2 SCIENCE DISCUSSIONS DUE IN 7 HOURS
 

A Carbon-Neutral Energy Plan for Ashfordton [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 4, 6]
 

Prior to beginning this discussion, read Chapters 7 and 8 in your course textbook.
 

Imagine that you are a resident of Ashfordton, a community whose characteristics are described below. You have come together with your neighbors for a special meeting to devise a plan for helping the community become carbon-neutral by 2050, meaning that by that time, no net carbon dioxide emissions will be produced by residents as a whole.
 

Fortunately, you have all attended the meeting with knowledge that you have gained from your readings in this course. Now it is time to put your thinking cap on and get to work! Your plan should consist of the following elements:
 

Energy conservation measures (e.g., promoting carpooling by adding special lanes to local highways).
 

Steps to move toward sustainable energy production (e.g., installing solar panels on town government buildings).
 

Reducing energy consumption will help, but some actions will have to involve switching to other power sources for buildings and vehicles as well.
 

This week’s discussion will take place in an online app called Tricider. There, you will be able to post your ideas for plan components and share pros and cons of different proposals during the week. Finally, you will be able to vote on the three components that you think the plan should include.
 

For directions on how to use the Tricider app, please review the Tricider Help Guide. In Tricider. You will be expected to do the following:
 

Post at least two separate and entirely original ideas. Do not duplicate ideas already posted by your peers.
 

Include your full name for each one.
 

Post at least six different pros and six different cons for your classmates’ proposed ideas (12 in all).
 

Vote on what you feel are the top three ideas in the list.
 

Do not vote before Friday, so that you can vote from the full collection of student ideas.
 

You must complete the three tasks above to receive full credit for this discussion.
 

Carbon-Neutral Community Plan Voting Rationales [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 4, 6]
 

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapters 7 and 8 in your course textbook.
 

Now that you have cast your votes for the Ashfordton Alternative Energy Plan, it is time to explain your choices to the class. Please make a post of at least 150 words in which you
 

Identify (briefly) the plan elements on which you voted.
 

Explain why you selected each one.
 

Each of the elements with an explanation is worth .5 point for a total of 1.5 points.
 

Note: You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own. At the end of the week, the instructor will post the winning Ashfordton Alternative Energy Plan, which will include the top three ideas selected by the class. In cases where two action items are judged by the instructor to be nearly identical, the instructor reserves the right to combine the ideas into a single one (and add votes together) in order to determine the winning ideas. This plan will be posted in the Announcements area of the classroom.