Section II: Digging Deeper Who’s Against Renewable Energy ...sfrc.ufl.edu/extension/ee/woodenergy/files/activities/WoodEnergy... · Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)?

Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)?

Background

Growing energy demands, rising energy costs, and increasing concern about global climate change have sparked strong interest in utilizing renewable energy technologies. Renewable energy technologies are touted as clean, environmentally friendly, and an im-portant step toward an independent energy future; however an industry, government, or company that seeks to construct a renewable energy facility may be met with significant opposition within the community. Such opposition can be caused by several factors including: knowledge levels about energy sources and production; trust, or lack of trust, in government and industry; and be-liefs about the advantages and disadvantages of proposed renewable energy technologies.

Even though renewable energy is a key component in addressing the current energy crisis, the use of renewable energy technologies does not come without its costs. Specifically, locating renewable en-ergy projects in communities can prompt the “NIMBY [not in my backyard] syn-drome.” Although community members may support the general concept of renew-able energy, they also may have specific concerns regarding the potential adverse economic, environmental, and public safe-ty impacts on their own neighborhood. This activity is designed to help students research, understand, analyze, and evaluate concerns about and opposing viewpoints to renewable energy, specifically biomass, ethanol, and wind.

Summary

This activity introduces students to public opposition to renewable energy. Student groups are

assigned to research a Web site of an organization that is opposed to utilizing renewable energy

sources in their community. Student groups complete a worksheet related to the content and

information on the Web site. Finally, groups teach the class what they have learned about

opposition to renewable energy and synthesize the information in a class discussion.

Section II: Digging Deeper

n SuBjectS

Science, Social Studies, Language Arts

n key QueStionS

What are the underlying 1. reasons that some groups and/or organizations op-pose renewable energy?How are public percep-2. tions about energy sources shaped?

n oBjectiveS

By the end of the activity, students will be able to do the following:

Assess diverse perspectives 1. regarding renewable ener-gy sources (SS.912.G.3.3).Synthesize information on 2. oppositions to renewable energy (LA.1112.2.3.3).Identify sources of infor-3. mation and assess their reliability (SS.912.C.2.13; LA.1112.6.2.2).

n materialS

Computers with Internet •access Copies of • Student Handout (one copy of group handout for each student)Dry erase boards or •flipchart paper and mark-ers for each group

n time eStimate

1.5 hours

activity 7

Should We uSe Wood for energy? • Section II – Activity 7: Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)? 77

a wind farm can generate both renewable energy and local citizen concern.

PreparationRead the 1. Background Information and make copies if you plan to assign reading before this the activity. Additional relevant background information can be found in Activity 8: Citizen Survey on Using Wood for Energy. More detailed information is available in the Common Concerns fact sheet in the Supplemental Reading section.Review 2. Student Worksheet instructions and visit the Web sites to familiarize yourself with the content and information presented by the organizations. If the Web sites provided are no longer active, you can find new Web sites by doing an Internet search (keywords: oppose wind energy, against bioenergy) and looking for organizations and groups in the search results.”Make copies of the 3. Student Worksheet.Ensure that school computers allow access to each of the Web sites.4.

ProcedureDivide the class into four groups and pass out one 1. Student Worksheet to each group.Provide an introduction to the activity: Explain to the groups that they will be 2. researching and investigating various oppositions to renewable energy.Tell the groups to go the Web site listed on the worksheet and, as a group, spend 3. approximately 15 minutes browsing and reviewing the content of the Web site.After 15 minutes, instruct groups to work on answering the questions on the 4. worksheet (this should take approximately 30 minutes).After groups complete the 5. Student Worksheet, pass out flipchart paper or dry erase boards and markers to each group. Write the following categories on the board or overhead and ask students to copy 6. categories and fill in the information on the dry erase boards or flipchart paper.

Organization name: a. __________________________________

Location: b. __________________________________________

Opposition to:c. ______________________________________

Reasons for opposition:d. _______________________________

Give each group 5 minutes to present this information to the class. 7. To summarize the activity, lead a class discussion using the following questions:8.

How easy (or difficult) was it to find out what organization, company, or a. industry sponsored the Web sites?Were you surprised to learn that people are against renewable energy sources? b. Why or why not?What are some of the major oppositions to renewable energy? Do you think c. these oppositions are justified? Why or why not?What influences this opposition? How are people’s opinions and beliefs d. influenced?Why is it important to know who voices opposition to various renewable e. energy sources?

Provide instructions for reflective essay (see 9. Assessment Suggestions).

AssessmentSuggestions

OBjECtIvE 1 & 2: Ask students to write a “personal reflection” on what they have learned about oppositions to the utilization of renewable energy. Students should include a thesis or position statement and use references to support his or her claim. A rubric for assessing this essay is provided.

OBjECtIvE 3: Check student answers to questions 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 on the Student Worksheet. (these questions relate to sources of information, balance of information, and lack or presence of evidence/facts to support reasoning.) Students should be able to identify the source of information and the goals of the organization or group. Students should also be able to show an understanding of the importance of balanced information and supporting evidence. Example answers to help you in assessing student answers are provided for Student Worksheet: Group 1 in the Teacher Key.

teacher instructionsteacher

78 Should We uSe Wood for energy? • Section II – Activity 7: Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)?

Extensions• Askstudentstoresearchanor-

ganization/industry/agency that supports the use of a renew-able energy source. Ask students to write a brief report (two to three pages) summarizing the perspective of the organization/industry/agency. Encourage stu-dents to address some of the following questions: Why does this group support this form of renewable energy? What might have shaped its perspective? Is the information presented bal-anced? Ask students to provide references for information they collect.

• Askstudentstoimaginetheyareindependent consultants who have been called in to create consensus concerning the issue their Web site described. tell stu-dents to develop a plan for how they would bring the opposing parties together to determine common goals and possible compromises.

ResourcesCornell University Library: Evaluating •Web sites: Criteria and Tools: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.htmlEnvironmental Literacy Council: •http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/528.htmlUnion of Concerned Scientists: •Clean Energy: Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy Technologies: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/renewable_energy_basics/environmental-impacts-of-renewable-energy-technologies.htmlUniversity of California-Berkeley •Library: “Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask”: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

n reflective essay rubric: Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)?

category 4 Above

Standards 3 Meets

Standards 2 Approaching

Standards 1 Below

Standards

Position Statement

Position statement pro-vides a clear, strong statement of the author's position on the topic.

Position statement provides a clear state-ment of the author's position on the topic.

Position statement is present, but does not make the au-thor's position clear.

there is no posi-tion statement.

evidence and ex-amples

All of the evidence and examples are specific and relevant and expla-nations are given that show how each piece of evidence supports the author's position.

Most of the evidence and examples are spe-cific and relevant and explanations are given that show how each piece of evidence sup-ports the author's po-sition.

At least one of the pieces of evidence and examples is relevant and has an explana-tion that shows how that piece of evidence supports the author's position.

Evidence and examples are not relevant and/or are not explained.

Sequencing Arguments and support are provided in a logi-cal order that makes it easy and interesting to follow the author's train of thought.

Arguments and sup-port are provided in a fairly logical order that makes it reasonably easy to follow the au-thor's train of thought.

A few of the support details or argu-ments are not in an expected or logical order, distracting the reader and making the essay seem a little confusing.

Many of the support details or argu-ments are not in an expected or logical order, distracting the reader and mak-ing the essay seem very confusing.

Sentence Structure

All sentences are well-constructed with varied structure.

Most sentences are well-constructed and there is some varied sentence structure in the essay.

Most sentences are well constructed, but there is no variation is structure.

Most sentences are not well-construct-ed or varied.

grammar and Spell-ing

Author makes no er-rors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the con-tent.

Author makes 1 or 2 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

Author makes 3 or 4 errors in gram-mar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

Author makes more than 4 er-rors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

Sources All sources used for quotes, statistics, and facts are credible and cited correctly.

All sources used for quotes, statistics, and facts are credible and most are cited correctly.

Most sources used for quotes, statistics, and facts are credible and cited correctly.

Many sources are not credible and/or are not cited correctly.

closing Paragraph

Conclusion is strong and leaves the reader solidly understanding the writ-er's position. Effective re-statement of the position statement begins the closing paragraph.

Conclusion is recog-nizable. the author's position is restated within the first two sentences of the clos-ing paragraph.

the author's posi-tion is restated to-ward the end of the closing paragraph.

there is no conclusion—the paper just ends.

teacher


Group 1: Save Our SoundGo to the Web site for the organization, Save Our Sound: �� http://www.saveoursound.org/site/PageServer

Spend some time learning about the organization’s perspective on wind energy. Make sure you browse all ��sections of the Web site, watch videos, and read relevant text. Next, answer the following questions. Each student is responsible for turning in his or her own completed copy of the worksheet for credit.

Who sponsors this Web site?1.

What are the goals or objectives of the organization?2.

What is the organization’s perspective on wind energy?3.

What do you think helped to shape this perspective?4.

What are some of the reasons the organization cites for opposing a wind farm in the Nantucket area?5.

Do these reasons or concerns seem valid? Why or why not?6.

(1 of 2)Student Student Worksheet 1Who’S againSt reneWaBle energy (and Why!)?

_________________________________________________________________ _______________ _____________

NAME DAtE PERIOD

80 Should We uSe Wood for energy? • Section II – Activity 7: Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)?

Who’s against renewable energy? (and Why!)? Student Worksheet 1 (2 of 2) Student

Does the organization provide evidence to support these reasons?7.

Does this evidence seem sufficient? Why or why not?8.

Does the organization attempt to address the other side of the issue on its Web site? If so, how? 9. If not, why not?

Do you believe the reasons for opposing the wind farm outweigh the potential benefits? Why or 10. why not?

Who might be negatively affected by renewable energy? How significant does this impact seem 11. to you?

If some people are more negatively affected than others, how can they be compensated?12.


Group 2: Concerned Citizens of RussellGo to the Web site for the organization, Concerned Citizens of Russell: �� http://www.concernedcitizensofrussell.org/

Also, go to �� http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1tvjnlBtiA&feature=related to see a video regarding the proposed biomass plant in Russell, Massachusetts.

Spend some time learning about the organization’s perspective on biomass energy. Make sure you browse all ��sections of the Web site. Next, answer the following questions. Each student is responsible for turning in his or her own completed copy of the worksheet for credit.



What is the organization’s perspective on biomass energy?3.


What are some of the reasons the organization cites for opposing a biomass energy plant in its community?5.

Do these reasons or concerns seem valid? Why or why not? 6.


_________________________________________________________________ _______________ _____________

NAME DAtE PERIOD

82 Should We uSe Wood for energy? • Section II – Activity 7: Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)? Should We uSe Wood for energy? • Section II – Activity 7: Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)? 83

Who’s against renewable energy? (and Why!)? Student Worksheet 2 (2 of 2) Student




Do you believe the reasons for opposing the biomass power plant outweigh the potential 10. benefits? Why or why not?

Who might be negatively affected by renewable energy? How significant does this impact seem to 11. you?



Group 3: Citizens Against Re-Zoning for Ethanol in Seneca FallsGo to the Web site for the organization, Citizens Against Re-Zoning for Ethanol in Seneca Falls: ��http://www.caresf.com/

Spend some time learning about the organization’s perspective on ethanol. Make sure you browse all sections ��of the Web site, watch videos, and read relevant text. Next, answer the following questions. Each student is responsible for turning in his or her own completed copy of the worksheet for credit.



What is the organization’s perspective on ethanol?3.


What are some of the reasons the organization cites for opposing an ethanol plant in its community?5.


_________________________________________________________________ _______________ _____________

NAME DAtE PERIOD


Student

Do these reasons or concerns seem valid? Why or why not?6.



Does the organization attempt to address the other side of the issue on its Web site? If so, how? If not, why 9. not?

Do you believe the reasons for opposing the ethanol plant outweigh the potential benefits? Why or why not?10.

Who might be negatively affected by renewable energy? How significant does this impact seem to you?11.


Who’s against renewable energy? (and Why!)? Student Worksheet 3 (2 of 2)


Group 4: Boycott Green Mountain

Go to the Web site for the organization, Boycott Green Mountain: �� http://www.boycottgreenmountain.com/

Spend some time learning about the organization’s perspective and overall objectives. Make sure you browse ��all sections of the Web site, watch videos, and read relevant text. Next, answer the following questions. Each student is responsible for turning in his or her own completed copy of the worksheet for credit.



Why does this Web site argue people should boycott Green Mountain?3.


What are some of the reasons the organization cites for opposing the use of biomass as a renewable energy source?5.

Do these reasons or concerns seem valid? Why or why not? 6.


_________________________________________________________________ _______________ _____________

NAME DAtE PERIOD


Student




Do you believe the reasons for opposing the use of biomass as an energy source outweigh the 10. potential benefits? Why or why not?

Who might be negatively affected by renewable energy? How significant does this impact seem to 11. you?


Who’s against renewable energy? (and Why!)? Student Worksheet 4 (2 of 2)


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Documents

Section II: Digging Deeper Who’s Against Renewable Energy ...sfrc.ufl.edu/extension/ee/woodenergy/files/activities/WoodEnergy... · Who’s Against Renewable Energy (And Why!)?