21 Issues in Environmental and Climate Education

Friday, 1 April 2016
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Lexington B

A CLASSROOM SIMULATION OF 'CARBON FEE AND DIVIDEND'

Paper number: 21-7
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 9:55 AM – 10:15 AM

Authors

Abstract

Climate change education includes studying strategies to slow carbon emissions, among them regulating emissions directly, subsidizing renewable energy, and placing a cost on carbon released to the atmosphere. Classroom simulations of a placing a cost on carbon have existed for several years. These have put students in the role of corporations making emissions decisions on the basis of “cap and trade” rules or a carbon tax.

To help students better envision themselves in a world intentionally shrinking its use of fossil fuels, a new simulation places students in the roles of ordinary Americans.

The simulation is based on the Carbon Fee and Dividend Proposal set out by Citizens’ Climate Lobby (https://citizensclimatelobby.org/carbon-fee-and-dividend/). Simply stated, it “will place a steadily increasing fee on fossil fuels at their source (the well, mine, or port of entry), beginning at $15 per ton of CO2 emitted, and increasing each year by $10. All revenues will be returned in equal shares to American households as a monthly dividend.”

In the simulation, each team of students represents a household with a selected geographic and economic circumstance (e.g. urban/suburban/rural, high/middle/low income), making economic decisions in selected years along a timeline. After completing the simulation, students discuss perceived strengths and weaknesses of the proposal and its chances of achieving the desired transition from fossil fuels to efficient use of renewable energy.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 3

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016SE-273897

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