Monday’s Class :
Before Class
- Read about what Borenstein sees as California’s next step. Where does he use “market mechanisms”, and “where the market fails”. What does this mean? What does he say about creation of knowledge?
- If you’re interested to read about some of the issues surrounding open air CO2 extraction, you can read this article from MIT Climate.
- The idea of carbon capture and sequestration is still getting coverage.
- Nuclear is struggling because of high cost – but it would thrive if it had “green” status for renewable portfolio standards (RPS). Should nuclear count as part of the “carbon-free” renewable energy?
- Read that Forbes claims that Consumers care more about ethics..
- Please begin your final “dual-intervention” part for you, part for the planet.
During Class
- Final presentation for rooftop solar and impact on the California Grid: Alice, Nikki, Sabina, Paulo.
After Class
Wednesday’s Class
Before Class
- For class, please read this SHORT NPR article about happiness. Damn, it has so much to do with sustainability. Please consider why these frigid countries are happier than we are… and why are we considerably less happy than we were the previous year? Is it important to be happy?
- It turns out that FEMA compensation makes the rich richer and the poor poorer through climate change-related disasters. You may also find it interesting that just last year we saw that: FEMA isn’t allowed to acknowledge “climate change”
- Tesla solar roofs are coming to California. How might this solar electricity and storage change the game?
- What are the Environmental Justice issues related to Climate Change and Energy Extraction? Please listen to this half-hour interview with the head of the NAACP by MIT’s climate X team, and what’s being done. “Capitalism is predicated on the notion of winners and losers… no one should pay for poverty with their very lives…” Do you agree?
- Since 2015, Oregon teenagers have been suing the US government for depriving them of their futures by causing climate change. According to wikipedia and the Lawsuit’s Dedicated Webpage, the lawsuit is presently alive, although is being delayed by appeals from the US government.
- Last year, the students asked for a study guide. I wrote one up and posted it under exams on the main class website.
- Can Trump stop the rise of renewable energy? Please read one opinion that he probably can’t.
- …and please read Rand’s Analysis of Pulling out of the Paris Agreement.
During Class
- Come prepared to ask questions and work on your projects
After Class
Friday:
ATTENTION: We are meeting for class NOT in the classroom but at city hall to demand that the government protect our futures. We are meeting at the front door of the SLO library. We will meet at 10 AM and get the presentation from the “living systems” group… then we can raise our voices until class ends at 11 AM. Like all classes, this class meeting is voluntary. Additionally, you’re welcome to stay later. If you want to stay until 2:00 PM, you’re welcome to take the final midterm at 2:00 PM rather than noon.
Final Exam (during activity section)
- I posted solutions for PS#7 on the main class website.
- Please read this NPR article about what we might expect (or hope for) in AOC’s New Green Deal. In reading it, please ask yourself:
- How much of this is factually viable versus fantasy?
- How much of this did you already hear about in the class?
- How much do you agree that this will happen?
- In class, we might discuss the Fermi Paradox – why we don’t see extraterrestrial intelligence / technologies. I think I called this “the Fermi Question.” A Fermi question is the other thing I mentioned: how many needles are on that evergreen tree? Sorry for the misinformation. One Fermi question was what was the energy of the first atomic bomb blast? Read about it here.
- Please read an Email I sent my daughter Tuesday:
“Tekuru,Did you hear that there is a student strike for the climate?… like Greta Thunberg does? Heidi Harmon is striking with them.Just so you know, I do support you to strike if you choose to. You can stay at school too.I love youDad” - Check out this article about environmental justice: “whites experience about 17 percent less air pollution than they produce, through consumption, while blacks and Hispanics bear 56 and 63 percent more air pollution, respectively, than they cause by their consumption“
- Hey! I got this notification in my Email today. Did any of you get it? It’s telling me about the changes to come. Is this something you saw coming?
- Efficiency seems common sense. However command and control regulations are something that Trump campaigned against. What happens when these two things come into conflict? Read about it with the NRDC and consider sending a message to the Department of Energy.
- Consider coming to this meeting of the Sierra Club Wednesday of exam week. You can report on what you learn at our final presentations:
After Class:
- Prepare final presentation (and final dish to share).
Final presentations: Friday, 10 AM, March 15, in our classroom. Please bring food to share if you can, and a place setting for yourself.
NO NUTS!!! Or if you do, please label it.