EDES 4406 MT2

Define Epistemology

the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion (the study of how we know what we know.)

Prof. Reich drafted Cal Poly's Sustainability Learning Objectives (SLOs). Originally he proposed seven but his number one SLO was not adopted. What was it and how is it related to epistemology

informational literacy - Critically evaluate information from various sources for reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias.

misinformation v disinformation

misinformation: (mistakenly) false or inaccurate information, wrong facts, getting something wrong

disinformation: (deliberate) misinformation with intent to deceive, distract or dissuade

the sequence of the (5) stages representing the Issues Attention Cycle

New Issue → 1) Pre Problem → 2) Alarmed Discovery & Eurphoric Enthusiasm → 3) Realization of the Costs → 4) Decline in Intensity of Interest → 5) Post Problem

Who wrote Issues Attention Cycle and when was it originally written

Anthony Downs 1972

The pre-problem stage:

An undesirable social condition exists, but the public is largely unaware of it, even though experts may be alarmed

Alarmed discovery and euphoric enthusiasm:

A dramatic event triggers sudden public awareness and alarm, coupled with an unrealistic optimism that the problem can be solved quickly without fundamental societal restructuring.

Realizing the cost:

People gradually realize that solving the problem requires major financial costs, structural changes, or personal sacrifices from large groups of people.

Gradual decline of intense public interest:

As the difficulty and personal costs become clear, people grow discouraged, threatened, or bored, and the media shifts focus to newer issues

The post-problem stage:

The issue moves into a prolonged limbo of lesser attention, though permanent institutions, programs, or heightened baseline awareness usually persist from the period of intense focus.

What are some contemporary information phenomena that interfere with humans' abilities to focus on issues?

social media algorithyms (echo chamber/conf. bias), clickbait

Hypernormalization:

a state where a society collectively realizes that the formal system, government, or institutional narrative is failing, broken, or a complete fiction, yet everyone continues to act as if it is normal and functional because no one can see a viable alternative

Characteristics of Hypernormalization:

cognative dissonance (knowing its broken by still participating in system)

participating w/o belief, illusion of stability + lack of alternatives

Richard Fisher - How is generational amnesia affecting our understanding of the impacts of climate change over time

shifting baseline syndrome - where we forget what the natural world once was and accept the current state as normal

What is a regulation that was passde which people initally claimed challanged the free market and gave the gov regulations a bad connotation

child labor

What US Supreme Court decision allowed corporations “to funnel huge amounts of money through front groups which used it to reward the industry’s friends and to punish its enemies” causing politicians to withdraw from bipartisan efforts on issues such as climate change out of fear for losing their seats

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

What does the Green New Deal consist of

Introduction & 2 parts

1) what America has to do to solve the climate crisis - cut fossil fules + a set of goals to avoid global disaster

2) do it in a way that makes America come out better on the other side, environmentally and socially

McKibben's "terrifying new math" involves three other numbers. What are they?"

350 ppm: safe upper limit of CO2 conc. in atm (has been exceeded)

1) 2° Celsius: Keep the increase in average global temperature below this

2) 565 gigatons: The estimated maximum amount of carbon dioxide before we exceed 2*

3) 2,795 Gigatons: total amount of carbon already contained in fossil fule companies

What political movement, that even college students can directly participate in does McKibben endorse?

fossil fuel divestment movement

Who opposed the plan to transport oil across North America by train through California, and what stopped the project?

Environmental organizations, the Mesa Refinery Watch Group, and communities along the proposed route— about 15 million people—opposed the plan. According to Andrew Christie of the Sierra Club, grassroots organizing and local opposition ultimately led to the project’s demise.

Urban infill development through reclamation of the right of way airspace over freeways can accomplish several “green” agendas at once. What are they? Why in cities?

What are they:

• making urban areas connected by walkable/bikeable infustructure (decentralize the freway)

• mitigate neg impacts of freeways

• improve quality of life

Why in cities: bc already has infustructure so we dont have to start from the ground up

why did the freeways that were planned in the late 90s never get built

911 and all the budget went to that, economic crash

example of green agenda project by a woman mayor

Mayor Minnie Coyle in Monterey - built connecting tunnel btwn downtown and waterfront

The fanny may foundation made a survey and asked what were the major influences on the American metropolis were.

What was predicted to be the #1 influence & Which one of the 3 principal aspects of sustainability does it relate to?

Interstate Highway Act and the dominance of the automobile & enviro/social/econ

Who are the important people in “Who Killed the Electric Car”

Chris Paine and Chelsea Sexton who are friends of EDES 4406

What does "ZEV" stand for?

Zero Emission Vehicle

List the seven suspects in the murder of the electric car.

Consumer, bateries, oil companies, car companies, government, CARB, Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Explain a few of the suspect’s guilt or innocence and judge which of the suspects you consider most guilty and which most innocent and why?

Consumer: P Innocent - bear some responsibility based on susainbale buyong options but its complicated

Batteries: Innocent - battery range and cost are challanges and the milage u got is fine for most people

Big Oil: Guilty - did not support electric cars because of profit concerns

Car Companies: Very guilty - because they didnt go all in on the cars

CARB + Gov: CARB weakend ZEV rules and gov didnt protect the program

H Fuel Cell: Innocent, they might have diverted attention from Ecars but wernt huge in the first place

What are the three major greenhouse gases and thier sorces

CO2: primary GHG - from fossil fuels
Methane (CH4): 2nd highest emmited GHG in CA - from agriculture + landfills

Nitrous Oxide (N2O): from ag, manure, and nitrogen fertilizers

What is the technical regulatory loophole that has allowed automakers to profit so greatly from the sale of SUV

SUVs are legally classified as trucks rather than cars. Because of this, they are exempt from the stringent fuel-efficiency regulations - This allows manufacturers to build them much more cheaply

List one of the aspects of SUVs that motivates consumer’s perception to buy SUVs that is probably incorrect or of little practical value

the belief in four-wheel drive - majority of consumers do not actually need four-wheel drive