Deck 9: Public and Local Green Initiatives

Question 1

The new paradigms of "Bamtaare" in West Africa, "Buen Vivir" in Ecuador, demonstrate new orientations of ______ underlying new and future models of development.

A) fairness, harmoniousness, good quality of life
B) competition and capriciousness
C) intolerance and indifference
D) secrecy and independence

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Development futures will be governed by the tensions between two concepts: "one world" ontology symbolized by ______, and "pluriverse" worldview symbolized by ______.

A) globalization; localization.
B) particularization; universalization
C) communitarianism; individualism
D) meritocracy; plutocracy.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What is the ultimate criticism of renewable power?

A) The costs of equipment and materials continue to rise in the North.
B) Weather is unpredictable and so power delivery is unpredictable.
C) It will take too long to build the necessary infrastructure.
D) Governments are willing to subsidize the costs.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

As important as the phenomenon of eco-city is, it is still in its infancy and is a moving target because

A) urban planners need government approval for new building designs
B) urban planners need to encourage change in citizens consumption habits
C) urban planners need citizens committed to practices such as 'zero waste'
D) urban planners need to transform infrastructures and built environment into sustainable units

Question 5

China's expansion of its solar capacity, India's low-carbon growth strategy, Colombia's Green National Development Plan, and Ethiopia and Rwanda's low-carbon development plans, as well as Korea's adoption of a national strategy for Green Growth are all indications of the feasibility of ______ in the global south.

A) low-carbon energy sources and technologies
B) low development sources
C) sustainable energy consumption
D) sustainable reduction in green carbon emissions

Question 6

While energy privatization reversals are spreading, the countries with strongest commitments to renewable energy are those with strong, publicly owned electricity sectors (for example, Netherlands, Austria and Norway). This occurs because ______.

A) public sector is more reliable since it is not tied to the uncertainties of the market
B) private energy monopolies, because of shareholder interest and high profits, do not prioritize emission reductions
C) public sector is more reliant on renewable energy activists
D) public sector is suspicious of reliability of the private sector

Question 7

Which city plans to be the first large city in the world to use all renewable sources to generate electricity by 2025?

A) Amsterdam
B) Hungary
C) Copenhagen
D) Oslo

Question 8

All of the following are examples of Greening efforts, except ______.

A) fuel substitutes
B) carbon capture and storage
C) heat loss reduction
D) use of greenify appliances

Question 9

All of the following are ways the circular economy concept is shaping how some cities are learning to design out waste and pollution EXCEPT ______.

A) extracting waste into specified locations for targeted waste management
B) keeping products and materials in use by systematic recycling
C) regenerating natural systems
D) overcoming the continual throughput of resources into goods and services that produce waste and GHGs

Question 10

Agriculture's role of multifunctionality includes all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A) stabilizing rural cultures
B) reducing poverty and social/gender inequality
C) eliminating unsustainable food crops
D) reversing environmental degradation and global warming

Question 11

What is an example of horizontal social methodologies practiced by small farmers across time, also known as 'campesino-a-campesino'?

A) cross-investment in peasant farms
B) exchanges of seeds and ecosystem knowledge
C) division of biodiversity
D) the rejection of credit for purchasing agro-inputs

Question 12

What element of urban greening is expected to ensure a democratic distribution of resources?

A) division of labor
B) social uprising
C) public leadership
D) small-farmer involvement

Question 13

COVID-19 tragically exposed the following public health measures and consequences in relation to human development:

A) the ill-preparedness of national governments in strategic long-term public health planning
B) pollution exacerbating respiratory vulnerabilities
C) fragile health care infrastructures in consequence of the steady privatization of public capacity in the neoliberal era
D) disproportionate infection rates among deprived communities

Question 14

Why did Dipal Barua, founder of Bright Green Energy, say "Women are the main victims of the energy crisis"?

A) Most women in the global South work in offices.
B) Women suffer the most from indoor air pollution.
C) Women in lower classes change working environments very often.
D) Women are tasked with wood-gathering and other hard labor.

Question 15

Which two countries will be the center of global energy demand growth?

A) India
B) Brazil
C) South Africa
D) China

Question 16

How is the industrial food system beginning to exhaust its productive and profit potential?

A) soil degradation
B) pest- and disease-ravaged monocultural plantations
C) depleted fisheries
D) herbicide-tolerant weeds

Question 17

How can female peasant farmers in the global South take action to improve their daily well-being?

A) seed saving
B) cross-farm investing
C) participating in green energy initiatives
D) farming organic crops

Question 18

Many small farmers are recently adapting to climate change.

Question 19

The supergrid does not combine several different forms of natural energy across a variety of regions.

Question 20

Publicly managed renewable-energy regimes are now entirely possible.

Question 21

Even so, while the unit cost of renewable energy has fallen dramatically since 1995, over that same 25 years the proportion of global energy used derived from renewables has not grown at all.

Question 22

Industrial agriculture needs less of the planet's arable land in comparison to small farmers to feed more of its people.

Question 23

The largest study on sustainable farming in Asia, conducted by MASIPAG, recently found showed organic farmers enjoyed greater food security, with more diverse, nutritious and secure diets, and substantially better health.

Question 24

The irony of the plans for developing eco-cities is that all cities being considered already have a substantial carbon footprint.

Question 25

Countries with the strongest commitments to renewable energy are those with strong, publicly owned electricity sectors.

Question 26

Briefly explain seed saving and seed exchanging. How do these practices impact small farmers and the environment?

Question 27

Explain why there is deepening conflict between agribusiness and small farmers.

Question 28

Explain how the Transition Town movement is a prime example of building circular economy infrastructure.

Question 29

How does the idea of Buen Vivir reformulate the meaning and practice of development?

Question 30

What is the "pluriverse" world view and how does it differ from the "one world" ontology of globalization? What are the tenets of these two paradigms and how would you characterize their competing visions of the future? Provide examples of each paradigm in practice.