Please use the PPTs and links on klacks.weebly.com to help you answer the following. Please answer each question fully. Please label each question correctly. Please do not copy the answer of another classmate. Please use standard academic grammar in your posts.
Topic 1: The Environment You are responsible for answering one of the following questions based on your perspective (150+ words), and for commenting on the post of at least one classmate (50+ words). To avoid losing points, be creative and do not repeat what someone else has already said. (2 posts total) 1. Parallel the birth of federal implementation of environmental policy with the counterculture movement of the 1960s. 2. One of the biggest environmental challenges is reconciling environmental policy with policy goals in other areas. Describe two major environmental policies and how they conflict with policies in two other areas. 3. Explain one piece of essential legislation that the government has passed since the 1960s. Additionally, and in your opinion, what does the US government need to do to better protect the environment? Topic 2: Energy You are responsible for answering oneof the following questions based on your perspective (150+ words), and for commenting on the post of at least oneclassmate (50+ words). To avoid losing points, be creative and do not repeat what someone else has already said. (2 posts total) 4. To what extent is a growing population a positive or a negative factor in determining the use of renewable energy? 5. In developing his administration’s energy policy, President George W. Bush was strongly criticized for giving particular weight to the input from major energy companies. Articulate the extent to which you agree or disagree with his critics. 6. To what extent should federalism be applied to energy policy? Consider important policy legislation over the past 40 years, and the different needs and resources of the states of our Union. 7. What is the current state of energy policy today? Consider types of energy used in the US, and the number of jobs within each industry. Topic 3: Education You are responsible for answering oneof the following questions based on your perspective (150+ words), and for commenting on the post of at least oneclassmate (50+ words). To avoid losing points, be creative and do not repeat what someone else has already said. (2 posts total) 8. Which level of government is primarily responsible for education? Cite at least one way in which this has been challenged in the past 50 years. 9. What are the responsibilities of the US Department of Education in comparison to state departments of education? 10. Compare US education statistics to that of the rest of the industrialized, or developed, world. What do you find interesting or surprising about the data you researched? 11. What are vouchers? What are arguments for and against the use of vouchers in the US? What is your opinion? Everyone must answer BOTH: 12. In your opinion, which of the above issues needs to be more thoroughly addressed by the federal government, and what needs to be considered or accomplished? 13. Find a current event (from the past month or two) in this realm of public policy (education, energy, or environment). Write a short summary of the current event in a post below. Total posts: 8 Grade: Quiz Due Date: Tuesday, May 6th
52 Comments
Adam Buell
5/3/2019 08:48:29 am
Throughout the 1900’s and into the 1960’s especially, the US began implementing many environmental policies that also coincided with the counterculture movement. The first example of an environmental policy is the Senate Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution. This was the first Committee in Congress to be focused on environmental policies and restoration and was a big deal mainly since it was the first time Congress has acknowledged the issue of keeping the environment clean and healthy. Another example of Congressional policy change on the environment involved the founding of the Alaska Conservation Society. The society was founded to protest and prevent the storage and dumping of nuclear materials and wastes in the wilderness of Alaska, and officials were worried that it would destroy the undisturbed ecosystem. This goes hand in hand with the counterculture movement due to the awareness of things previously ignored, like Women’s Rights and Homosexuality, which was previously shunned or ignored.
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Adam
5/3/2019 09:08:40 am
Comment 1, Section 1
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McKay Shockley
5/5/2019 02:27:18 pm
This is really interesting, Adam. Committees like the Senate Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution are very important in society today. This committee, I would assume, determines how much pollution is in the air we breathe and water we drink and then puts limits on it; such as when there is too much pollution or figures out what kinds of pollutants are in the air and water. The Alaska Conservation Society, I’m assuming also, is a society dedicated to conserving parts of Alaska to make sure we don’t lose the nature and wildlife that it offers and houses.
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 10:03:01 pm
I agree with your point of protecting the untouched wild lands of Alaska because it is a very delicate ecosystem already and there are not many animals that can survive out there so many could have become endangered if exposed to these materials since most only live in these conditions.
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 09:08:30 am
Topic 1 #3:
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 05:25:41 pm
The Clean Water Act was an essential piece of legislation. In order to have the water that fish swim in and keep them alive, they must have clean water. The Eastern Shore eats a large amount of seafood and if the fish we ate did not have clean water, then the people who lived here would be out of a lot of jobs.
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Landon
5/3/2019 09:14:51 am
Topic 1 #3:
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 10:50:09 am
Nice job explaining this one Landon, I wasn’t even sure that this was a act or what it meant before reading this. The act I did, the Clear Water Act was also implemented by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. I like how the main purpose of this act was to help and protect human health, that makes it so nobody can disagree with this act. All existing chemicals were grandfathered in, which makes it so a lot of money and effort did not go to waste, so again that’s a nice aspect of this. I agree with you, the government should focus highly on health care, security, and along with the environmental policies.
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McKay Shockley
5/5/2019 02:35:23 pm
This is all really good information, Landon. I’m glad that we have an act that ensures all toxic substances are regulated and that those toxic chemicals don’t get out of hand with spreading. I agree with you also, Landon. The government should make environmental policies more of a top priority. It’s important to take care of the environment.
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 10:00:10 pm
I agree that this is huge when protecting human health and i believe that this could constantly be amended due to new substances being discovered and made.
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 10:15:45 am
Topic 2 #4:
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McKay Shockley
5/5/2019 02:30:44 pm
I agree with you, Courtney. This is all very good information. Renewable energy sources are not unlimited. We need space for certain sources (acres for solar and wind farms). If the United States could start to wean off of non-renewable energy sources and start making products that did use renewable energy sources, that would make a difference. Even if it was the smallest difference, it still counts.
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 10:30:59 am
Topic 3 #11:
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 05:29:29 pm
The use of vouchers in the education program are controversial. The need for these vouchers are not going to help kids obtain better grades, but they would help kids obtain better education and a better structure in school. I agree that the fact that these vouchers are not given to people with special needs, but do you think that people with special needs could adapt well to going to a new school?
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 10:34:42 am
Topic 3 #11:
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 10:36:47 am
#12
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 10:41:38 am
#12
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Courtney Dunton
5/3/2019 10:42:57 am
#13
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McKay Shockley
5/4/2019 05:26:13 pm
Section 1, question 3:
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McKay Shockley
5/4/2019 05:26:46 pm
Section 2, question 4:
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Courtney Dunton
5/5/2019 01:44:34 pm
Good one McKay! I did the same question as you but we seem to have found a few different facts. I also agree with the fact that renewable energy is definitely a step in the right different, but it is tricky to completely move over to renewable energy just like that. So, yes with this comes positive and negative factors. The positive factors are more jobs and helpful for the environment. But, then, the negatives are when population increases there is less room for these renewable energy source plants. With these wind farms being so loud, it can put harm to wildlife that may pass through. I agree with you!
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 09:56:20 pm
These are excellent negative factors that I did not think of, wildlife could be harmed by some renewable energy but i believe that solar panels could outweigh the cons and cause a nice environment for us to live in
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McKay Shockley
5/4/2019 05:27:12 pm
Section 3, question 9:
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Courtney Dunton
5/5/2019 01:54:21 pm
This was interesting for me to read since I did not do this question. When I read the question I didn’t think too much could be different since they both deal with the Department of Education. I see now that the U.S. Department of Education has the authority to deal with the bigger aspects of education, then the state departments on education have the authority to do the much smaller things, like get resources straight. The state departments on education are much more closely linked to schools since they help with the direct resources of the school. Good job!
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McKay Shockley
5/4/2019 05:27:57 pm
Section 4, question 12:
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McKay Shockley
5/4/2019 05:28:49 pm
Section 4, question 13:
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Landon
5/6/2019 10:20:43 am
Topic 2 #4
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Landon
5/6/2019 02:13:45 pm
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 09:54:12 pm
3. Lyndon Johnson’s Clean Air Act in 1963 was essential to our nation’s environment because many cities were being covered in smog on a daily basis and the people of those cities were experiencing poor health conditions because of the drastic air pollution. The U.S. government needs to make stricter regulations on what factories can let out into the environment and how much they can let out each day. There are better alternatives to the way we do things now such as solar energy, if the government were able to promote solar energy better, there could be a huge increase in our nation’s environmental health. The government could also work to decrease emissions by promoting hybrid motor vehicles to also use electricity instead of just gas because a lot of our nation’s emissions come from motor vehicles.
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 10:05:46 pm
3. Lyndon Johnson’s Clean Air Act in 1963 was essential to our nation’s environment because many cities were being covered in smog on a daily basis and the people of those cities were experiencing poor health conditions because of the drastic air pollution. The U.S. government needs to make stricter regulations on what factories can let out into the environment and how much they can let out each day. There are better alternatives to the way we do things now such as solar energy, if the government were able to promote solar energy better, there could be a huge increase in our nation’s environmental health. The government could also work to decrease emissions by promoting hybrid motor vehicles to also use electricity instead of just gas because a lot of our nation’s emissions come from motor vehicles.
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 10:06:23 pm
4. It is a very positive factor because if this growing population is not using fossil fuels that damage and pollute the environment that we depend on daily in our lives, then generations in front of ours will benefit from our preservation of our Earth’s environment. Air quality will subsequently become better due to the decrease in the use of fossil fuels that pollute the air. Some people who live in industrialized cities experience terrible air quality and smog as well. Human health overall will rise because the air that they are breathing will not contain many pollutants. Not using fossil fuels will also save a lot of money and generate a new age of businesses for the renewable energy companies who will distribute and install these systems. The pros definitely outweigh the cons in this situation and hopefully something can happen to change to renewable energy in the future.
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 05:33:27 pm
I agree with you, the environment would be so much better if everyone used renewable energy. Generations after us would appreciate the world better without the pollution in the air. If we do not start treating the planet better, then it will start to disappear before our very eyes. It has already started to happen with the ice caps melting.
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 10:08:00 pm
9. The US department of education gives grants to states to fund their education. They had a budget of eleven million dollars last year that they gave to states. They establish policy for, administer and coordinate most federal assistance to education, collect data on US schools, and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights. The United States Department of Education does not establish schools or colleges. The department of education for states establish schools and colleges and establish a curriculum standards and how long schools should go each day and at what times. They establish how to spend their money granted to them on the schools and how many schools to have based on population.
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 10:08:37 pm
12. I believe that the environment needs to be addressed a lot more. The department of homeland security stated that climate change was the biggest threat to our country in this world and I am in full agreement. If nothing is done to save the environment soon, future generations will be hurt by the harsh pollution and air quality that is already bad and will inevitably get worse. Also they will miss out on very beautiful sights such as coral reefs. Seafood will be affected and that is a major food source as well. Overall, if nothing is done, future generations will have major problems to deal with.
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Nathan Crumb
5/6/2019 10:10:36 pm
13. The Green New Deal is a bill of legislation that would cut emissions and try to decrease air pollution. They plan to do this by putting regulations on factories and airplanes and they encourage companies to change to renewable energy to cause these regulations to not harm there businesses.
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 04:43:32 pm
3. One essential piece of legislation that the government has passed since the 1960’s is the Endangered Species Act. This act protects falcons, deer, grizzly bears, wolves, and many more animals. All of these animals populations have been protected by the Endangered Species Act. This act has also helped to increase the animals population. This all started when the Continental Congress made the bald eagle the symbol of the US in 1782. They kept this up when congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940. This act contains two classifications, endangered species and threatened species. Endangered species are on the brink of extinction and the threatened ones are low on population and are likely to almost be extinct in the future. In order to better the environment, the Us government should do more things for the environment. There should be more laws on game hunting. This hunting involves more precious species that are already threatened species.
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 04:44:01 pm
4. The United States uses many different types of energy which includes primary, secondary, renewable, nonrenewable, and fossil fuels. These different types of energy sources are measured in different types of units. When the population of a city or country goes up, more energy is used and then more electricity is used. If one person uses 20% of electricity, then when they have children that percentage moves up to 45%. When renewable energy is used, the amount is never taken away because this energy is always there. For example, when solar power is used, there can be as many things running as one may need or want because that power is from the sun. One of the negative effects of solar power, is that it is extremely reliant on the weather. There are many more positive side effects to using solar power and those are that it is always going to be there. It is also much better for the environment because without using actual energy, there are less greenhouse gases being released into the air.
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 04:44:26 pm
9. The US Department of Education is in charge of public education throughout the United States. The Department sets a statewide curriculum standard which sets what classes they have to offer at the schools and requires the students to take a certain amount of classes. They establish the graduation requirements, determine qualifications for classroom teachers, principals, and administration. They establish state testing and assessments, and they develop the rules and regulations for the administration of state programs. The Department of Education oversees the school and sets the regulations for everything. A state department of education is more hands on with the schools. They help to better the schools and suggest ways that a program or programs could be better suited for children. In order for this to work, the state department has to know all of the rules and regulations that the Department sets. The state departments are also the ones who would supply electronics for the school to use like laptops.
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doris
5/22/2019 10:37:56 am
I agree with you, you are very reasonable, I agree, let me understand a lot, such as The US Department of Education is in charge of public education throughout the United States.
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 04:44:57 pm
12. The federal government needs to address education more. There are many things within the school system that need to be changed. For example, the use of school vouchers. Kids who go to private schools obtain a certain amount of knowledge and have more expectations from the teachers than kids who go to a public school. Private schools are pristine and usually cost a lot of money whereas public schools are government funded. Private schools are privately funded for by the kids who go there. These vouchers could take public school kids and give them the voucher to go to a private school. If the parent takes the kid out of public school in 10th grade and sends them to a new school, they don’t only have to leave all their friends, but they are also getting sent to a school that they have no clue how to navigate in. This child has been going to a public school their whole life and now they have to go to a school where the rules and regulations are much different.
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Anna Pittman
5/7/2019 04:45:26 pm
13. In early May, thousands of teachers living in North Carolina and South Carolina walked out of their classes in order to protest low salaries. These walkouts mark the eighth and ninth display of teacher activism this year. Los Angeles, Virginia, Denver, West Virginia, Oakland, Kentucky, and Sacramento are all other places where walkouts have happened in the past three months. They protested about issues like pay, class size, resources, and motivated thousands of educators to run for office in the midterm election. This walkout caused 34 districts in North Carolina to cancel classes for over 800,000 students. The National Education Association released a report that show an average teacher salary has increased by 11.5% over the last decade. With inflation, teacher’s salaries have only raised by about 4.5%. The American Federation of Teachers launched a national campaign aimed at getting state lawmakers and members of Congress to prioritize education funding in the 2020 election.
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Landon
5/16/2019 08:20:54 pm
12.
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Landon
5/16/2019 08:39:11 pm
13.
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Adam Buell
5/20/2019 07:50:24 pm
A growing population for a country can be a both negative and positive factor for a country and in terms of energy, but is overall a negative factor. First, a growing population can generally mean a country that is only just developing, rather than country that has been industrialized, Also, a growing population can mean a shortage of energy, which is generally already something that is hard to find, not including renewable energy. Also, with a shortage of energy to power electronic appliances, people could not be able to power things for everyday use, leading to a diminished standard of living, forcing people to live a cheaper lifestyle, eventually leading to a life of poverty especially in a developing country.
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Adam Buell
5/20/2019 07:59:20 pm
For many years, the public school system has been regulated by not just the state government, but the federal government as well. However, it is the state governments that have more control and power and regulate schools more than the federal government. For example, state governments are who are in charge of many things, such as standardized testing scoring and guidelines, as well as setting rules and standards for the schools in the state. However, this has been challenged several times in the past. For example, when Barack Obama inherited the presidency, First Lady Michelle Obama revealed changes to school lunches, which some schools objected to, due to the fact that the lunches were more expensive. Another example is the court case Brown v. Board of Education, where the state set a rule of segregation, but the federal government then ordered that public schools be integrated.
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Adam Buell
5/20/2019 08:07:54 pm
There are many current issues in the United States that need to be solved as quickly as possible. In my opinion, the most pressing problem is the problem of educations and the problems that the public school system is currently going through. For example, if the public school system is underfunded, then kids can not get the education in which they need to be successful, thus putting them at a disadvantage at life and potentially not giving them a chance at being successful. Also, if a child can’t get an adequate education, then some kids, especially in low income, more at risk children could then be more vulnerable to things like gang violence and crime. Also, if children do not get the education that they need, then other issues can’t be solved, since some kids are at a disadvantage originally.
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Doris
5/22/2019 09:41:44 am
Topic 1 question 2
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5/22/2019 10:03:31 am
My understanding of the energy policy is that it involves checks and balances between government and energy. Energy resources cover a wide range of areas, including coal, natural gas, oil, wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower, and so on. How to reuse the least energy in exchange for the biggest effect is the concern of this policy. The purpose of the energy policy is to ensure a safe supply of energy and to maintain low energy costs to maintain a growing economic demand, thereby protecting the environment in which production and consumption are consumed. According to the data, in 2017, the total amount of primary energy consumption in the United States was about 97.7 quadrillion. Of these, five are the highest percentage of resource costs. Among them 1. Electric power - by 38.1%
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by doris
5/22/2019 10:08:34 am
。。
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doris
5/22/2019 10:16:14 am
topic 3 question9
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doris
5/22/2019 10:24:00 am
question 12
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doris
5/22/2019 10:36:39 am
question 13 I chose environmental policy, as one report put it. Climate change is cooking salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Located on the eastern side of puget bay, about 40 miles north of Seattle, Washington, the tullalip Indian reservation is characterized by the arrival and departure of salmon during the changing seasons. The reason lies in overfishing, which leads to the loss and pollution of the fish environment. The climate causes harm to fish. Rising summer temperatures are killing fish. Due to the impact of climate change, local people's fishing business becomes difficult and their income level drops. How can this phenomenon be improved? It can only be said that the protection of the environment is not one or two days, or a part of people can complete, it must be a long time, human, as well as environmental purification to maintain. There is no choice but to make more people abide by the rules of environmental protection and maintain the environment well.
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