There will be two quiz-section Town Hall meetings during which you will get to discuss proposals related to climate change. One topic will have a global perspective and the other will have a local perspective. One Town Hall will be "yours": You will be assigned a stakeholder role and will have to write an op-ed piece and make an oral presentation. In the "other" Town Hall (i.e., the one that is not "yours"), you will be a citizen observer whose assignment is to listen carefully to the discussion and ask critical questions.

Write a Stakeholder Op-ed article. Commonly called an opinion piece, your op-ed ("opposite the editorial", because they traditionally appeared in newspapers on the right-hand-side page opposite the editorial page) should be written from the perspective of your assigned role. Your op-ed article should:

• support your position through research and relevant data;
• be written in an audience-appropriate op-ed style piece;
• be concise (500-750 words);
• clearly describe your stakeholder role and appropriately represent your stakeholder interests; and
• have citations in footnotes or author-date format. Here are two guidelines for author-date format (#1, #2), but you can use another citation method if you prefer, and in any case you should focus on the goal, which is to allow your readers to figure out where you got your information and (if desired) attempt to track it down.

Here is a sample op-ed from a previous class, and here is an op-ed advice sheet (and another one). Online you can find editorials and op-ed pieces from local papers (such as the Seattle P-I and the Seattle Times) and from national papers (such as the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal). For the WSJ, you can get full-text access here after you log in to the library network using the link on the top right of the page.

Present an Oral Statement at your Town Hall that:

• is within the time limits (~3 minutes depending on the size of the quiz section);
• succinctly makes the major points from your op-ed piece; and
• is communicated clearly and well-practiced.

Handouts or other supporting material are optional. If you want to use PowerPoint, overhead transparencies, or otherwise need technical support, check your classroom (and check with your TA) to see what your classroom is equipped with. If PowerPoint is not available in the classroom but you want to bring something in on your laptop, make sure that whatever show will be visible to everyone in the class.

* Here is the prompt that you must respond to: Read these notes from the 2007 Bali conference. From the point of view of your stakeholder, respond to some of these policy proposals. Answer these questions: If the world community were to create a carbon cap and trade program, how would you be affected? Would you support it or oppose it? Do you agree more with the position of the American government or the European Union? What additional or alternate policies might you suggest?

Some ideas and things to think about: You should google "climate change [name of your country" and/or "global warming [name of your country]". Also do a search for articles through Expanded Academic ASAP, ProQuest, or Lexis-Nexis, all of which you can find through the UW Library. (Make sure you're logged in and then click on "Research Databases"; the first two databases are linked directly from that page; for Lexis-Nexis Academic, click on "Databases starting with K-L" and then scroll down.) The CIA World Factbook might also be a good resource. And of course there are the resources linked below.

Some questions to think about: How big of a contribution does your country make to global emissions, both in total and per capita (per person)? How does that compare to emissions from the U.S.? Have your emissions been increasing or decreasing in the last few years, and what are projections for the future? Did your country sign the Kyoto Protocol, and if so how are you doing at meeting the target for emissions reductions stipulated in that agreeement? How will climate change affect your country? How rich or poor is your country? (Look at per-capita income.) What other issues (AIDS, Malaria? Poverty? High taxes?) are you facing and how important is climate change compared to those other issues? How much energy does your country use and where does it get its energy? What does your country think about nuclear power? What would be your ideal outcome in terms of who takes responsibility and who pays? Would your country be willing to take action even if the U.S. or other countries didn't? What is in your country's self-interest?

Your stakeholder role is to represent a country: Australia, Bangladesh, etc. Your job is to address a United Nations meeting with your country's perspective on climate change, how it should be dealt with, who should be responsible, etc. Here are historic and projected global emissions (from the U.S. Energy Information Administration) and here are World Resources Institute profiles of the United States (which everyone should look at) and the following other countries, with comments:

• Australia: Coal production. Did they sign Kyoto?
• Bangladesh: Vulnerability to climate impacts
• Brazil: Amazon, sugar-cane ethanol, new oil fields
• Canada: Tar sands, carbon tax in BC and maybe nationally. Will they meet their Kyoto target?
• China
• France: Where does much of their electricty come from? What is the EU doing about climate change?
• India
• Indonesia: Forestry issues
• Japan: Will they meet their Kyoto target? (Note where Kyoto is.) Population trends.
• Kuwait: Oil and gas fields.
• Nigeria: Vulnerability to climate change? Oil resources?
• Russia: Oil and gas resources? How's the economy doing?
• South Africa: Life expectancy.
• Spain: Population trends. What is the EU doing about climate change?
• Vietnam: Look at sources of energy and also look at how the country has changed over the last few decades.

(Here's a single file with all the countries for use by TAs or if you want to do cross-country comparisons.) Please note the following...

Corrections:

1. On page 1 of the Climate and Atmosphere country profiles, "Per Capita CO2 Emissions, 1998" should be in metric tons, not thousand metric tons.

2. The y axis of the bar chart on page 1 entitled "Per Capita CO2 Emissions: 1950, 1975, and 1998" should be labeled metric tons of CO2, not thousand metric tons of CO2.

* Here is the prompt that you must respond to: GHG emissions in Washington State have been growing roughly in line with population growth (about 2% per year), but the state's goals (see this policy brief from Governor Gregoire's office) are to bring emission back to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 50% below 1990 levels by 2050. The state is currently in negotiations with other western states (and the province of British Columbia) on a regional cap-and-trade policy called the Western Climate Initiatve (WCI). Although you may be able to learn about your stakeholder's views from looking at their response to the WCI, your job is NOT to respond to the WCI, in part because the devil is in the details and the details haven't been published yet. Instead, your job is to respond to the following (hypothetical) carbon tax bill as if it had been submitted for consideration by the state legislature:

• This bill would provide carrots and sticks for reducing carbon emissions in Washington State.
• The stick would come from a carbon tax on fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) of somewhere from $3 to $100 per ton of CO2: each $10 tax increment would increase the price of gasoline and diesel by about $0.10 per gallon, increase costs for producing electricity using fossil fuels (by about 15% for natural gas and by close to 30% for coal), and increase costs for gas and oil used for home heating and other purposes.
• The carrots come from the carbon tax revenue: each $10 tax increment would generate about $1 billion in revenue per year, to be allocated as follows: 80% for property tax reductions; 15% to offset impacts on low-income households, e.g., through the Working Families Credit; 5% to fund programs at state colleges and universities to fund clean energy research and promotion.
  

Your job is to address the legislature with your stakeholder's perspective on climate change and on the carbon tax bill under consideration.

Some questions to think about: How would you be affected? Would you support it or oppose it? How do you feel about different sizes ($3/$30/$100) for the tax shift? What additional or alternate policies might you suggest, i.e., what amendments might you propose to this bill?How big of a contribution do different sectors contribute to Washington State emissions? How big are Washington State's emissions relative to emissions from the U.S. as a whole, or the world as a whole? How will climate change affect Washington State in general, and how will it affect your group or business in particular? What would be your ideal outcome in terms of who takes responsibility and who pays? Will tackling climate change put your business at a competitive disadvantage relative to businesses in other states or other countries? Do you think climate change is an issue that should be addressed at a national or international level rather than at a state level? Do you see potential business opportunities in addressing climate change? What is in your group or company's self-interest?

Some research ideas: You should google "climate change [name of your stakeholder" and/or "global warming [name of your stakeholder]". Also look for comments from your group or similar groups to the Western Climate Initiative. (Note that there are different comments on different sections---start with "Allocations" and "General Comments".) Also do a search for articles through Expanded Academic ASAP, ProQuest, or Lexis-Nexis, all of which you can find through the UW Library. (Make sure you're logged in and then click on "Research Databases"; the first two databases are linked directly from that page; for Lexis-Nexis Academic, click on "Databases starting with K-L" and then scroll down.)

Helpful information can also be found in two documents from Governor Gregoire (an executive order and a policy brief), both of which are also linked from the Department of Ecology's page on climate change. (The Ecology page also has info on the Climate Change Advisory Team, which has made some recommendations. And it has a report on the economic impacts of climate change in Washington State, co-authored by one of your instructors :) And here are recent greenhouse gas reports from the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (in full and in summary), as well as some information about projected emissions for 2020 and 2050.

Here are the stakeholder positions, along with comments about some of them:

• TransAlta, the Canadian company that owns the Centralia Coal Plan. Think about Centralia's contribution to GHG emissions in Washington State and its contribution to our economy and the quality of life. Note that Centralia is the only coal plant in the state. You get a gold star if you can figure out who buys Centralia's power. (Nobody wants to own up to it.)
  
• Climate Solutions, a non-profit whose mission is "to accelerate practical and profitable solutions to global warming by galvanizing leadership, growing investment and bridging divides." Read their WCI comments &etc.
  
• A musician who frequently flies around the country to performances. Think about air travel's contribution to GHG emissions in Washington State and its contribution to our economy and the quality of life; you should also consider climate change perspectives from Boeing and from commercial airlines.
• Associated Students of UW: There may or may not be an official ASUW position on climate change, but you should think about college students' perspectives on the issue.
• A construction worker who puts in lots of miles in a full-size pick-up truck. Think about motor gasoline's contribution to GHG emissions in Washington State and its contribution to our economy and the quality of life; you might also see what the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) has to say.
  
• A low-income senior on fixed income. Think about issues of intergenerational equity.
• Weyerhaeuser, a Washington-based pulp and paper company. Think about potential climate impacts---e.g., tree growth, forest fire risk---and forestry's role as a potential "sink" for carbon
• Washington State Farm Bureau, representing agricultural interests. Think about potential climate impacts---e.g., ag productivity, potential droughts, shifting micro-climates for wine, etc.---and ag's role in producing GHGs and the potential for ag to be a "sink" for carbon and/or a potential winner from biofuels, wind farms, etc.
• Wallula Energy Resource Center, a proposed coal plant with carbon sequestration.
• Seattle City Light, which provides electricity to Seattle and is a partner in Energy Northwest, which is building a coal plant in Kalama.
• Todd Myers (director) or other folks at the Center for the Environment of the Washington Policy Center, whose mission is "to promote free-market solutions through research and education". (Make sure to read his April 2008 article "Promoting Personal Choice".)
• Remy Trupin (executive director) or other folks at Washingon Center for Budget and Policy, whose mission is to "to use research and analysis to advance the well-being of Washington communities, improve the economic security and social opportunity of all Washingtonians, and support the essential role of government in promoting a just and prosperous society." (Make sure to read about their Working Families Credit and also read their WCI comments, submitted jointly with Oregon Center for Public Policy and other groups.)
• Sally Bingham (president) or other folks at Regeneration Project, whose mission is "to deepen the connection between ecology and faith. Our Interfaith Power and Light campaign is mobilizing a religious response to global warming in congregations through the promotion of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and conservation."
• Western States Petroleum Association. There's some environmental stuff on their website, and also check out their comments on the WCI and the comments from Chevron and BP and other oil company types.
• Association of Washington Business (AWB). Try to find quotes from them in the news. They also commented on the WCI.

Back to the class homepage.