Assignment:
Please select any four short-answer/short-essay questions below. Please hand in a printed hard-copy of your answers on Tuesday, May 2. This is an open-book exam. You may work together and share your ideas, but I'd like your answers to reflect your own individual thoughts and opinions. Don't just copy your work from a classmate or on-line sources, etc.
1. Explain why the influential "Limits to Growth" study was flawed - why its dire predictions didn't come true - at least so far.
2. Humankind is destined to destroy itself by polluting the earth and depleting its resources - by destroying the natural capital upon which life itself depends. Do you agree with this bold and saucy statement or not? Explain and be creative, referring to specific problems and policy solutions.
3. This past week marked the seventh anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which killed 11 oil platform workers and caused incalculable damage to the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution is frequently invoked to define corporations as having personhood with certain inalienable rights. Why wasn't BP (British Petroleum) subject to a corporate death penalty of sorts, like you or I would be if we caused the same damage as private individuals? Why are corporations like BP allowed to act psychopathically, why you and I can't enjoy the same privilege? Explain and be creative. Disagree if you think I'm not being fair in my characterization of BP.
4. Explain what Paul Hawken means by the term "natural capital" and "natural capitalism". Be specific and be creative!
5. Explain what you learned from the movies "The 11th Hour" and/or "Before the Flood" - things that surprised you or may have altered your perception of anthropogenic climate disruption or your lifestyle. Be specific and be creative!
6. Explain David Brower's operator's manual for planet Earth. Are elements of it realistic and implementable in law or policy or is his concept wacko? Be specific and be creative!