken, But Still Needs Fixing
Climate XChange
Climate XChange Staff
2022-09-23
For this article, we spoke with Joshua Basseches, PhD, Assistant Professor of Public Policy & Environmental Studies at Tulane University. Dr. Basseches says that unless something in our electricity system gives, there’s no way to meet our climate targets: “The way that we’ve done things historically is not conducive to the types of changes we’re going to need if we’re going to have a renewable energy transition and electrify everything.”
What hinders Louisiana’s shift toward renewable energy? Voters say their congressional leaders
Louisiana Illuminator
Terry L Jones
2022-09-21
“Surveys like this are helpful in that they’re the first step to calling someone out and showing how they’re misrepresenting public opinion,” said Joshua Basseches, assistant professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University. “A well-conducted survey can be an important tool to begin holding politicians accountable.”
State Officials Hold Sway in Biden’s Climate Law Funding Rollout
Bloomberg Law
Zach Bright
2022-09-14
The law amplifies the advantages of electrification by making “home and building heating from gas a lot less economically competitive compared to electrification,” said Joshua Basseches, an assistant professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University. “But at the end of the day, the states are still going to have the say.”
How the Inflation Reduction Act’s approach to energy policy and environment may impact Louisiana
WWNO-Radio (NPR)
Adam Vos
2022-09-14
In an editorial in The Advocate, Tulane professor Joshua Basseches said the recently signed Inflation Reduction Act might be a start, but isn’t nearly enough to tackle climate change.
Energy Giants Spending Millions to Block This State's Effort to Create Consumer-Owned Utility
Common Dreams
Jon Lamson
2022-08-24
According to Joshua Basseches, an assistant professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University, a statewide campaign like Our Power is largely unprecedented in US history. Basseches' research investigates the political influence of utility companies throughout the country.
Power companies bet big on natural gas in Louisiana. Now, customers are feeling the squeeze
The Advocate
Sam Karlin
2022-08-14
Joshua Basseches, a Tulane professor who studies investor-owned utilities, said Louisiana’s decisions over the last 10 years to invest in more gas-fired plants will make it harder to overhaul its generation mix quickly. “It’s certainly not impossible for the Southeast to become less reliant on gas,” Basseches said. “But it’s not going to happen overnight.”
There are a lot of perks for Big Oil in Democrats' new bill, even though it's being touted as the biggest climate investment in US history
Business Insider
Jacob Zinkula
2022-08-13
"On the whole, they certainly would have preferred for this bill not to have passed," says Joshua Basseches, an assistant professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University." It certainly put their lobbyists on defense rather than offense, but certain key concessions to certain segments of the industry do appear to have softened opposition."
Guest column: The Senate climate deal is huge, but the harder work is happening in the states -- including the red ones
The New Orleans Advocate - Times-Picayune - Nola.com
Joshua Basseches
2022-08-08
Thanks to diligent advocacy and a movement years in the making, the U.S. Senate has done what a couple weeks ago seemed impossible, breaking a decadeslong pattern of inaction when it comes to tackling the “wicked problem” of climate change.
Mass. gas providers pay up
New England Climate Dispatch
Jon Lamson
2022-08-02
“Investor-owned utilities (like Eversource and National Grid) are the single most influential type of business actor when it comes to state-level climate and energy policymaking,” stated Joshua Basseches, an assistant professor of public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University.
‘Empty rhetoric:’ The solar industry’s public spat with Biden over tariffs
Renewable Energy World
John Engel
2022-03-31
Story on the solar industry’s public criticism of Biden over tariffs.
Washington will become second state to adopt cap-and-trade law. But what happens next really matters
The Washington Wire
Joshua Basseches
2021-04-29
Commentary on that state’s recently passed climate law.
The key to passing climate policy? Rein in (or win over) utilities monopolies
Grist Magazine
Joshua Basseches
2021-03-02
Investor-owned utilities — yes, IOUs — dominate the system and wield enormous political power. Only the feds can change that.
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