Scott Moore

Scott Moore

Director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives, and Practice Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Areas of Expertise:

Connect with Scott

(202) 509-8400

About Scott

Moore is a political and environmental scientist whose research tries to identify and overcome barriers to effective environmental policy implementation, particularly in the developing world. His current focus concerns inter-jurisdictional water resource disputes, particularly in China and South Asia. In addition to his academic work, Scott has worked on clean energy cooperation for the U.S. Department of Energy’s China Office, served as a member of a German Foreign Office task force on enhancing green job creation in the states and the European Union, and acted as a non-governmental delegate to several United Nations Climate Conventions. Scott holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a Master of Science in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University. Scott is a Truman, Fulbright, and Rhodes Scholar, and served as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Why China Needs New Institutions to Cope with Looming Water Scarcity

Key Findings Brief,

In the News

Opinion: "Fishing Boat Diplomacy: How Maritime Cooperation Can Help U.S.-Chinese Relations ," Scott Moore, Foreign Affairs , September 14, 2016.
Opinion: "Climate Policy: Steps to China's Carbon Peak," Scott Moore (with Zhu Liu, Dabo Guan , Henry Lee , Jun Su, and Qiang Zhang), Nature.com, June 17, 2015.
Opinion: "Pollution Without Revolution: Why China's Environmental Crisis Won't Bring Down the Regime ," Scott Moore, Foreign Affairs , June 10, 2014.
Opinion: "The United States of China," Scott Moore, New York Times, March 11, 2014.
Opinion: "Calming the West's Water Wars," Scott Moore, Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2013.
Opinion: "China's Massive Water Problem," Scott Moore, New York Times, March 28, 2013.
Opinion: "China Needs More People Power to Control Pollution," Scott Moore, World Politics Review, March 20, 2013.
Opinion: "Global Insider: China May Move toward Water-Sharing Agreements," Scott Moore, World Politics Review, February 27, 2013.
Opinion: "The People are Beijing's Ally in Fight for Cleaner Air," Scott Moore, South China Morning Post, January 23, 2013.

Publications

"Hydro-Politics in China: The Pursuit of Localized Interests in a Centralized System" The China Quarterly (forthcoming).

Uses the example of inter-jurisdictional water resource disputes to argue that China lacks good institutional mechanisms to promote coordination and cooperation between provincial governments, and offer some suggestions for how better cooperation and coordination might help address problems like water scarcity and pollution.

"Modernization, Authoritarianism, and the Environment: the Politics of China's South-North Water Transfer Project" Environmental Politics 23, no. 6 (2014): 947-964.

Discusses China's South-North Water Transfer Project, a technocratic mega-project that imposes high social, economic, and environmental costs. Evaluates two current theories- Ecological Modernization and Authoritarian Environmentalism- against the SNWTP case. Argues that SNWTP illustrates the ability of governments to o-opt environmental politics to pursue other strategic objectives.

"Dilemmas of Regional Governance: Sub-National Territorial Politics and River Basin Management in the USA, France, China, and India,"

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

, Oxford University, 2013.

Identifies several common barriers to effective water resource management across countries. These include inadequate incentives and institutions to encourage horizontal cooperation between local and regional governments and the disproportionate political influence of rural constituencies dependent on irrigated agriculture.