A CLASSROOM SIMULATION OF 'CARBON FEE AND DIVIDEND'

Climate change education includes studying strategies to slow carbon emissions, among them regulating emissions directly, subsidizing renewable energy, and placing a cost on carbon released to the atmosphere. Classroom simulations of a placing a cost on carbon have existed for several years. These have put students in the role of corporations making emissions decisions on the basis of “cap and trade” rules or a carbon tax.

To help students better envision themselves in a world intentionally shrinking its use of fossil fuels, a new simulation places students in the roles of ordinary Americans.

The simulation is based on the Carbon Fee and Dividend Proposal set out by Citizens’ Climate Lobby (https://citizensclimatelobby.org/carbon-fee-and-dividend/). Simply stated, it “will place a steadily increasing fee on fossil fuels at their source (the well, mine, or port of entry), beginning at $15 per ton of CO2 emitted, and increasing each year by $10. All revenues will be returned in equal shares to American households as a monthly dividend.”

In the simulation, each team of students represents a household with a selected geographic and economic circumstance (e.g. urban/suburban/rural, high/middle/low income), making economic decisions in selected years along a timeline. After completing the simulation, students discuss perceived strengths and weaknesses of the proposal and its chances of achieving the desired transition from fossil fuels to efficient use of renewable energy.