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* For Mon June 23: No readings.

* For Tue June 24: (Lecture PDF and PPT) Required readings are National Academy of Sciences 2001 ("Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences", executive summary), the King County Environmental Services website, and the King County Sims Global Warming Initiative website.

For the NAS reading: What are the environmental challenges listed in this summary?
For the Environmental Services website: (1) What major environmental issues, in your opinion, that are highlighted on this page are similar to the grand challenges cited by the National Academy article? Select no more than six. (2) What is meant by stewardship? (3) What is a ‘green' building? (4) What are biosolids? (5) What is a watershed and what is the Cedar River Watershed?
For the global warming website: What is the history of Ron Sims' leadership in understanding and addressing global climate change? What is meant by adaptation to climate change? Based upon the response of western Washington to the floods of December 2007 (see, e.g., this Jeep Patrol video), do you think western Washington is prepared (adapted)?

* For Wed June 25: (Lecture PDF and PPT; note that everyone will get full credit for clickers today.) The required reading is the IPCC Working Group 1 FAQs (2007). Please read all of the italicized blurbs that provide short responses to the FAQs, and then read the detailed responses to the following FAQs:

1.3 ("What is the greenhouse effect?")
3.1 ("How are temperatures on earth changing?")
5.1 ("Is sea level rising?")
6.1 ("What caused the ice ages...?")
8.1 ("How reliable are the models...?")
9.1 ("Can individual extreme events be explained by greenhouse warming?")
10.2 ("How likely are major or abrupt climate changes?")

Optional readings include additional materials about climate change, either from this FAQ document or from other documents from the 2007 IPCC reports or elsewhere. (Note that the IPCC reports represent the consensus of the scientific community.)

* For Thu June 26: We will be discussing the scientific method and other "ways of knowing". Required readings are this article from the NY Times ("Opponents of evolution adopting new strategy", June 4, 2008), this article from The Australian ("Climate facts to warm to") and this blog entry by Yoram responding to the article in The Australian. (This blog entry is a good guide to what we're looking for in your op-ed pieces---something opinionated and hopefully entertaining.) Optional readings include the rest of the blog debate (read from the bottom up), the report by the Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change (a group of skeptics), files from Dr. James Hansen's June 23rd Congressional testimony, and anything else you want to bring to class!

* For Mon June 30 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The first required reading is Gill 2007 ("Adapting cities for climate change: the role of green infrastructure"). And, from the Open Space Seattle 2100 website, required readings are the executive summary and the design recommendations for the neighborhood of your choice. (See below for how to find the neighborhood discussions.)

For the Open Space executive summary: What are some of the goals laid out in Envisioning Seattle's Green Future? What suggestions are made for accomplishing them?
From the Open Space website, click on CHARRETTE and then FINAL CHARRETTE BOOK to see the list of neighborhoods. Look more carefully at some of the design recommendations made for your own neighborhood.
For Gill 2007, identify the goals set out in the paper.

* For Tue July 1 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required reading is Hill 2003 ("Green good, better, and best"). Optional reading is Orr 1992 ("Ecological literacy").

For the Hill article, pay attention to how Hill defines good, better, and best green design. What challenges do these designs face?

* For Wed (Lecture PDF and PPT) and Thu July 2-3: The required reading is SER 2004 ("The SER international primer on ecological restoration").

* For Thursday July 3: We will be meeting in class and briefly discussing Town Halls and memo/poster assignments, and then we will be heading down to the Union Bay Natural Area. The weather may be a bit rainy, or it may be sunny, so bring the following:

Sturdy shoes (no flip-flops!)
Sunscreen/hat
Comfortable clothes
Rain jacket or windbreaker (just in case)
If you have them, bring a pair of work gloves. (If you don't have them, we'll provide some.)

* For Mon July 7 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required reading is Hardin 1968 ("The tragedy of the commons", Science 162: 1243 - 1248), which is short but difficult. Here are questions to think about:

What is the main topic of Hardin's essay?
"Freedom to _____ is intolerable". Fill in the blank, explain Hardin's argument, and think about whether you agree with it.
What does Hardin say about the UN Declaration of Human Rights?
How does the overgrazing example work and how does it relate to Hardin's main point?

* For Tue July 8 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required readings are Read 1958 ("I, Pencil", The Freeman, December 1958, reprinted May 1996 with comments by Milton Friedman, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in economics); Durning and Ryan 1997 (excerpts from Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everday Things); and this Stuff quiz. Questions to think about:

How does Read's story relate to the "invisible hand" idea?
Read mentions "the freedom that we are unhappily losing." What is he talking about? (Hint: Look at the date of the article and think about that period of history.)
What is Read's point about the post office? Do you agree?
Do you think Durning and Ryan feel the same way about freedom as Read? Why or why not?
How are the Read and Durning/Ryan readings similar? Then think about why they end up in such different places.
What is known as "congealed electricity" and why?

* For Wed July 9 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required reading is Carr 2008 ("The power and the glory: A special report on the future of energy", The Economist, June 21 2008). This is pretty detailed article, so you can skim over the really detailed stuff, but make sure to get the gist of it all. Questions to think about:

What does the article say about hydrogen fuel cells?
Is the article optimistic or pessimistic about the future of energy?
Which energy sources does the author relate to GMOs (genetically modified organisms)?
How is economics relevant?

* For Th July 10: The required readings are Economist 1997 ("Plenty of gloom", Dec. 18) and Economist 2006 ("The heat is on", Sept. 7).

For the 1997 article: (1) What does the (anonymous) author think about environmental issues? [Note that almost all Economist articles are written anonymously.] (2) Do you think the author is just a cranky jerk, or do you think that one or more of the authors' critiques are valid? If so, which ones and why? (3) How well has the article held up now that 10 years have passed since its publication?
For the 2006 article: (1) How does this article compare with the 1997 article on the subject of climate change? (2) Does the author argue that scientific uncertainty argues for taking action or not? Why? (3) What does the second-to-last letter to the editor suggest about the author's biases? (This will come in again next week when we do environmental ethics, and note that it's not just the author's biases---the last letter to the editor indicates that one of your instructors read this article many times, and he has to confess that he didn't pick up on this problem either :)

* For Mon July 14 (PDF and PPT): Cost-benefit analysis. The required reading is Solow 1991 ("Sustainability: An economist's perspective", reprinted in Economics of the Environment: Selected Readings, 5th ed., edited by Robert Stavins, 2005)

For the Solow article: Think about how you would answer his challenge to "invent for yourself how you are going to explain to the Chinese that... even living at their standard of living they shouldn't burn [their] coal, because the CO2 might conceivably damage somebody in 50 or 100 years."

* For Tue July 15: Guest lecture from Bill Bradlee, who was part of a two-person team that bicycled across the country alst year giving talks on climate change. The required assignments are to spend an hour looking at the Ride for Climate website from his ride, the website for the upcoming Climate Ride 2008, and the famous 1970s "Keep America Beautiful" TV ad.

Think about motivating and inspiration and how to connect to individuals across the country about climate change or other environmental issues.
How does the Keep America Beautiful ad strike you 30 years later?

* For Wed July 16: The class will go to the Burke Museum to see the new polar bear exhibit. Required readings are Greenemeier 2008 ("U.S. Protects Polar Bears under Endangered Species Act, Scientific American, May 14) and Derocher 2008 ("Polar bears and climate change", ActionBioscience, May)

Why is the polar bear listed as a "threatened species"?
What is the debate surrounding this listing?

* For Thurs July 17: There will be a library tutorial on how to use library databases &etc. The remainder of class will be time for you to do research for your class projects.Remember that a paragraph on your memo and poster is due July 24, with Town Hall and Wikipedia assignments also coming up, so make good use of this time!

* For Mon July 21 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required readings are Leopold 1966 ("Thinking like a mountain", from A Sand County Almanac) and Ripple and Beschta 2004 ("Wolves and the ecology of fear: Can predation risk structure ecosystems?", BioScience 54: 755 – 766).

In Leopold's opinion, why or why not might the mountain like the wolf?
What is the history of wolves in Yellowstone?
What does Ripple and Beschta mean by the ecology of fear?
What responses have occurred in Yellowstone as a result of the re-introduction of the wolf and are there any 'benefits' from these responses?
What is a trophic cascade?

* For Tue July 22 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required readings are McKibben 1998 (Maybe One, excerpts) and the first 2 pages of Lutz et al. 2001 ("The end of world population growth", Nature 412: 543 - 545). Pay particular attention to the graphs.

For the McKibben article: How many children would you like to have? What role (if any) does the state of the environment play in your answer to that question, and how (if at all) do you think the environment affect the childbearing decisions of most people? Also: give an example of how social science has changed over time. (Was it really a science 100 years ago? Is it really a science now?)
For the Lutz article: What is likely to happen by the end of the century? What are current and projected human populations (roughly speaking)? How does what is happening compare with Garrett Hardin's argument that "freedom to breed is intolerable"?

* The midterm exam review is Wed July 23, so there is no reading. (The midterm itself is Tue July 29 and covers everything through Thur July 17.)

* For Mon July 28 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required reading is Soule 1985 ("What is conservation biology? A new synthetic discipline addresses the dynamics and problems of perturbed species, communities, and ecosystems", BioScience 35: 727 – 734)

Try to trace the history of ideas about conservation, resource management and ecology over time and how ideas and approaches have changed over time. Is conservation biology a fad, as one critique suggested, or will it continue into the future? What issues does it currently focus on?

* Tue July 29 is the midterm. All you need to bring is a pen or pencil.

* For Wed July 30 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required readings are Deffeyes 2001 (excerpt from Hubbert's Peak) and "Recoil" (The Economist, May 29 2008).

For the Deffeyes reading: You should understand the graph on page 6; think about what "the impending world oil shortage" means for human quality of life, both in terms of economics and in terms of environmental quality.
For "Recoil": Give examples about the economic incentives that are being generated by high oil prices.

* For Mon Aug 4 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required readings are Carson 1962 (excerpt from Silent Spring) and Rosenberg 2006 ("The revival of a notorious solution to a notorious scourge", New York Times, Oct. 5, 2006). Think about their perspectives on DDT and how they relate to environmental justice. An excellent optional reading is the longer Rosenberg 2004 ("What the world needs now is DDT").

* For Tue Aug 5 (Lecture PDF and PPT): Carbon taxes and cap-and-trade. The required reading is Sightline 2007. Think about which of the three policies you favor (or maybe you don't like any of them) and think about the political aspects of passing this sort of climate policy.

* For Wed Aug 6 (Lecture PDF and PPT): Read McClure 2007 ("Gregoire signs measure intended to help restore 'sick' Puget Sound", Seattle PI, May 8). Then, spend some time perusing the Puget Sound Partnership website. Also read Economist 2008 ("Up to their necks in it", July 17)

What is the Puget Sound Partnership?
What are the six partnership goals/issues?
What do 700m Indians not have access to?
Compare and contrast water pollution issues in Puget Sound and India. What are the main concerns? What are the proposed solutions? What are the stumbling blocks?

* For Mon Aug 11 (Lecture PDF and PPT): Climate change in Washington State. The required readings are the main Washington Dept of Ecology webpage on climate change, the detail page on the 2008 Climate Change Interim Report (including the focus sheet "Leading the Way on Climate Change") and the detail page on economic impacts. Optional readings include media stories in the Seattle P-I (which also ran this editorial), the Seattle Times (which also ran this editorial), and NPR's Day to Day. Some questions:

What was the "Errata for the HB1303 Interim Report" about? (Hint: You can find this on one of the web pages above, and it should remind you of something :)
What was the #1 recommendation from the Climate Action Team?
What are some of the main climate impacts and opportunities in Washington State?

* For Tue Aug 12 (Lecture PDF and PPT): Discussion with Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center. The required reading is Todd Myers, "Promoting personal choice, incentives and investment to cut greenhouse gases" (Washington Policy Center, April 2008). Here's his bio: "Todd Myers is the Director for WPC's Center for the Environment. He formerly served as Director of Communications for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and was Director of Public Relations for the Seattle SuperSonics and Director of Public Affairs for the Seattle Mariners. He has a Masters Degree from the University of Washington and has been the the Policy Center since 2004."

Todd has met with state legislators to discuss this paper and his proposal, so please take advantage of this opportunity to criticize his proposal, make suggestions, and ask questions. If you love his proposal, come prepared to ask how you can help. If you hate his proposal, come prepared to give him a hard time about it! Here are some questions to think about:

Does Todd favor a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade? Why?
What is Todd's recommendation for the revenue? Why?
What is the likely impact of Todd's proposal on the price of a gallon of gasoline?

* For Wed Aug 13 (Lecture PDF and PPT): The required reading is Green-Collar Jobs in America's Cities (2008). Here are some questions to think about:

What is a "green collar" job?
What industries might/could make a transition into a green collar industry?
Based on the discussions we have had in class this quarter, would you support a proposal like this one?

You must have a Turning Point radio-frequency "clicker" for use during lectures and you must register it here. (Follow the link for a photo; clickers can be purchased new for about $35 at the textbook counter in the bookstore or used from other students, e.g., in the "electronics" section of Uloop.com. If you already have one, that's fine too.) Failure to register your clicker before 8am on Wednesday June 25 will negatively affect your grade. If you have your clicker on Monday June 23 and/or Tuesday June 24 please bring it to class.

* Please email Claire Beyer if you do not have a poster group so that she can help you get one. Your memo/poster proposal is due next Thursday. (Details below in "Assignments and Due Dates".)

* Many of you got your Town Hall stakeholder roles in class today, but if you weren't in class (or if you need a reminder), here they are, arranged by global/local and then by student last name. Note that you are free to switch with any other student as long as you let us know; there are also a few extra stakeholder roles if you can't find anyone who wants to switch. Details about the Town Hall assignments are below in "Assignments and Due Dates".

Global town hall: Gina-Brazil, Ali-Kuwait, Nimco-Australia, Theodora-Bangladesh, Mona-China, Clea-India, Huey-Indonesia, Jessica-France, Todd-Canada, Kadi O.--Nigeria, Brendan-Russia, Hee Jung--South Africa, Stephanie-Vietnam.
Local town hall: Jessie-TransAlta, Michelle-Climate Solutions, Katie K.--ASUW, Matt-Senior citizen, David-Weyerhaeuser, Nikolaj-Farm Bureau, Jai-Wallula ERC, Megan-Seattle City Light, Beth-Todd Myers, Ellen-Remy Trupin, Jen-Sally Bingham.
No stakeholder roles assigned for Sabit or Britini. Email Yoram if you're still in the class!

* The Wikipedia assignment page is now updated with some examples of references.

* On Wed July 16 the class will be meeting inside the main entrance of the Burke Museum, which is on campus just south of the corner of 17th Avenue NE and NE 45th Street.

* On Thurs July 17 the class will be meeting in the Suzzallo Instruction Room for a tutorial on how to use library research tools; the remainder of class will then be time that you can use to research your memo/poster assignment (a paragraph with preliminary citations is due the following week) and your town hall and other assignments. (Directions: From Red Square, enter Suzzallo and immediately turn left. The Instruction Lab is behind the Exhibition Room.)

* Great job on the global Town Hall! Next Thursday is the local town hall. On the day of the town hall that you are a stakeholder in, come with your op-ed and be prepared to give a 2-3 minute speech.

* Also due next Thursday is the Wikipedia assignment.

* Here is the midterm review sheet. The midterm is Tuesday July 29 and covers material through Week 4 (the week on ethics). Note that the syllabus says that the midterm covers through Week 5 (this week, on population), but we are changing this so that it only covers through Week 4.

* Due next Thursday (Aug 7) is your memo. Details below under Assignments.

* Here is the midterm exam (with draft answer key in footnotes).

* Due this coming Thursday (Aug 14) is a draft of your poster. Please bring a copy to turn in and one or more copies for you to work on with your group. Details below.

Here's the plan for the last week of class (starting Mon Aug 18):

* Mon Aug 18: No reading, so you'll have time to work on posters and the final exam review. Claire will be in the basement of Gould Hall (Digital Commons) Monday from 11am - 12:50pm if you want help with last minute fixes and printing.

* Tue Aug 19: Class will meet in MGH 258 for the poster symposium! We'll have easels and posterboards and thumbtacks, so all you need to bring is your poster.

* Wed Aug 20: Final exam review and course evaluations.

* Thurs Aug 21: Final exam and last day of class!

* Here's the final exam (with draft answer keys in footnotes) and here's a final grade sheet, listed by the last 4 digits of your student ID.

* Let me know if you have questions or if you want to pick up your finals or other materials. (FYI, I will send your posters over to the library to be displayed for a quarter in the Natural Sciences Library---Allen South, first floor---unless you ask me to do otherwise.)

* If you want to try to sell your clickers, I suggest trying the electronics section of Uloop.com. (I will tell future classes to look there for used clickers.) You can of course sell for whatever price you want, but I think $20 is probably a decent guess for a market price.

* Thanks for a great quarter and have a great summer!