Answer
each question directly below each question. It should be bolded and
underlined.
Environmental
Protection Agency Activity
Pretend
that you are an environmental planner working for the State
government. Your job is to protect California's natural
environment: the rivers, lakes, plants, animals, etc. You know that
there are two main things that are causing the destruction of
California's environment: too
many people and too
much consumption.
Consumption is when people buy and use stuff and create waste. In
1950 there were about 10 million people in the state of California.
By the 1970's it had grown to 20 million. Now there are over 33
million people in the state. After lots of research and thinking, you
come up with three scenarios (a story of how something might turn
out) of how best to protect the environment.
Procedure
1. Discuss the good points
and bad points of each scenario. What are the moral, ethical
and political problems created by each of the three scenarios?
Scenarios
You
try to greatly reduce population growth through more education and
by making birth control devices available for free to everyone who
wants them. You would encourage women to use birth control pills.
You might even take severe measures, such as China did, and make it
illegal for women to have more than one child.
You
make an effort to completely stop immigration into the State.
You ask the State Legislature to pass a new law that prohibits
anyone from another country to come here to live. It costs the
State three billion dollars per year to pay for the immigrants that
come here. You turn back all boats coming from Asia with refugees on
them. You turn back any aircraft that has refugees on it.
You build a brand new wall all along the Mexican boarder to keep
illegal aliens out. And no one from Europe or any other
country is allowed in.
Since
you know that the excessive consumption is one of the leading causes
of environmental destruction, you plan to alter the lifestyles of
every Californian. Cars use up a lot of resources and pollute
the air, so you pass a law that limits each family to only one car.
This will encourage the use of mass transportation, walking and
bicycling. Each household is limited in the amount of electricity,
natural gas, and water they receive each month. Recycling is
made mandatory. All aluminum, other metals, paper, cardboard, glass,
and plastics must be recycled. Any found in your garbage will
result stiff fines and time in jail. A special eco-police
force is created to assure that everyone reduces their consumption.
2. Now you must make a
decision. You know that something must be done, otherwise
humans will continue to disrupt the environment by building cities,
planting crops, making roads, etc. Unfortunately have limited
funds so you can only implement one scenario. Which would you
choose and why?
3. Make-up a
scenario that you believe would better benefit the state, would have
a chance of passing, and not be ruled unconstitutional.
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