Skip to content

Join CFR Education for a live walkthrough of the updated website – Sign up here.

Education

Market-Based Climate Solutions Lesson Plan

Length
one 45-minute period
Grade Level
High School

Learning Objectives

Students will understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of regulation and market-based solutions for climate change.

Homework

  • Read “How Regulations Help Fight Climate Change”
  • Complete homework handout

Class

  • (5 minutes) Review homework, especially the final question about what limitations regulations face as a policy tool.
  • (20 minutes) Have students read “What Are Market-Based Solutions for Mitigating Climate Change?” and fill out the graphic organizer in the class handout
  • (20 minutes) Lead students through a discussion about regulation and market-based solutions
    • First brainstorm as a group what each policy tool is good for, and record responses on the board
    • Ask: is one tool better than the other? Why?
    • Ask: are there some problems that neither tool can solve? What other tools might be needed?

Homework

Write an op-ed, letter to the editor, or letter to a local official about climate policy. What tools do you think would be most effective in your community? Why? Be sure to use your knowledge about regulation and market-based climate solutions in supporting your argument.
 

Vocabulary

TermDefinition
emissionsrefers to the amount of greenhouse gases an entity, such as a country or company, produces.
Clean Air Acta federal law that regulates airborne emissions from stationary sources (such as factories) and mobile ones (such as cars).
greenhouse gasany gas that absorbs heat in the atmosphere and re-emits it back toward Earth, causing a warming effect.
fossil fuelshydrocarbon energy sources such as oil, coal, or natural gas.
European Uniona supranational organization composed of twenty-eight European countries, formally established by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. The EU’s objectives include the economic, political, and security integration of its members, accomplished through such methods as removal of trade barriers; free circulation of EU citizens among certain member countries; and use of a common currency, the euro, by nineteen members.
biofuelliquid fuel derived from plants. A prominent example is ethanol, a product of sugarcane or corn.
cap-and-tradea policy framework in which a government caps the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted in the country or region during a given period. Emissions permits, which allow companies to emit a specific amount of greenhouse gases, are issued or sold to companies, up to the national or regional cap. These permits can be traded among companies—sold by companies that emit less than their targets and bought by those that emit more—creating a financial incentive to lower emissions and providing flexibility for companies that cannot or do not wish to do so.
carbon taxa policy in which entities such as companies pay the government a fixed fee for each ton of greenhouse gases emitted. The purpose is to encourage firms to pursue technologies and practices that will reduce their emissions.
renewable energyenergy derived from sources such as sunlight, wind, and water, which have a steadily replenishing supply.

Materials