Evaluate three real climate initiatives — carbon pricing, reforestation, and electric vehicles — then write a recommendation memo to a city council. All the information you need is on this page.
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Your scenario
The City of Maplewood (population 85,000) has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% before 2035. The city council has budget for one major climate initiative this year. Three proposals are on the table. By the end of this lesson, you'll evaluate all three — and write a short memo recommending one.
Work through each initiative in order. For each one: read the context brief, then complete the four evaluation questions. When you've finished all three, move to Section 4 to write your memo. Your answers are saved automatically as you type.
Initiative 1Carbon Pricing~15 min
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Economic Policy
Put a price on every tonne of carbon emitted
Charge companies and individuals for the greenhouse gases they emit. The higher the price, the stronger the incentive to use less fuel, switch to cleaner energy, or invest in new technology.
📋 Context & Evidence Brief — read this before answering
How it works in Canada
Canada introduced a federal carbon price in 2019, starting at $20 per tonne of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e).
By 2024 the price had risen to $65/tonne and applied to most fossil fuel combustion — home heating, gasoline, industrial processes.
Revenue is returned to households quarterly as the Canada Carbon Rebate. Lower-income households in most provinces receive more in rebates than they pay in carbon charges.
In April 2025, the federal government paused the consumer carbon price at $65/tonne following political pressure; the industrial pricing system remains in place.
What the evidence shows
A federal government analysis estimated carbon pricing would reduce Canada's emissions by 15–26 Mt CO₂e per year by 2030.
For context: Canada's total annual GHG emissions are approximately 670 Mt CO₂e — so this represents a 2–4% reduction from carbon pricing alone.
Studies show modest consumer behaviour change — slightly more fuel-efficient vehicle purchases, some switching from oil furnaces to heat pumps.
Industry response has been slower; many large emitters find it cheaper to pay the carbon price than to change their operations in the short term.
Mechanism
In your own words, how does carbon pricing reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Describe the cause-and-effect logic.
Greenhouse Gases Addressed
Which greenhouse gas(es) does this initiative primarily target? (Think about what gets taxed — and what doesn't.)
Evidence Evaluation
Based on the numbers in the brief, how strong is the evidence that carbon pricing works? Rate it Strong / Moderate / Weak and explain in 1–2 sentences.
Key Limitation
What is one significant limitation of carbon pricing as a climate strategy? Why does this limitation matter?
Initiative 2Reforestation~15 min
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Nature-Based Solution
Plant trees to absorb carbon from the atmosphere
Trees absorb CO₂ through photosynthesis and store carbon in wood, roots, and soil. Planting forests at scale is one of the most discussed strategies for removing carbon that has already been emitted.
📋 Context & Evidence Brief — read this before answering
Scale & timelines
The global Trillion Trees initiative (backed by the World Economic Forum and others) aims to plant one trillion trees worldwide.
Canada has committed to planting 2 billion trees by 2031 as part of its climate plan.
Newly planted trees absorb very little CO₂ for their first 5–15 years. Carbon storage builds slowly as trees mature — a 5-year-old sapling is not the same as a 50-year-old tree.
A mature Canadian forest absorbs approximately 1–3 tonnes of CO₂ per hectare per year. Canada has committed to protecting 30% of its land and ocean by 2030.
Risks & evidence
Canada's 2023 wildfire season burned approximately 18 million hectares — the worst on record — and released an estimated 647 Mt of CO₂. That is roughly equal to Canada's entire annual GHG emissions from all other sources combined.
Climate change is making wildfires, droughts, and pest outbreaks (e.g., mountain pine beetle) more frequent and severe — threatening the permanence of any stored carbon.
Tree plantations that use a single species (monocultures) sequester less carbon and are more vulnerable to disease than diverse, natural forests.
Reforestation addresses atmospheric CO₂, but does not reduce emissions at their source — it removes carbon already emitted, rather than preventing new emissions.
Mechanism
In your own words, how does reforestation reduce the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere? Name the biological process involved.
Greenhouse Gases Addressed
Which greenhouse gas(es) does reforestation directly affect? Does it prevent emissions, remove them, or both?
Evidence Evaluation
Based on the wildfire data in the brief, how confident should we be that planted trees will permanently store carbon? Rate the evidence Strong / Moderate / Weak and explain.
Key Limitation
What is one significant limitation of reforestation as a climate strategy? Why does this limitation matter for Maplewood specifically?
Initiative 3Electric Vehicles~15 min
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Technology Transition
Replace gasoline vehicles with electric ones
Electric vehicles (EVs) produce zero tailpipe emissions. As the electricity grid becomes cleaner, the total lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of EVs fall further — making this strategy more effective over time.
📋 Context & Evidence Brief — read this before answering
The emissions problem
Transportation accounts for approximately 25% of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions — the second-largest sector after oil and gas.
Passenger cars and light trucks are the largest share within transportation, producing mainly CO₂ from burning gasoline or diesel.
Canada has set a target of 100% zero-emission new vehicle sales by 2035. As of 2023, EVs made up about 9% of new vehicle sales, up from under 1% in 2018.
Evidence & trade-offs
On Canada's current national electricity grid, an EV produces approximately 50% fewer lifecycle CO₂ emissions than a comparable gasoline vehicle — including manufacturing and charging.
In provinces with cleaner grids (e.g., British Columbia, Quebec), lifecycle emissions are 75–90% lower than gasoline equivalents.
Manufacturing EV batteries requires mining lithium, cobalt, and nickel — which has environmental and human-rights impacts in the regions where these minerals are extracted.
EV upfront purchase prices remain higher than comparable gasoline vehicles, though the gap is narrowing. Charging infrastructure is limited in rural areas.
Mechanism
In your own words, how do electric vehicles reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Where in the vehicle's lifecycle do emissions still occur?
Greenhouse Gases Addressed
Which greenhouse gas(es) does switching to EVs primarily reduce? Does it eliminate all emissions from transportation?
Evidence Evaluation
The evidence shows EVs reduce lifecycle emissions by ~50% on the national grid, but up to 90% on a cleaner grid. What does this tell you about how the effectiveness of EVs depends on other factors? Rate the evidence and explain.
Key Limitation
What is one significant limitation of an EV transition as a climate strategy? Consider both the environmental and practical dimensions.
Section 4The Recommendation Memo~20 min
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Maplewood City Council — Final Briefing
You've been asked to advise the council. They've narrowed the decision to two of the three initiatives you just evaluated. Choose the two you find most interesting to compare, identify the stronger option, and write a short memo explaining your recommendation. The council will use it to decide where to invest.
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Before you write — pre-plan in the table below
Fill in the comparison table first. It'll make your memo faster to write and stronger in its reasoning.
Criteria
Initiative A (your choice)
Initiative B (your choice)
Which initiative?
Main strength for Maplewood
Main limitation
Better fit for Maplewood? (✓ one)
Question — The Memo
Write your 4–6 sentence recommendation memo to Maplewood City Council.
Your memo must:
✓ State which initiative you recommend (be specific)
✓ Explain the mechanism — how does it actually reduce greenhouse gases?
✓ Acknowledge one limitation of your chosen initiative and explain why you're recommending it anyway
✓ Briefly explain why you did not choose the other initiative you compared
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Early finisher extension
A council member asks: "Why not do all three?" Write a 2–3 sentence response explaining what trade-offs the council would face if they tried to split their budget across all three initiatives at once. Think about what gets sacrificed when you pursue a little of everything instead of committing to one thing.
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