renewable energy issue using public funds instead W r i t i n g

During the Civil War,  Americans embarked on their industrial revolution.  Although the U.S. was not the first nation to experience an industrial revolution, it had developed the most industrialized economy in the world by the start of the twentieth century.  By the middle of the twentieth century, the U.S. produced more manufactured goods than every other nation in the world combined.

The benefits of industrialization have been manifold, but in recent decades the environmental costs have come more clearly into focus.  Pollution threatens air and water quality in many parts of the world.  More problematically, most nations (including the U.S.) use fossil fuels to generate the power needed for their industrial economies, and those fossil fuels generate greenhouse gasses that threaten to radically transform the global climate.  Scientists overwhelmingly agree that unless behaviors change, the world in 2100 will look much different than it did in 2000.

For this week’s discussion, we are going to examine strategies for combatting climate change as well as the U.S.’s role in solving the problem.  Please read the following primary sources and articles before participating in the discussion.