Monday’s Class :
Before Class
- Please do PS#9 posted on main class website.
- 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.
- Read that Forbes claims that Consumers care more about ethics..
- Please finish your final “dual-intervention” part for you, part for the planet.
- Late submission, so I understand if you didn’t read it: Saudi Arabia Introduces Chaos to Global Oil Market.
During Class
After Class
Wednesday’s Class
Before Class
- We agreed as a class to read the news this week… verifiable on the final exam. Please see the media bias chart and pick a publication you want to read for the rest of the week. I’ll expect that you’ll have something to say in class.
- I posted solutions for PS#9 on the main class website. Please check them out.
- 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 even just two years ago: 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?
- Remember hearing about Oregon teenagers suing the US government for depriving them of their futures by causing climate change? It’s still going on… The organization is called “Our Children’s Trust”, and the main case they talk about is called “Juliana vs. United States”. I had a very difficult time finding the updates… but it turns out they were dealt a set back this past January 17. Please see the Our Children’s Trust Wikipedia page. At the very least, please read the last paragraph of the section “Juliana vs United States” starting with “On January 17….” Please read the statement of the dissenting judge.
- Two years ago, students asked me for a study guide and I wrote this study guide. It still seems pretty relevant… ignore that two field trips at the end that we didn’t take “Chris” and “The Student Experimental Farm”. Also, pay attention to the calculations we’re doing this week.
- 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:
Final Exam (during activity section)
- I’m a little embarrassed to disclose that I spent some time on FaceBook the other day. However, most of the time was in responding to a depressed plea from a pro-nuclear community member… founder of Mothers for Nuclear. Anyway, I think it is worth reading what I had to say to her. Please read her post and my response.
- 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.
- 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“
- 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.
- Note that you can access the latest in Coronavirus updates at Cal Poly.
After Class:
- Prepare final presentation (and final dish to share).
Final presentations: posted on main class website. Please bring food to share if you can, and a place setting for yourself.
NO NUTS!!! Or if you do, please label it.