Posted: September 16th, 2017

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

The idea of sustainability—helping to meet the needs of future generations—has (under one name or another) been a concern of policy and planning for some time. Many specific attempts to improve some aspect of sustainability have been proposed, undertaken, or even abandoned over the years. Such variety gets complicated, and looking at various examples in ways that directly relate to our class topics, themes, discussions, and readings can be help our understanding. Your assignment is to find and describe a case—a plan, a project, a policy or a program—that seeks to advance some aspect(s) of sustainability, whether broad or limited. Then, analyze your case for connections to at least one of the topics or examples we’ve read about and discussed for class. Don’t take on too big a case, or an entire environmental or sustainability issue (e.g. walkability, or pollution). Rather, choose a specific or focused-enough case that can be adequately described and analyzed in a moderate-length paper. The assignment has the following parts: I. Description of the case (plan, project, policy or program), and its attempts to implement or promote sustainability in some way. This section should cover main actors or stakeholders, specific location(s), particular goals, desired outcomes, and/or other relevant details. (4-5 pages) o You may propose your own case, or choose one (a plan, project, policy or program) related to the following: the LA River; adaptive building re-use; “green” architecture; obesity and urban form; healthy food choices; farmers’ markets; community gardens; alternative transportation; recycling; alternative energy; water; social equity; resource conservation; etcetera. The case may be current, recent, or past. Note: A case of private development would need to have a clear environmental or sustainability focus to be acceptable for this assignment. II. Analysis of the case, using at least one related topic or example from our class and its associated readings; more than one topic or example is better. A successful paper will define and explain the topic as described and explained in our class’s readings, videos, lectures and discussions—then draw detailed connections (e.g. comparing similarities, contrasting differences) between that class topic or example, and your case. (5-6 pages) o Relevant course topics include the three pillars of sustainability; public policy tools; concepts of nature and wilderness; education & information; rhetoric and persuasion (e.g. framing); the five elements of a sustainability planning approach; the use of standards, benchmarks, and measurements (e.g. VMT targets, GHG levels); etcetera. Relevant examples (thus far) include Cape Wind, and the Third Industrial Revolution. Note: you may also use other class topics and examples for your analysis, even if we haven’t gotten to them yet. Reading ahead is perfectly fine. The above elements constitute the essay; below, the supporting content: III. Exhibits or illustrations (images, charts, graphics, etc.) that clearly support your writing are welcome (maximum of four) but not required. (Don’t include for no good reason; irrelevant graphics hurt, not help, your paper.) If you do include them, cite each one’s source, and caption each with a useful description. IV. Bibliography of six references minimum, at least two of which must not be non-digital / non-internet based. (These are in addition to the class readings you’ll cite in your analysis.) You need to get approval for your case. For this, email me with your proposed case named in the subject line. Your email should be a paragraph of your own writing: (a) briefly describe the plan, project, policy or program; (b) name the topic(s) and/or example(s) from this class you expect to use in your analysis; (c) and list at least three references/ sources you plan to use. Writing: Write for an educated but non-expert audience—someone intelligent but without exposure to our course. This means explaining or defining terms and concepts for the reader, even those we’ve read about or discussed in class. Be clear and concise, but include enough information to be thorough. (This takes time, and requires working beyond a first draft.) This should be an original and professional-quality paper that has been proof- read for correct spelling, grammar, syntax, and punctuation. Use an 11- or 12-point font, double-spaced, with a one-inch margin on all sides of the page. Number your pages. Cite all your sources. If you need help with writing, I recommend visiting the USC Writing Center (http://college.usc.edu/writingcenter/). As always: if you have questions, bring them up to me so that we can discuss them—the sooner, the better.

Expert paper writers are just a few clicks away

Place an order in 3 easy steps. Takes less than 5 mins.

Calculate the price of your order

You will get a personal manager and a discount.
We'll send you the first draft for approval by at
Total price:
$0.00
Live Chat+1-631-333-0101EmailWhatsApp