Sustainable Energy Consumption Discussion Assignment
Description
- Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you do the following: (PSLO 4.1, 4.2)
- Compare actions you use to those you might take in daily activities at home, when commuting, and at work in a personal effort to reduce the energy you consume. Make an estimate of the impact of your changed behavior. (PSLO 1.1, 2.5)
- Describe how you might integrate sustainable energy source options intSustainable Energy Consumption Discussion Assignmento your home. Include discussion of the feasibility of alternative sources, energy efficient technology, architectural modifications, and green materials. Indicate the expected outcome for adopting these changes. (PSLO 1.5, 2.1)
- Research the methods that other states or regions have used successfully to reduce energy consumption. Based on this, determine actions that your state or region might take to reduce the amount of energy consumed. Include not only efforts to promote use of alternative sources, energy efficient technology, sustainable architecture, and use of green materials, but also urban planning and land use controls. (PSLO 3.1, 3.2, 1.1, 2.2)
- Describe current sustainable building and development practices and technologies used by your state or region. Present or cite some evidence of the effectiveness of these practices. (PSLO 2.1, 3.2)
- Determine improvements you might recommend to the practices in your state or region. (PSLO 2.5)
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Geography Canadian Government Discussion Assignment
Please answer one of the following questions as per the instructions in the forum description. You are also to respond to a colleagues post (a single post may be responded to numerous times if it interests you).
- What must large- and medium-sized Canadian cities do in order to remain driving forces for change and innovation in a knowledge-based global economy?
- Speculate on the future of Canada’s position internationally in terms of global, political, and economic conditions.
- How will issues such as Arctic sovereignty, the protectionist tendencies of President Trump, and globalization affect Canada internally?
- Atlantic Canada has long benefited from Equalization Payments. Do you agree or disagree with this policy? Explain your position.
Response to this:
Equalization Payments have been supporting the Atlantic provinces and giving them an excuse to delay making economic developments for far too long now. Starting in 1957, Equalization Payments have been given to smaller provinces so that Canadians in every province receive comparable services at comparable tax rates (CBC News, 2019). In theory, it sounds like a brilliant idea right? Not so much when implemented.
The first question that comes to mind is: who pays for all of this? It is not the federal or provincial governments who are funding these payments, but the actual citizens of Canada themselves (CBC News, 2019)! The funding for this program comes directly from the revenues raised by federal taxes on Canadians. The funding provided to each province isn’t a small amount either; in fact, in the 2020 fiscal year, Quebec received $13.1 billion and $11.7 billion in the year prior (Carmichael, 2019). Moreover, in 2019, Nova Scotia received $1.9 billion and New Brunswick received $1.8 billion, while the taxpayers of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, who received $0, paid for the other provinces to be able to receive these large amounts of money (Mills, 2019).
These payments have become a financial crutch for the Atlantic provinces and act as a deterrent for them to become self-sufficient (Mills, 2019). On top of that, the formula used to calculate the payments considers the fiscal capacity of each province, rather than their actual expenditures (Gunter, 2012). So rather than giving money to provinces based on their needs, the money is given based on their capacity to generate revenue, the latter being a much higher amount of money than the former. This gives the provinces large incentives to delay focusing on taking advantage of their own resources because at the end of the day, the government will be giving them billions of dollars to spend however they please.
To conclude, I disagree with the Equalization Payment Program in place for Canadian provinces. Although the payments provide a safety net for the provinces, they should only be used as a last resort, not as an excuse to avoid putting in hard work to improve their economy themselves. I think it’s about time attention is brought to this so that changes can be made to this poorly planned program that has allowed provinces to rely on taxpayers’ money rather than making progress for themselves for 63 years.
*Your answer to the question should be no longer than 400 words and your response should be no longer than 150 words (not including references). The idea here is to be concise with each thought being impact and clear.
Please make sure that your responses/opinions are civil as well as backed up by at least one sources of evidence. Sources can include (but are not limited to), scholarly articles, historical texts, and/or news reports (do not use your course textbook nor class notes as these are not acceptable references). Referencing style should be APA. This is meant to be a professional discussion so please write professionally. You are to answer one of the following questions.
Please note the word count is the maximum but the number of references is a minimum.