May 4

Climate Change Reflection

Did any of the Options appeal to you more than the others?

The idea of increasing/promoting scientific innovation was more appealing than the other options because it ruffled the least amount of feathers, meaning that it required less change from the everyday actions of the average human beings. The other options required humans to change their actions to “save the planet” and scientific advances would be a more gradual change for people, which would make the process easier.

Did you hear or think of any new way of addressing the issues associated with the warming of the climate?

My group discussed incentivizing the creation of eco-friendly cars as well as changing the stigma regarding eco-friendly choices.

What are your thoughts on the use of Public Deliberation in the classroom or the community? Is this something you would like to facilitate?

I liked it–in high school in order to get our honors credit for English class, we had to participate in a big socratic seminar. In class, we regularly had Socratic seminars as well. They helped brainstorm and develop ideas, which would be great for solving problems like what to do in the face of climate change. I don’t think I would moderate them ever, but I would not be opposed to participating in a Public Deliberation from time to time.

Category: Lily Goodman | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 4

Climate Change Discussion 5.3.19

Climate Change is one of the most important topics for our generation, in today’s deliberation we primarily talked about three major aspects of actions that we can take in response to the impacts of climate change. I personally agree that all three are important, however, the degree of implementation for them are different. For option 1, I agree that immediate action should be taken to help reduce human impact on the environment, but sacrificing personal freedom to achieve the goal is overstepping the boundaries, the ends don’t justify the means, no matter how important the goal is. Prepare and protect our communities is crucial to prepare for the impacts of climate change since it can bring drastic change to our neighborhood and industries, improving the infrastructure and renewing disaster protocols in case of extreme weather are definitely on the top of the to-do list for this category. I believe the only way to fundamentally eliminate this crisis is to innovate the energy industry and waste disposal protocols, most people wouldn’t switch to more expensive, inconvenient ways of lifestyle just because climate change one day might cause a drought in Africa and kill thousands of people, so new incentives must be provided if the “Green” way wants to be adopted by the general public. If a cleaner, cheaper, more efficient way to do work is found, carbon emissions will definitely drop drastically, while the what’s done previously would persist further damage to the environment would be prevented, and in time the negative effects of human interference to the planet will subside.

Category: Yang-En Yu | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 4

Climate Change Deliberation

  1. Did any of the Options appeal to you more than the others?
    • I found the option about “making communities self-sufficient by building independent power grids and creating strong local agricultural production” pretty useful. Even though to implement this, it might take a while it will useful in the long run, as each community will be able to have control over their power. Also if changes need to be made to make it efficient, it would be easier if the changes affected a smaller group of people since they maybe could be easier to influence rather than a larger group.
  2. Did you hear or think of any new way of addressing the issues associated with the warming of the climate?
    • The group talked about using incentives towards the people to make them buy the energy efficient option. One such incentive was making the energy efficient products cheaper, which I thought was an interesting way to facilitate or influence people to buy the option better for the environment.
  3. What are your thoughts on the use of Public Deliberation in the classroom or the community? Is this something you would like to facilitate?
    • I thought that the Public Deliberation was insightful since I was able to hear many opinions, and different takes of possible solutions from people who experienced different weather conditions. I think that it could be useful to hear perspectives that one has not hear before.I think that it would interesting or fun to facilitate something like this in the future, since anyone can learn a lot about a topic in a short amount of time.
Category: Sona Subramanian | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 4

Public Deliberation

Today’s discussion about climate change was an insightful one filled with meaningful observations and viewpoints. Pertaining to the course of action(s) we talked about, I believe that a mix between preparing for the worst as well as taking drastic measures will be the choices we will be facing in the near future. As is, we are already noticing the effects of global warming not in our own environments but in the ecosystems and habitats of many animals around the world. Due to the effects of the Industrial Revolution and technological innovations ever since, we’ve gained much innovation at an irreplaceable cost. I believe that we will need to start taking drastic measures to save the environment which will be more than just switching to reusable bags and refillable water bottles. In our group today, we discussed how many won’t like the idea of our rights being infringed upon by protocols that may help save the environment. I think one question we need to ask ourselves is, “How much more can the Earth take and are we willing to push those boundaries until they break?”. Evident in alternate energy source technology such as Tesla and hybrid cars, we are still looking for ways to minimize the footprint we are permanently imprinting on Earth rather than stop creating those large footprints.

Category: Justin Yu | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 3

Global Warming Discussion

After the deliberation today, I learned a lot about specific ideas of how to prepare, prevent, and stop global warming. For example, one really big issue discussed was the fossil fuels burned by cars, but the general consensus is that buying an electric car is expensive (we all immediately think of Tesla), or we think of electric cars as unappealing, such as the Prius. But Honda and other companies are actually making cars that can run off of hydrogen gas, and would decently affordable. Also the BMW I8, is a sleek sports car that was also recently introduced. Although it doesn’t exactly provide a cheaper option, it does provide a more appealing option for someone looking for a high end sports car, while being planet friendly.

Another topic that was discussed in my group that I thought was really interesting, was the idea of making people change their ways. Some people are more than happy to try to help out the environment and do what they can, but on. the other hand, some people will never want to change their ways, even if there were incentives provided.

 

Category: Lauren Foley | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 3

5.3.19 Climate Change Public Deliberation Reflection

1. Did any of the Options appeal to you more than the others?

The implementation of zoning and other building restrictions appealed to me much more than forcing the relocation of people, however, this may be necessary for the future if the risk to life living in those areas proves to be too great. The option of relocation also has significant social and economic effects on people, but again this will have to be taken into consideration of the social and economic effects of certain areas where people live becoming uninhabitable for a safe and reliable living if climate change continues on its course.

2. Did you hear or think of any new way of addressing the issues associated with the warming of the climate?

The idea of a social awareness campaign that focuses on basically peer pressuring people into adopting climate change stopping practices based on revealing certain climate change causing practices of people. However, this poses privacy concerns if it were to be used to help curtail climate change, even still I believe it would prove effective and eventually we may need to resort to measures like this.

3. What are your thoughts on the use of Public Deliberation in the classroom or the community? Is this something you would like to facilitate?

I really enjoyed this public deliberation and thought it was an effective way to present new ideas and foster conversation over issues that impact us all. I could see myself facilitating one if it was over a topic I was passionate about.

Category: Nathan Newton | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 3

Climate Change Reflection

  1. Did any of the Options appeal to you more than the others?
    • I thought that the relocation of communities was an interesting option. I didn’t think that relocation would be considered an option as it is view unrealistic for me. Mainly because as much as I understand why certain location should change, it wouldn’t be ideal for people in low income families. A lot of the options listed had financial/social issues involved with it. Although all of the options would help climate change, it is unrealistic when thinking about people from low income.
  2. Did you hear or think of any new way of addressing the issues associated with the warming of the climate?
    • From one of the discussions heard from the group, one member talked about the use of solar panels, which I thought was interesting because I didn’t correlate solar panel with climate change before.
  3. What are your thoughts on the use of Public Deliberation in the classroom or the community? Is this something you would like to facilitate?
    • I think that PBI is great to help bring out ideas and discuss and counter argue some of the ideas that are already “planned out.” As many people already have their own options, its better for people that has a neutral aspective to give in some inquiry about the options for climate change. Although all of the options are great ideas despite having a few counter arguments and whether if its ideal or not, it all depends on the people’s motivation of wanting to help stop climate change.
Category: Soo-Un Jeong | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 3

5.3.19 Climate Change Discussion

The climate change discussion that occurred in class today was informative, influential, and a new experience. The three opinions that were put forth struck the right balance of giving new information and allowing individuals to be able to elaborate and share information that others in the group may not have heard. I feel that I was able to both listen and contribute to information and discussions of the group while learning more perspectives about climate change and facts that I may not have encountered otherwise. Due to the style of discussion, it was easy to learn without feeling any pressure to develop a counterpoint or feeling attacked about a point that I contributed. I feel the discussion was influential, as my perspective on how climate change should be addressed was changed by the discussion today. For example, Gabe happened to suggest a more advanced type of roof shingle that could harness the power of the sun and provide an alternate source of energy for the home. This was particularly interesting to me, as I had never considered such devices being widely viable or common. Another instance of this occurring was the second perspective that was listed on the placemat. Although it was more reactive than I believe our approach on climate change should be, I thought that it was interesting, and I realized that if I were to make a plan for combating climate change, I would need to consider fixes that would also protect communities in this moment in time until the other changes could take effect. Finally, I appreciated the style of discussion that was presented. Often, class debates become centered on two people while the rest of the class becomes the audience. While this can be entertaining, the development of new ideas is generally limited to those two individuals. Therefore, it was nice to experience a discussion where everyone’s ideas were heard at some point, as I feel that my knowledge about climate change was improved and expanded by today’s conversation. To summarize, today’s climate change discussion was interesting and productive because of how it was informational, influential, and open for everyone to participate.

Category: Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 3

Climate Change Public Deliberation 5/3/2019

I really enjoyed the public deliberation in class and wish we had more time to go further in depth on the topic. I appreciated the emphasis on respecting other people’s views and not trying to out-fact other people but really hone in on what people value most. For those reasons I think it was more of a productive discussion than debates I have been a part of previously.

 

On the topic of climate change, I didn;t really agree with a lot of the suggestions listed on the sheet we were given. I think that they really took away from the freedom of the American people. That being said, I think that the public has to become more educated on the issues, and it should come from factual sources not doomsday headlines that are trying to sell papers so maybe it should be a greater part of school curriculum.

Category: Rachel Melone | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 3

Climate Choices Public Deliberation Final Thoughts

The climate change public deliberation forum today in class was very enlightening and engaging. It was an opportunity to learn from classmates about their thoughts on these issues, as well as share my own. Climate change can be a very controversial topic, and it was refreshing to have an opportunity to discuss without the conversation becoming a debate.

The three options for climate choices offered in the forum were all very interesting. Each option on their own seems to provide only part of a solution and each have many trade-offs that make them hard to sell to other individuals in the community. However, a combination of all three options seems to be a more feasible option. Combining innovative strategies with the preparation and protection of our communities will better prepare us for the future and the different possible outcomes. New innovations could provide methods of reducing carbon emissions that have fewer drawbacks and are more accessible to the average individual. While there are still trade-offs with the three options, combining the approaches will allow individuals to take different routes in their personal approaches to the issues of climate change.

The issue of societal participation and cooperation seems to be a considerable issue when thinking of climate change and ways to stop it or prepare for it. Many individuals are very set in their ways and are resistant to change. Because of this, it could prove to be difficult to have all individuals adapt to the new innovations and preparation measures. One method of gaining higher levels of cooperation would be incentivizing the changes that need to be made. When people feel a reason for making a change, they are more likely to do it. Just hearing about the potential effects of climate change does not motivate every person. Providing easy steps or small changes individuals can implement, especially if there is an incentive behind the change, will bring greater support to the issue of climate change.

Another potential societal drawback is cost. Many individuals do not feel that it is worth it to change to a cleaner form of energy if it will cost them more, even if it is only a small amount. Accelerating new innovation could lead to lower costs, which in itself would be an incentive to individuals. Also, having companies develop ways to show people the impact they could have would also take away from the drawback of cost. If people can see how their efforts contribute to the solution, they are more likely to become involved.

Climate change is a pressing issue that we need to begin preparing for in a serious manner. Whether this involves preparations or new innovations, we can begin implementing changes today. From this forum, I learned that there are many individuals in the community and in my class that care about climate change. Hearing this makes me more confident we can have an impact in the future.

Category: Lucy Potts | LEAVE A COMMENT