Alternative Energy - the National High School Debate Topic,
2008/09 - is up and running on the web at:
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/debate08.html
The web site has annotated links to major global warming reports, the three fossil fuels and energy alternatives ranging from hydrogen, wind, and wave to fuel cells, plug-in electric cars, and various hyrids. There are articles, research reports, laws, and Congressional hearings in full text. The Department of Energy has a truly outstanding web site, which we analyzed and supplemented with those from think tanks, automakers, state government associations, and the OECD.
Given national interest in the topic and piecemeal coverage by the media, the web team attempted to create a broad picture of the energy/environment tension, evaluate potential short and long term fixes, and define mysterious terms such as carbon sequestration.
Ray Walling (Rozkuszka Scholarship), Todd Baker and Justin Joque (both SI students) were a dream team. We spent about six weeks throwing questions at one another, like the difference between the Toyota Prius and the newest hydrogen Honda. What does methane have to do with that commercial about cows? (Not much.)
While most of us have been worrying about gas prices, it turns out that Congress has been constantly trying to address the issues and private industry has made more progress than we realized.
Grace York, Coordinator
Documents Center
University of Michigan Library
graceyor@umich.edu
(734) 764-0410
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/