Capella University Energy Conservation Discussion

Prepare a 5-to-10 minute video or podcast analyzing an environmental issue impacting your state and/or local community, an environmental law addressing the issue, and how you would use grant money to improve the issue. A written transcript can be submitted if you choose not to record a video or podcast.

Life is never free of contradictions.

—Manmohan Singh, former prime minister of India

Introduction

The ozone layer is an important region of the atmosphere that protects the Earth from ultraviolet radiation. In 1985, scientists discovered a large hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Just two years later, an international treaty known as the Montreal Protocol called for an end to the industrial chemicals that caused the ozone hole to form. Thanks to this treaty, the hole in the ozone layer is getting smaller, and the planet is more protected from damaging radiation. But new research suggests that the shrinking hole in the ozone layer is changing weather patterns, which is actually causing more Antarctic ice to melt (Solomon, 2019; Hoff, 2019).

The fact that fixing the hole in the ozone layer can have both positive and negative consequences may seem contradictory, but many of the complex problems that scientists seek to solve are filled with such contradictions. This requires researchers to use unique problem-solving strategies and continually innovate as they explore alternative options to a variety of real-world issues.

In this assessment, you will continue to develop your problem-solving and innovation skills as you explore the different ways researchers, policymakers, and environmentalists are helping endangered species and habitats. You will investigate how an environmental law addresses an environmental issue impacting your local community or state.

References

Hoff, M. (2019). Keep an eye on these 2020 conservation issues.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/keep-an…

Solomon, S. (2019). The discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02837-5

Overview

This assessment gives you an opportunity to examine environmental laws and determine how they are used to protect humans and the environment. So, what are environmental laws? Environmental laws are a collection of laws, regulations, and/or environmental agreements put in place to deal with balancing environmental concerns of the public generally with the rights of property owners to develop and use their property. Environmental laws are necessary in order to prohibit individuals, companies, and industries from taking actions that can harm the environment (typically for financial gain) without taking the proper actions that protect it. If you are an industry, wouldn’t it be more cost effective for you to simply dump your hazardous waste into a body of water than to take the proper control measures to clean it up? If you were a power plant, wouldn’t it be easier to create emissions rather than purchasing environmental control technologies to cut emissions? Environmental laws seek to provide protection from the worst behaviors that can hurt the environment, while still allowing industry to function without prohibitively expensive obligations.

For this assessment, you will prepare a 5-to-10-minute video or podcast analyzing your issue and the impact of the environmental law on that issue. Think about why you are creating this video or podcast. Who is your audience? What kind of conversation will you have with your audience? This is an opportunity to be creative with your media creation while applying what you have learned about the scientific method, target audiences, credible sources, and problem-solving. If you choose not to do a video or podcast, you will submit a written transcript.

Preparation

Follow these guidelines to prepare for this assessment:

1. Review the scenario for this assessment:

You are an environmental researcher who just received a grant worth 1 million bucks to research an environmental issue (i.e., air pollution, water pollution, endangered species, over usage of pesticides, etc.), that negatively impacts human and/or the environment. For example, I would choose energy conservation because our world (globally) is becoming negatively impacted by our “waste” of energy resources. The problem is only worsening, and much research is needed in order to find additional alternatives methods to conserve energy. After researching your issue, choose the environmental law that regulates your chosen environmental issue.

2. Choose the environmental issue impacting your state and/or local community. This can be a current or past event that still is making an impact.

3. Choose the law and use the summary of laws provided in the resources to assist in completing the environmental laws assessment.

4. Decide how you can use your grant money to improve the environmental issue.

You are welcome to use any tools and software with which you are comfortable, but make sure you are able to submit the deliverable to your instructor. Capella offers Kaltura, a program that records audio and video. Refer to Using Kaltura for more information about this courseroom tool.

Note: If you require the use of assistive technology or alternative communication methods to participate in these activities, please contact DisabilityServices@Capella.edu to request accommodations.

Instructions

Step 1:

Analyze an environmental issue impacting your state and/or local community.

How does this environmental issue impact human health and/or the environment?

Step 2:

Explain how the environmental law regulates your environmental issue.

Which law did you choose? State the name of the law and the date the law was passed (include any amendments made to the law).

What are the major provisions of the law that you chose?

How does the environmental law regulate your environmental issue?

Step 3:

Analyze the economic impact of your environmental law.

What are the costs of your environmental law?

What are the annual benefits of your environmental law?

Step 4:

Describe how the environmental law has improved the issue.

How has the environmental law reduced emissions, waste, etc.?

How has the environmental law improved quality of life and/or the environment?

Step 5: Explain how you will use your grant to improve the environmental issue?

How will you use your grant money to improve the environmental issue?

Additional Requirements

Your podcast/video submission should meet the following requirements:

Podcast/video communication: Podcast/video should be 5-10 minutes in length.

Citations: Include complete citations of your sources. Citations can be included in the podcast/video or a Word document can be submitted with the media. Review Evidence and APA for more information on how to cite your sources.

Your written transcript submission should meet the following requirements:

Written communication: Write in complete sentences free from errors that detract from the overall message.

Font and font size: Arial, 12 point.

Citations: Include complete citations of your sources. Review Evidence and APA for more information on how to cite your sources.

Review the scoring guide for details on how your assessment will be graded.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Apply the scientific method to examine the science behind key innovations.

Describe how the environmental law has improved the issue.

Competency 2: Analyze credible information to explain how science is currently solving real world problems.

Analyze an environmental issue impacting your state and/or local community.Explain how the environmental law regulates your environmental issue.Analyze the economic impact of your environmental law.

Competency 3: Analyze alternative solutions and approaches to unsolved scientific problems.

Explain how you will use your grant to improve the environmental issue.