1 What should we be doing?

Write a short response to any or all of the following questions. Feel free to discuss this with your classmates. These questions are meant for you to explore why issues of energy might be important to you and worthy of your time and effort.

• What should SSU be doing to address energy and carbon?
• What should the US be doing to address energy and carbon?
• What would you like to be able to do at the end of the class that you can’t do now?

2 Energy History Readings

Read this chapter on energy history as well as the “Energy History” chapter of these notes and then answer these questions in a few sentences each:

• What was fossil fuel oil first used for?
• Why is coal preferable to wood?
• What possible current or future energy changes do you think could be as important as the steam engine, oil drilling, or electricity?
• Why do you think we moved away from early renewable energy sources like windmills?

3 Energy Transition Essay

Answer the following about a previous transition in complete sentences:

• Pick an energy transition that we discussed today and briefly discuss the positive results from that transition.
• Use the same energy transition and discuss the negative impacts from that transition.

Now imagine a future energy transition:

• What do you think would be the technical and social changes would occur in this transition?
• What could be the positive results and the negative impacts?

4 SSU Climate Agreement

Read about the SSU President’s Climate Leadership Commitment and the President’s Sustainability Advisory Council.

• What role do you think students could play in the reaching of our goals?
• In what ways can this commitment lead to meeting our worldwide climate goals?