Leaders4Earth—Taking Action

A. What is your city doing to reduce greenhouse emissions?
Although the United States has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, many U.S. cities have “ratified” the Kyoto Treaty on their own, and are implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gases below the levels required by the protocol. What is your city doing to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere? Research the Internet and/or call your city or state government to learn about what is being done at this level to reduce greenhouse emissions. You can call the Capitol Switchboard in Washington, DC, at (202) 224-3121, or find contact information at the Capitol website portal.

B. Identify your governmental representatives, and report their position and any actions they have taken on global warming. Who are your governmental representatives in Congress and the Senate? What is their position on the issue of global warming? How do they feel about reducing greenhouse gases? You can monitor your leaders at The League of Conservation Voters website. This lets you examine and follow the environmental voting patterns of your elected officials.

C. Record and make a graph of climate change in your region. Has the climate in your area changed? Make a chart of temperatures recorded as highs and lows in your region over the past five or six years. The chart can be done within a computer program like Microsoft Excel or it can be done freehand. Choose whichever option creates the best results for you, just make sure that your chart can be submitted online so your teacher will have access to it. (If you are creating a freehand chart we suggest sending a digital photo or scanning it into a document.) Make sure you add information that you think is important in understanding your chart.

This is considered to be a milestone assignment and should be treated accordingly. Essays should be a minimum of 1 page in length.