Lake Region Union High School

Reflections on Business & Society

Introduction:

You and your classmates will assume roles in a real life drama that you might not ordinarily take. Your investigation will center around the issue of balancing the need for jobs and affordable living conditions in different parts of the United States with the importance of protecting the environment. Burning coal to generate affordable electricity in the midwest power plants has an effect on the environment and jobs in the Northeast.

Conduct a careful investigation and consider how others may be affected by the arguments that you present.

Participants:

Governor of Indiana
Governor of Vermont
Consumer Groups from the Mid-West
Consumer Groups from the Northeast
Loggers/Timber Industry

Agencies

Economy Watch, Vermont Economy
http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/usa/states/vermont-economy.html

Green Mountain Club
www.greenmountainclub.org/

National Resources Defense Council
http://www.nrdc.org/

Sierra Club, Global Warming
http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/

United States Council on Environmental Quality
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq

United States Department of Labor, Midwest
http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.midwest.htm

United States Department of Labor, Midwest Economy-Consumer Prices
http://www.bls.gov/xg_shells/ro5xg01.htm

United States Department of Labor, Vermont
http://stats.bls.gov/eag/eag.vt.htm

United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/

Resources

Acid Rain Isn't the Urgent Concern It Was in the 1980s, but It Still Threatens More Than a Third of Maine's Forests
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/855882/acid_rain_isnt_the_urgent_concern_it_was_in_the/index.html

Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana
http://www.citact.org/newsite/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=16

Coal Electric Plants
http://search.nrdc.org/search?access=p&entqr=0&ud=1&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&output=xml_no_dtd&site=default_collection&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&client=default_frontend&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&q=Coal+electric+plants&ip=71.80.41.112&start=10

Dirty Coal
http://www.nrdc.org/coal/19c.asp

The Dying of the Trees
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0496/et0496s13.html

Economic Growth and the Environment
Opposing Viewpoints

Energy and the Environment
Opposing Viewpoints

Mercury Contamination in Fish
http://search.nrdc.org/search?access=p&entqr=0&ud=1&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&output=xml_no_dtd&site=default_collection&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&client=default_frontend&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&q=Coal+electric+plants&ip=71.80.41.112&start=10

The Midwest and the Regulation of Greenhouse Gas
http://midwest.chicagofedblogs.org/archives/2007/09/cost_effective.html

The Dying of the Trees
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0496/et0496s13.html

Sugar Maple Sicken Under Acid Rain's Pall
New York Times

Legal News

Clean Air Act
http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/

ELEVEN STATES SUE EPA TO BLOCK SECOND MERCURY RULE
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2005/may/may18d_05.html

New Energy Economy
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/energy/economy.pdf

States Sue Federal Government To Protect Clean Air Act
http://doj.nh.gov/publications/nreleases/102703epa2.html