Discussion guide for “Don’t Be Crude: is energy independence a national necessity or fuel’s paradise?”
As with all Spirited Dialogues, we recommend you find a volunteer to start the discussion off with a prepared five minute talk of their thoughts on the topic. The two of you may want to figure out what questions to lead the discussion with together – and you may use their talk as a spring board. Feel free, instead, to use the questions below to keep the discussion moving.
There are many ways to lead a discussion. We find what works best is to have the facilitator toss out a few key questions and then let the guests “pass the stuffed elephant or donkey” (or other object) to whoever wants to speak next. (The stuffed animal has the magical powers of keeping everyone from talking at once – and taking themselves too seriously.)
Have we got a problem? (half an hour)
Start off with a survey “Raise your hand if you think we should be working toward energy independence for national security reasons (take a hand count) – for global warming or other environmental reasons (take hand count) – or if you think energy independence is a waste of time (final hand count)”
Ask people who think we need to wean ourselves off of oil for security reasons why they think so. Let folks who disagree respond.
Ask people who think we need to wean ourselves off of oil for environmental reasons why they think so. Let folks who disagree respond.
You probably won’t have to do much more – by this time, folks will probablyhave tons to respond to and keep the conversation going, but if there is a big lull, you might try some provocative questions, like:
As long as there is a global market, is it really possible for us to be independent of Middle Eastern oil?
What price are people willing to pay for energy to make sure it doesn’t come from the Middle East? Ditto for global warming – what price are people willing to pay?
If folks are worried about global warming, instead of getting rid of fossil fuels, why not just make sure they don’t emit carbon (with filters, for example)?
What’s the solution? (half an hour)
Ask folks what they think the government should do to make us energy independent. Again, that should be all you have to do, but if not – you can toss out proposed solutions, one by one, including:
Gas tax, subsidies for ethanol and/or other renewable fuels, carbon tax, caps on carbon emissions, higher fuel efficiency standards, open up drilling in the US, nuclear power.