Climate refugees https://www.morningsidecenter.org/ en A Global Challenge: 'Climate Refugees' https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/global-challenge-climate-refugees <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>A Global Challenge: &#039;Climate Refugees&#039;</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Gathering&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ask students:</p> <ul> <li>What do you think it means to be a refugee?&nbsp;</li> <li>What kinds of events cause people to search for safety far from home?</li> <li>Can you think of any examples?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <h4>Reading 1:&nbsp;<br> Refugees from a changing climate<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Refugee. The word conjures images of people running from persecution and war, clinging to rafts, sleeping in tents. Under international law, refugees are people fleeing conflict or persecution. There are 20 million people classified as refugees in the world today, according to the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/refugees.html">UNHCR</a>, the United Nations Refugee Agency. They include Syrians running from their country’s devastating conflict, members of Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic minority escaping persecution, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/02/south-sudans-million-strong-refugee-crisis-is-a-test-for-the-world-bank">South Sudanese</a> fleeing civil war. All told, there are more refugees in the world today than at any time since the end of World War II.<br> &nbsp;<br> To organizations that help refugees, such as the UNHCR, the world is already suffering from a catastrophic refugee crisis. But today’s refugee population may be just a fraction of what the world could see in coming decades. As the planet warms and polar ice melts, changing weather patterns and rising seas will force millions of people to leave their homes.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> By 2060, there could be about 1.4 billion climate refugees, estimates Charles Geisler, professor emeritus of development sociology at <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/06/rising-seas-could-result-2-billion-refugees-2100">Cornell University</a>. By 2100, the number might be as high as 2 billion — about one–fifth of the world’s anticipated population. Geisler cites a variety of factors contributing to the expected tsunami of refugees, including "war, exhausted natural resources, declining productivity desertification, urban sprawl, ‘paving the planet’ with roads."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> A refuge is a safe shelter. Where can people find refuge when the climate in their home countries can no longer support farming, fishing, hunting, and other activities that have sustained human life for centuries, if not millennia?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> People who fit the legal definition of "refugee" are entitled to certain types of protection under international law.&nbsp;But people fleeing climate chaos do not meet the current legal definition of "refugees," even when government policy is responsible for uninhabitable conditions. The current migration system "makes climate refugees particularly disposable," says <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2016/12/16/climate-refugees-people-and-the-environment-treated-as-disposable">Zygmunt Bauman</a>, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Leeds, leading to "a lack of protection for these people."<br> &nbsp;<br> "Ironically," writes reporter <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2016/12/16/climate-refugees-people-and-the-environment-treated-as-disposable">Bruna Kadletz</a>, climate refugees&nbsp; "often come from countries with low carbon dioxide emissions and few resources to respond to climate change." Kadletz describes the precarious life of&nbsp;11–year–old Melina, who left her home in southern Malawi when she was three to move with her parents to South Africa. Since the late 1990s, Malawi has cycled between extreme flood and drought conditions. This severe weather made it impossible to grow the staple crop, maize, that had sustained Melina’s family for generations. In South Africa, the family is living in limbo, without the legal status that would allow Melina to go to school and the family to have access to health care.<br> &nbsp;<br> Climate change doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Typically, a combination of factors forces people to leave their homes. Excessive drought, heat, or flooding intertwine with famine, unemployment, inequality, and conflict. Climate change acts as a "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/magazine/how-a-warming-planet-drives-human-migration.html">threat multiplier</a>" — a&nbsp;factor that can push simmering social, political, and economic problems into full–blown crisis.<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/syria-climate-years-living-dangerously-symbolia/">Syria</a> is a clear example of a climate disaster that that catapulted a political crisis into catastrophe. A three–year drought, the worst in the region’s recorded history, led to crop failures and livestock deaths. Scientists say the drought’s length and intensity could only be explained as a result of a changing climate. More than a million people, mostly farmers who could no longer live on the land, sought work in overcrowded cities where food prices soared, fueling existing dissatisfaction with the authoritarian Assad regime. By March 2017, more than <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/meast/syria-civil-war-fast-facts/index.html">5 million people</a> had left the country and 6.3 million were displaced within the country.<br> &nbsp;<br> On the other hand, there are places where climate change is the clear single cause of displacement. A report by the <em><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/31/lancet-study-warns-global-health-crisis-and-1-billion-climate-refugees-2050">Lancet,</a> </em>a British medical journal, found that at least 4,400 people have been forced to leave their homes in Alaska, Papua New Guinea, and Louisiana because of rising seas, coastal erosion, and disintegrating coastlines.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Kiribati is another example of a country that expects climate change to drive migration. The Pacific island nation, located midway between Australia and Hawaii, may be entirely underwater in 30 to 50 years. So it is planning for "Migration with Dignity" by training its citizens in high–tech skills that, the government hopes, will win them a welcome in other countries. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/31/a-proposal-in-new-zealand-could-trigger-the-era-of-climate-change-refugees/?utm_term=.8de6e2422271">New Zealand</a>, for its part, is discussing whether to offer asylum to people fleeing climate change, which could open the door for Kiribati’s climate refugees.<br> &nbsp;<br> But it seems unlikely that Kiribati’s strategy could provide a solution for the millions if not billions of people who eventually may be displaced. "Humanity is in crisis," warns sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, "and there is no exit from that crisis other than the solidarity of humans."<br> <br> &nbsp;</p> <h4>For discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How does climate change force people to leave their homes? &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should governments recognize people displaced by climate change as refugees? How might this help the people who are displaced?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should countries that are not suffering from climate displacement help people fleeing from other countries because of changes in climate? How can they help?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does Zygmunt Bauman mean when he says that "there is no exit" from a humanitarian crisis "other than the solidarity of other humans?" Do you agree? Why or why not? &nbsp;</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> &nbsp;<br> Reading 2:<br> Louisiana’s climate refugees</h4> <p><br> People who study climate change expect many future climate refugees to come from Africa and Asia. But some climate refugees will be leaving homes in the United States.<br> &nbsp;<br> In September 2017, an enormous hurricane, Maria, struck the island of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States whose residents are American citizens. The hurricane caused massive destruction across the island and created a crisis for millions of people. Tens of thousands of storm victims have fled the island to rebuild their lives on the mainland. (See this <a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/cultivating-compassion-puerto-ricos-climate-refugees">companion TeachableMoment lesson</a> on Puerto Rican families forced from their homes after Hurricane Maria.)<br> &nbsp;<br> Other Americans are being turned into refugees because of ongoing climate changes. The Native American people of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/02/us/heart-of-the-matter-climate-change-louisiana/index.html">Isle de Jean Charles</a>, 80 miles from New Orleans are be among them.<br> &nbsp;<br> Over the past 60 years, Isle de Jean Charles has lost 98% of its land mass in a perfect storm of rising sea levels, damaging hurricanes, and oil and gas canals that slice through the island. Only half a square mile of land remains above the water level, and that too will disappear by 2100 if sea levels keep rising as predicted.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Many of the island’s people have already moved on. Where there were about 80 families in the 1950s, only 30 still remain. It’s not clear how much longer they can stay. To help them build new lives away from the island, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced in 2016 that it would spend $48 million to move the entire Isle de Jean Charles community to higher ground.<br> &nbsp;<br> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/us/resettling-the-first-american-climate-refugees.html">New York Times</a> reporters Coral Davenport and Campbell Robertson describe the challenges of resettling this community in their article "<em>Resettling the First American ‘Climate Refugees’"</em> (May 3, 2016). They quote Walter Kaelin, the head of <a href="https://www.nanseninitiative.org/">the Nansen Initiative</a>, a research organization working with the United Nations to address extreme–weather displacement: "You don’t want to wait until people have lost their homes, until they flee and become refugees," he said. "The idea is to plan ahead and provide people with some measure of choice."<br> &nbsp;<br> Under a federal grant, the island’s approximately 60 residents will be resettled to drier land, to a community that does not yet exist. &nbsp;According to the Times, the Isle de Jean Charles resettlement plan is one of the first programs of its kind in the world –&nbsp; and a test of how to respond to climate change without tearing communities apart.</p> <p class="rteindent1">&nbsp;<br> For over a century, the American Indians on the island fished, hunted, trapped and farmed among the lush banana and pecan trees that once spread out for acres. But since 1955, more than 90 percent of the island’s original land mass has washed away. Channels cut by loggers and oil companies eroded much of the island, and decades of flood control efforts have kept once free–flowing rivers from replenishing the wetlands’ sediments. Some of the island was swept away by hurricanes.<br> &nbsp;<br> What little remains will eventually be inundated as burning fossil fuels melt polar ice sheets and drive up sea levels, projected the National Climate Assessment, a report of 13 federal agencies that highlighted the Isle de Jean Charles and its tribal residents as among the nation’s most vulnerable.<br> &nbsp;<br> Already, the homes and trailers bear the mildewed, rusting scars of increasing floods. The fruit trees are mostly gone or dying thanks to saltwater in the soil. Few animals are left to hunt or trap.<br> &nbsp;<br> Violet Handon Parfait sees nothing but a bleak future in the rising waters. She lives with her husband and two children in a small trailer behind the wreckage of their house, which <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/hurricane-gustav">Hurricane Gustav</a> destroyed in 2008.<br> &nbsp;<br> The floods ruined the trailer’s oven, so the family cooks on a hot plate. Water destroyed the family computer, too. Ms. Parfait, who has lupus, is afraid of what will happen if she is sick and cannot reach a doctor over the flooded bridge.<br> &nbsp;<br> Ms. Parfait, who dropped out of high school, hopes for a brighter future, including college, for her children, Heather, 15, and Reggie, 13. But the children often miss school when flooding blocks their school bus. "I just want to get out of here," she said.<br> &nbsp;<br> Still, many residents of Isle de Jean Charles do not want to leave. Attachment to the island runs deep. Parents and grandparents lived here; there is a cemetery on the island that no one wants to abandon. Old and well–earned distrust of the government hangs over all efforts, and a bitter dispute between the two Indian tribes with members on the island has thwarted efforts to unite behind a plan.<br> &nbsp;<br> "Ain’t nobody I talk to that wants to move," said Edison Dardar, 66, a lifelong resident who has erected handwritten signs at the entrance to the island declaring his refusal to leave. "I don’t know who’s in charge of all this."<br> &nbsp;<br> Whether to leave is only the first of the hard questions: Where does everyone go? What claim do they have to what is left behind? Will they be welcomed by their new neighbors? Will there be work nearby? Who will be allowed to join them?</p> <p>&nbsp;<br> Mark Davis, the director of the <a href="http://www.tulanewater.org/">Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy</a>, told the Times reporters: "This is not just a simple matter of writing a check and moving happily to a place where they are embraced by their new neighbors. If you have a hard time moving dozens of people, it becomes impossible in any kind of organized or fair way to move thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or, if you look at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/us/florida-finds-itself-in-the-eye-of-the-storm-on-climate-change.html">forecast for South Florida</a>, maybe even millions."&nbsp;</p> <h4>&nbsp;<br> For discussion: &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Why do you think it’s so difficult to resettle climate refugees?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you think the federal government should be involved in resettling people from areas affected by climate change?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should state and local governments begin preparing now for evacuation of areas that are predicted to be underwater in the coming decades? How can people prepare as climate change advances?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What can we do to ensure that those who are displaced by climate change find safe and welcoming homes elsewhere?&nbsp; &nbsp;</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Extension Activity<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change calls on nations participating in the Paris climate accords to find ways to protect and support people displaced by climate change. The UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, asks all nations to commit resources to helping those already displaced, find ways to prevent and reduce the risk of displacement, and support areas at risk with technical advice for relocating people in harm’s way.<br> &nbsp;<br> How can governments and non–governmental aid groups provide the support that climate refugees need?<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students to read this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/magazine/how-a-warming-planet-drives-human-migration.html">New York Times article</a> and choose a specific area of the world where climate is displacing people or is expected to displace people.<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students, in small groups or individually, to research the area they have chosen, and to be prepared to share what they’ve learned with classmates.&nbsp;Ask them to find out:<br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>How climate threatens people’s lives and may force them to leave<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How climate change may be causing or aggravating other problems in the area, such as war, crime, and human rights abuses.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Whether international and national organizations are acting to help people displaced by climate change and related problems and how these groups are trying to help.</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> In the next class, ask students to share what they've learned. Talk with students about what we, as individuals, or as a school or community, might do to help people who are displaced by climate change.<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-12-03T14:19:14-05:00" title="Sunday, December 3, 2017 - 14:19">December 3, 2017</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 03 Dec 2017 19:19:14 +0000 fionta 307 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Cultivating Compassion for Puerto Rico's 'Climate Refugees' https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/cultivating-compassion-puerto-ricos-climate-refugees <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Cultivating Compassion for Puerto Rico&#039;s &#039;Climate Refugees&#039;</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Gathering</h4> <p><br> In pairs, ask students to share something that makes them feel "at home."&nbsp; Ask a few volunteers to share with the full group.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Check Agenda and Objectives</h4> <p><br> Explain that in today’s lesson we’ll be hearing stories from people who left Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck the island on September 20, 2017.&nbsp;</p> <p>Though the news media has largely moved on from this story, the devastation in the wake of the hurricane continues to impact families in Puerto Rico and across the U.S.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Video:<br> Puerto Rico Devastated by Hurricane Maria</h4> <p><br> Play the following video to remind us of what happened on September 20 and the days that followed:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/09/21/puerto-rico-ravaged-by-hurricane-maria-nick-paton-walsh-dnt.cnn">https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/09/21/puerto-rico-ravaged-by-hurricane-maria-nick-paton-walsh-dnt.cnn</a></p> <p>Discuss the video or go straight into the student reading (below), before discussing both according to the questions below.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Student Reading<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Invite students to read the pdf handout "<a href="/sites/default/files/files/Tragedy%20in%20Puerto%20Rico.pdf">Tragedy in Puerto Rico</a>" (it is also included at the end of this lesson).&nbsp; After reading it, discuss it by asking students some or all of the questions below. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about what you just read?&nbsp; What stood out for you about what you just read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Were you aware of the devastation Hurricane Maria caused in Puerto Rico on September 20?&nbsp; How?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>When did you last see a story about Puerto Rico in the news?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you think this means that the people of Puerto Rico have been able to return to their lives as normal?&nbsp; Has the devastation created by Hurricane Maria been dealt with?&nbsp; Have the problems of the island been resolved?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How do you feel about the fact that the devastation of Puerto Rico, and the struggle of its people, is no longer in the news?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about the Puerto Rico before the storm ever made landfall? &nbsp;How has this continued to impact the island’s relief efforts?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about small islands and large climate events?&nbsp; What does it say about the future of small islands like Puerto Rico in this regard?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As you discuss the questions, elicit or explain that although we now hear little in the news about Puerto Rico, the crisis continues:<br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Puerto Rico’s infrastructure was devastated by the storm, and recovery is expected to take years, causing huge economic pain for island residents, who are American citizens. The Climate Impact Lab estimates that Hurricane María will reduce per capita income in Puerto Rico by 21% over the next 15 years.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In the three months following the hurricane, hundreds of thousands of people living in Puerto Rico&nbsp;left for the U.S. mainland.&nbsp; The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College expects this mass exodus to continue: They estimate that Puerto Rico may lose up 14% of the population in the next several years. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Meanwhile, refugees from the hurricane are trying to make new homes for themselves in communities around the U.S., including in Florida and New York.&nbsp; Many hope to someday return to their homes.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Climate Migration Stories<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Post these <a href="/sites/default/files/files/Climate%20Migration%20Stories.pdf">six migrant stories</a> (also included below) around the room, each with the questions underneath the story.&nbsp; Split your class into six groups, asking each to stand by one of the migrant stories that you have posted.&nbsp;</p> <p>Invite each group to read their story, then discuss the questions posted underneath for up to 10 minutes.&nbsp; After 10 minutes, ask groups to rotate around the room clockwise, moving to the next story.&nbsp; Ask them once again to read the story and discuss the same questions underneath.&nbsp; If time allows, have the groups rotate once more, going through the same process.&nbsp;</p> <p>At the end of the rotation, bring the group back together again, asking some or all of the following questions for discussion</p> <ul> <li>What were some of the similarities and differences between the stories?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What did you learn about why people left Puerto Rico?&nbsp; Did they want to leave? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think lies ahead for the people who left Puerto Rico?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do they say about leaving Puerto Rico?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do they say about returning to Puerto Rico?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In what ways can we as individuals help those who have lost their homes in Puerto Rico?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What should we expect our government to do to help those who have been displaced?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Closing<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ask students to share one wish they have the families whose stories we have discussed today.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>&nbsp;</h4> <h4><strong>Student Reading:</strong><br> <strong>Tragedy in Puerto Rico</strong></h4> <p><br> On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States whose residents are American citizens. The hurricane caused massive destruction across the island, creating a crisis for millions of people. According to <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/puerto-ricans-could-be-newest-u-s-climate-refugees/">Scientific American</a>:</p> <p style="margin–left:.25in;">Hurricane Maria’s destruction on Puerto Rico could spawn one of the largest mass migration events in the United States’ recent history, experts say, as tens of thousands of storm victims flee the island territory to rebuild their lives on the U.S. mainland.&nbsp; ... "Whether that migration will be permanent or temporary is still anyone’s guess," Garcia added. "Much depends on the relief package that Congress negotiates."<br> &nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-10-19/some-puerto-rican-college-students-displaced-hurricane-maria-have-already-started">Public Radio International</a> reported on the many Puerto Rican college students who have moved to the mainland to continue their education.</p> <p style="margin–left:.25in;">Puerto Rico was already losing population because of its economic challenges before Hurricane Maria. ... The devastation wrought by Maria is expected to accelerate that exodus. And the wave of new arrivals to the mainland could be considered environmental migrants because of the role of climate change in making hurricanes more intense. ... This environmental migration is likely to only make Puerto Rico’s economic problems worse. ...<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>It’s been known for a long time that Puerto Rico was vulnerable to the violent storms that are becoming more and more frequent as the climate warms. <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/09/puerto_rico_is_experiencing_a_crisis_created_by_environmental_injustice.html">Slate</a> reports:</p> <p style="margin–left:.25in;">"These storms are big, islands are small; if they get a direct hit it can overcome the entire place," said John Mutter, a professor of earth and environmental sciences and of international and public affairs at Columbia University.&nbsp; "If all the first responders are unable to respond because the whole place is trashed, it creates a whole new level of disaster."</p> <p style="margin–left:.25in;">Poor communities are always hit the hardest in events like this, Mutter said. In the case of Puerto Rico—where nearly half the population is below the poverty level, the territory has no vote in Congress, and Texas and Florida are [competing] ... with the territory for limited federal disaster resources—inequity in recovery could be [made worse] ...</p> <p style="margin–left:.25in;">"This is not a one–off event," Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association, said. "We are going to see more of these. We ought to contribute to their recovery much more than we have done in the past, just as we plan to do in Texas and Florida.</p> <p style="margin–left:.25in;">&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Climate Migration Stories</h3> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>1.&nbsp; Rosamari’s Story</h4> <p><br> "Coming here was a big relief," says Rosamari Palerm. Rosamari was the first student from Puerto Rico to arrive at St. Thomas University, a private Catholic school in Miami Gardens, Florida, after Hurricane Maria struck.&nbsp; The electricity, clean water and cell service available on campus — not to mention college classes — stand in stark contrast to conditions at home.</p> <p>Much of Puerto Rico is still without power. Water contamination is widespread.&nbsp; The scope of the disaster there is still not completely understood.&nbsp; When the winds died down, sewage water flooded the streets outside her family’s apartment, the electric grid was down, and life as Palerm knew it was on hold. "I worked at a mall and the mall is completely destroyed, so I couldn’t work," Palerm says.&nbsp; Classes were suspended at Sacred Heart University where Palerm was a senior biology major.</p> <p>So when Palerm heard through family on the mainland that St. Thomas University was offering free room and board and tuition discounts to students displaced by the hurricane, she jumped at the chance to transfer.&nbsp; "I literally left with nothing.&nbsp; I just had my clothes," Palerm says. At the airport it hit her: "I’m probably not going to come back for a while." But Palerm’s family ties hold her tightly, and she says she wants to go back to Puerto Rico eventually. "I love my little island. I want to be a part of helping it get better."</p> <p>(Adapted from a story by PRI’s <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-10-19/some-puerto-rican-college-students-displaced-hurricane-maria-have-already-started">The World</a>, 10/19/17)</p> <p><br> <strong>Questions:</strong></p> <ul> <li>What might Rosamari Palerm have been feeling while in Puerto Rico after the storm?</li> <li>What do you think she is feeling now that she’s in Florida?</li> <li>What were the reasons for her to leave Puerto Rico?</li> <li>What do you think lies ahead for Rosamari?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> <strong>2.&nbsp; Ana María’s Story</strong><br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ana María Caraballo, 34, a Middle Island, NY, resident who is a morning drive–time personality for the Spanish–language station La Nueva Fiesta, feared for her family back in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. "I was dying of worry," she said.</p> <p>A relative and a friend drove hours along damaged roads from the Puerto Rican capital San Juan to check on Ana Maria’s dad. Days after the storm, they found Miguel Caraballo Pietri, a heart attack and stroke survivor, alone and disoriented in a dark house. A light pole had fallen on the roof and water had poured inside.&nbsp;</p> <p>On Sept. 29, Ana Maria’s father was among scores of storm refugees arriving at New York City’s Kennedy Airport, in what could be the start a larger migratory post–storm wave. He came to live with her.</p> <p>"Those of us who were at the airport waiting for relatives recognized each other from looking at our eyes. We went from a lot of worry and sadness to great relief," Ana María Caraballo said. "And people were coming through the gates and hugging each other and we all clapped."&nbsp;</p> <p>(Adapted from a story in <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/hurricane-maria-s-refugees-find-safe-port-with-family-on-li-1.14384367">Newsday</a>, 10/8/17)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Questions:</strong></p> <ul> <li>What might Ana Maria Carabello have been feeling while her father was in still Puerto Rico?&nbsp;</li> <li>What might her father have been feeling before coming to New York?</li> <li>What do you think Ana Maria is feeling now that her father is in New York?&nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think her father might be feeling?</li> <li>What were the reasons for him to leave Puerto Rico?</li> <li>What do you think lies ahead for Ana Maria and her father?</li> </ul> <p style="margin–left:.5in;">&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>3.&nbsp; Lydia’s Story<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>After the hurricane, Lydia Acevedo boarded a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Homestead, Florida, with her 14–year–old daughter, 22–year–old daughter, her son–in–law, 1–year–old grandson and her 72–year–old mother.</p> <p>"Having to separate is not easy, but we have to think positive. We have to think that this will pass soon and we will be able to reunite," says Lydia with tears in her eyes. Lydia says she had to take the role of head of household when the hurricane hit. Her husband was helping everyone else in Puerto Rico and she had to take the lead in looking for food and water for her family.</p> <p>Lydia faced a mixture of traumas, including her fear for the well–being of her 1–year–old grandson, Mateo, who suffers from asthma. He was running out of formula, and then there was the heat and humidity and the insects that come with it. Mosquito bites still cover part of Mateo's cheeks and arms.</p> <p>Lydia has family in Illinois and for now plans to stay in a hotel. But like everyone else aboard she vows to return to Puerto Rico to reunite with the piece of their hearts left behind."</p> <p><br> (Adapted from a report on <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/evacuees-puerto-rico/index.html">CNN</a>, 9/27/17)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Questions</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What might Lydia Acevedo have been feeling while she was still in Puerto Rico after the storm?</li> <li>What do you think Lydia is feeling now that she’s on her way to Florida?&nbsp; What do you think her husband might be feeling?</li> <li>What were the reasons for her to leave Puerto Rico?</li> <li>What do you think lies ahead for Lydia and her family?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>4.&nbsp; Jennifer’s Story</h4> <p><br> Jennifer Hernandez already has brought her sister, her sister’s husband, their 2–year–old daughter and her 68–year–old grandmother to come live with her and her husband in their one–bedroom apartment in Long Island, NY.</p> <p>Jennifer and her husband Miguel gave up their bed for her grandmother to use. She and everyone else fit, however they can, in their living room. "I have mattresses all over the place, leaning on the walls," said Hernández, 30, a warehouse supervisor at a thrift store.</p> <p>Jennifer wants to bring her mom and two sisters to Long Island, she said, "even if I have to live paycheck to paycheck" to do so.&nbsp; She wouldn’t feel comfortable here knowing her niece didn’t have milk to drink in Puerto Rico, and she worries about others still stranded in isolated areas.&nbsp;</p> <p>Jennifer’s sister, Niulska, said she was starting to become desperate in Ponce, Puerto Rico. "All we had left were the walls, without a roof," Niulska said. "There was no electricity, no water and mosquitoes were everywhere. . . . It was raining inside the house."&nbsp;</p> <p><br> (Adapted from a story in <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/hurricane-maria-s-refugees-find-safe-port-with-family-on-li-1.14384367">Newsday</a>, 10/8/17)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Questions</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What do you think Jennifer Hernandez was feeling &nbsp;about her family in Puerto Rico after the storm?&nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think her sister Niulska was feeling while in Puerto Rico after the storm?</li> <li>What do you think Jennifer is feeling now that her sister, her sister’s husband, their 2–year–old daughter, and her 68–year–old grandmother are with her in Long Island?&nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think her sister Niulska Hernandez is feeling?&nbsp;</li> <li>What were the reasons for Niulska and her family to leave Puerto Rico?</li> <li>What do you think lies ahead for Jennifer and her family?</li> </ul> <p style="margin–left:.5in;">&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>5.&nbsp; Vanessa’s Story<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Vanessa Carbia is aboard a plane taking her and her three children, ages 11 to 19, from Puerto Rico to Florida.&nbsp; In the back cargo section of the plane are Vanessa’s two Yorkies, Pandylucas and Benjamin. Vanessa wouldn't leave her home without them.</p> <p>Vanessa says that back in Puerto Rico, she only had food for four days and was left rationing it, never thinking she would have to evacuate on a flight with other families. With a heart heavy from the devastation and the worry that her children would be traumatized, Vanessa tried to manage her children's fears and worries while their father was working.&nbsp; Food and water shortages, she says, were difficult to reckon with.&nbsp;</p> <p>"When you see children waiting in line for food and water," Vanessa says and pauses. "That was the most impactful."&nbsp; Vanessa and her children plan to stay in a hotel for now, though she has family in Arizona. She plans to go back to Puerto Rico. "My whole life is there," says Carbia.</p> <p><br> (Adapted from a report on <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/evacuees-puerto-rico/index.html">CNN</a>, 9/27/17)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Questions</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What might Vanessa Carbia have been feeling while still in Puerto Rico after the storm?</li> <li>What do you think Vanessa is feeling now that she’s on her way to the mainland?</li> <li>What were the reasons for her to leave Puerto Rico?</li> <li>What do you think lies ahead for Vanessa and her family?</li> </ul> <p style="margin–left:.5in;">&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>6.&nbsp; George’s Story</h4> <p><br> "Only time will tell how many will return or stay, said George Siberón, 70, a Baldwin, NY, resident and community activist.</p> <p>George brought his mother, Antonia, 89, and his stepdad, Julio, 88, from Hatillo on Puerto Rico’s northern coast to live in Brooklyn.&nbsp; His daughter is considering moving with her husband and two kids from Bayamón, a municipality in the northern coastal valley, to Orlando, he said.&nbsp;</p> <p>"There was an exodus from Puerto Rico to begin with" because of the struggling economy, Siberón said. "When you don’t have electricity and you don’t have work and you don’t have a job that’s necessarily waiting, and the infrastructure is completely devastated, there’s a very strong sense that it’s going to take years to get some normalcy."</p> <p><br> (Adapted from a story in <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/hurricane-maria-s-refugees-find-safe-port-with-family-on-li-1.14384367">Newsday</a>, 10/8/17)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Questions</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What might George Siberón have been feeling while his mother and stepfather were still in Puerto Rico?</li> <li>What do you think George is feeling now that his parents are in New York?&nbsp; What do you think his parents might be feeling?</li> <li>What were the reasons for her to leave Puerto Rico?</li> <li>What do you think lies ahead for George and his parents?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-12-03T14:06:28-05:00" title="Sunday, December 3, 2017 - 14:06">December 3, 2017</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 03 Dec 2017 19:06:28 +0000 fionta 308 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org The 'Why' of Puerto Rico's Predicament https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/why-puerto-ricos-predicament <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>The &#039;Why&#039; of Puerto Rico&#039;s Predicament</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>&nbsp;</h4> <h4>Quiz<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><strong>1.&nbsp; </strong>Which of the following is true?</p> <p>a) Citizens of Puerto Rico are citizens of the United States</p> <p>b) Citizens of Puerto Rico have no vote in the U.S. Congress</p> <p>c) Citizens of Puerto Rico are ineligible to vote for president</p> <p>d) Citizens of Puerto Rico elect delegates to the Democratic and Republic conventions</p> <p><br> <strong>2.</strong> How did the U.S. come to own Puerto Rico?</p> <p>a) The people of Puerto Rico voted (in 1909) to join the U.S.</p> <p>b) The island was discovered by an American</p> <p>c) A secret deal between President McKinley and King Phillip</p> <p>d) The U.S. won a war with Spain</p> <p>e) It just happened</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>3. </strong>Which of the following were prohibited by the <em>Ley de La Mordaza</em> (Gag Law), enacted by the Puerto Rican legislature in 1948?</p> <p>a) displaying the Puerto Rican flag&nbsp; in one's home</p> <p>b) singing Puerto Rican nationalist songs</p> <p>c) clapping at nationalist rallies</p> <p>d) kneeling during the national anthem</p> <p>e) speaking against the U.S. government</p> <p>f) shipment of goods to or from Cuba</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>4.</strong> True or False</p> <p>Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico just as the island was experiencing an economic boom.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Answers;</strong></p> <p>1. All are true. Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a U.S. territory. The people of Puerto Rico are American citizens. However, because it is not a state, Puerto Rico has no senators, and its representative in the U.S. House of Representatives is a non–voting delegate, called the Resident&nbsp;Commissioner. Within the island, Puerto Ricans vote for their governor, legislature and local officials.</p> <p>2. d</p> <p>3. a, b, c</p> <p>4. False. Let's now find out how false!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Student Reading:<br> The 'Why' of Puerto Rico's Predicament</h4> <p><br> In September 2017, Puerto Rico was hit by two powerful hurricanes. The second, Hurricane Maria, was the most powerful storm to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years. The hurricane demolished homes and communities and left the entire island without electricity, which will likely take many months to restore.</p> <p>Federal response to Maria was slower and far less robust than the response to recent storm damage in Texas, Florida, and other mainland states. President Trump &nbsp;appeared to show little sympathy for hard–hit Puerto Ricans with statements like:</p> <p class="rteindent1">Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help.&nbsp; (Sept. 30)</p> <p class="rteindent1">They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort...(Sept. 30)</p> <p class="rteindent1">We cannot keep FEMA, the Military &amp; the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever! (Oct. 12)</p> <p class="rteindent1">Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making. (Oct. 12)<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>The President was widely criticized for the disparaging remarks and the slower, less vigorous relief effort in Puerto Rico. But the island has had a long history of neglect and poor treatment by the federal government. When President Trump stated that&nbsp; Puerto Rico, was already "suffering from broken infrastructure and massive debt," he was correct. Consider:</p> <ul> <li>The Puerto Rican economy shrank by 10% since 2006</li> <li>Unemployment &nbsp;is twice the national rate</li> <li>The poverty rate is over 40%</li> <li>The government of Puerto Rico owes over 70 billion dollars<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>But&nbsp; when Trump tweeted that Puerto Rico's financial crisis is "largely of their own making," he is leaving out the outsize impact of federal policy on the island's economy. Ever since the U.S. gained control of Puerto Rico in the Spanish–American War, U.S. (non–Puerto Rican) corporations have dominated the economy.</p> <p>Beginning soon after the war, sugar (mostly owned by American&nbsp; companies and marketed in the states) became the dominant crop. By the 1930s, American banks and holding companies owned most&nbsp; of the island's economy—sugar and tobacco plantations, shipping, banking, railroad and postal system. Pay for agricultural workers was far lower than the already very low wages paid to workers on the mainland.</p> <p>Specific laws also distorted the economy: &nbsp;Immediately after acquiring the island, the U.S. changed the currency to the dollar and the Puerto Rican peso was devalued by 40%. Since Puerto Rico is an island, all goods must be shipped there – which is expensive. But the federal government made the cost of goods even higher by passing the Jones Act, which required that all ships carrying goods between U.S. ports had to be American. The Jones Act makes goods in Puerto Rico at least twice the cost of goods on nearby islands not covered by the Jones Act.</p> <p>Then, in 1993, Congress passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminated the advantages that Puerto Rico had over Latin American countries in exporting to the U.S.</p> <p>Beginning in the 1940s, in an attempt to boost the Puerto Rican economy and help the island shift away from agriculture toward manufacturing, the U.S. Congress established a series of tax incentives to lure U.S. corporations to Puerto Rico. It was called Operation Bootstrap. The plan worked to an extent—many corporations opened factories and wages increased. But the agricultural economy, which was being replaced, had provided many more jobs, so unemployment grew. This prompted&nbsp; a period of massive migration to mainland United States.</p> <p>In 1976, the tax code was amended to provide even greater incentives for companies to move to Puerto Rico. American companies located there would no longer have to pay federal taxes on profits. About 300 companies took advantage of the tax break and employed huge numbers of people, mainly in the pharmaceutical, electronics and food processing industries. However, some opposed the tax breaks, in part because they favored outside corporations over local ventures, crippling the island’s economy – and because they allowed corporations to avoid paying taxes that support public services they rely on.</p> <p>Fast forward to 1996, when President Clinton signed legislation eliminating the tax break over ten years. The effect, fully realized in 2006, was catastrophic for the island's economy. The exodus of companies fleeing Puerto Rico after the tax breaks ended created a cascade of disastrous consequences:&nbsp; 11 years of declining GDP (gross domestic&nbsp; product) and economic depression, steep decline in tax revenue and employment, decrease in government spending and corresponding increased need for safety net spending. Puerto Ricans—disproportionately &nbsp;young and educated—began leaving the island in historic numbers.</p> <p>As revenues declined, Puerto Rico's debt steadily increased to the 70 billion dollars it owes today. Over one third of the government’s income now goes to pay off its debts. Other governments and corporations are often able to declare bankruptcy when they get in such dire financial straits, but by law, Puerto Rico must first get permission from Congress to declare bankruptcy and eliminate part of its debt. And as their credit rating falls, they must borrow money at ever–increasing rates.</p> <p>To make matters even worse, the loans to Puerto Rico (which look shaky) are sold by more established banks to hedge fund "vultures" at big discounts. These creditors use all their political clout to prevent Puerto Rico from getting a break from bankruptcy.</p> <p>So the desperate situation in Puerto Rico was made even more desperate by the hurricanes. It simply does not have the resources to provide necessities to its inhabitants and rebuild the infrastructure.</p> <p>It remains to be seen whether an anti–spending Congress and president, with no votes to gain, will intervene positively in Puerto Rico.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> For Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>1.&nbsp; How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was familiar?&nbsp; What questions do you have about the reading?</p> <p>2. Do you think Puerto Ricans be treated differently by the federal government if its citizens were able to elect presidents, senators and voting congresspeople?</p> <p>3.&nbsp; Based on the reading and your own knowledge, what changes might improve the situation for Puerto Rico and its people?</p> <p>4. Puerto Ricans have long been divided over whether their island should become a state, declare independence, or continue its current status as a territory of the U.S. In a June 2017 referendum on Puerto Rico’s status, the 23% who voted overwhelmingly supported statehood. What benefits would you see from Puerto Rico becoming a state? What downsides? &nbsp;What might be beneficial about Puerto Rico becoming an independent nation, and what might not be beneficial?</p> <p>5. As voters (and soon–to–be–voters), we vote for politicians who make decisions on complicated&nbsp; policies affecting&nbsp; taxes, debt, insurance, subsidies, minimum wage, and other issues affecting the economic well–being of Americans. Should high schools be required to teach economics so that voters will make more educated choices in elections?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Extension Activities</h4> <p><br> <strong>A. Research &amp; Discussion</strong></p> <p>Divide the class into three groups. Each group will research one option for Puerto Rico: Statehood, independence, or continued status as a territory. Ask each group to research these questions:</p> <ul> <li>What is the history of efforts to organize for this status? &nbsp;(statehood, independence, or continuing as a territory)?</li> <li>What are the three strongest arguments in favor of this status, in your opinion?</li> <li>What are the three strongest arguments against this status?</li> </ul> <p>In the next class, have each group present its arguments for and against, and facilitate a discussion of these options and what it might mean for Puerto Rico to gain independence or statehood today.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>B.&nbsp; Action</strong></p> <p>Have students research ways they might be of assistance to people in Puerto&nbsp; Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, and help them decide on a strategy.&nbsp; The PBS NewsHour put together <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/can–help–hurricane–victims–puerto–rico/">this list of aid campaigns</a>.<br> <br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Sources<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><a href="https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.pr.htm">https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.pr.htm</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.census.gov/search–results.html?q=poverty+rate+Puerto+Rico+&amp;search.x=0&amp;search.y=0&amp;search=submit&amp;page=1&amp;stateGeo=none&amp;searchtype=web&amp;cssp=SERP">https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/PR</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/10/business/puerto–rico–fighting–to–keep–its–tax–breaks–for–businesses.html?pagewanted=all">http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/10/business/puerto–rico–fighting–to–keep–its–tax–breaks–for–businesses.html?pagewanted=all</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/puerto–rico–debt–default–explained_us_56870c25e4b0b958f65bca7a">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/puerto–rico–debt–default–explained_us_56870c25e4b0b958f65bca7a</a></p> <p><a href="http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml">http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml</a></p> <p><a href="https://truthout.org/articles/how-the-united-states-economically-and-politically-strangled-puerto-rico/">https://truthout.org/articles/how-the-united-states-economically-and-politically-strangled-puerto-rico/</a></p> <p><a href="https://taxfoundation.org/tax–policy–helped–create–puerto–rico–s–fiscal–crisis/">https://taxfoundation.org/tax-policy-helped-create-puerto-rico-s-fiscal-crisis/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/americas/puerto–rico–exodus/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/americas/puerto-rico-exodus/index.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/26/heres–how–an–obscure–tax–change–sank–puerto–ricos–economy.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/26/heres-how-an-obscure-tax-change-sank-puerto-ricos-economy.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/hurricane–puerto–rico–jones–act.html?_r=0">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/hurricane-puerto-rico-jones-act.html</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-10-16T12:05:14-04:00" title="Monday, October 16, 2017 - 12:05">October 16, 2017</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Mon, 16 Oct 2017 16:05:14 +0000 fionta 300 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org After the storms, a look at 'climate injustice' https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/after-storms-look-climate-injustice <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>After the storms, a look at &#039;climate injustice&#039;</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Gathering&nbsp;</h4> <ul> <li>What do you know about the role of fossil fuels in causing climate change?</li> <li>What do you know about the contributions of climate change to the severity of hurricanes and other extreme weather?</li> <li>What examples of extreme weather are you most familiar with?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Reading 1:<br> Inequality and climate change</h4> <p>The images are haunting. Demolished houses. Cars and trucks plowing through streets that look like rivers. Men and women, children in their arms, standing waist–deep in filthy floodwaters.</p> <p>Most Americans have seen the damage that hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria poured down on Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico (among other places), leaving scores of people dead and millions flooded. But these were not the only places hit by terrible storms in late summer and early fall of 2017. At the end of August, similar scenes played out in south Asia, with far deadlier effects. Floods across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal killed 1,200 people. In Bangladesh alone, floods affected more than 7.4 million people and destroyed or damaged nearly 700,000 homes.<br> &nbsp;<br> All of these stories have something in common. The world’s climate is changing, and weather is more extreme than it was a century ago.&nbsp; But the effects of these changes are falling most heavily on those who have the least, and who have done the least to cause the problem.<br> <br> "No nation will be immune to the impacts of climate change," the <a href="https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/the-inequality-of-climate-change/?_r=0">World Bank</a> warned in 2012. "However, the distribution of impacts is likely to be inherently unequal and tilted against many of the world’s poorest regions, which have the least economic, institutional, scientific, and technical capacity to cope and adapt."</p> <p>Within any country, those with the fewest resources will be hurt the most. But the effects vary greatly between countries, and some already are suffering more than others. Geography is one reason. The world’s poorer regions tend to be closer to the equator, where changing weather patterns have led to desertification (the expansion of deserts) and more intense storms. More extreme weather means that farmers in parts of <a href="https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/the-inequality-of-climate-change/?_r=0">Africa and Asia</a> have been unable to cultivate their land. The extreme drought that shriveled the crops on so many <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/science/earth/study-links-syria-conflict-to-drought-caused-by-climate-change.html">Syrian</a> farms between 2006 and 2009 pushed thousands of farmers off their land and into cities, aggravating that country’s political crisis and war.<br> <br> Poorer countries lack richer nations’ resources for adapting to rising seas and hotter temperatures. Richer countries and individuals can build stronger homes, develop evacuation plans, and marshal first responders after a hurricane or typhoon. "When it comes to such disasters, money matters," wrote Annie Lowrey in <a href="https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/the-inequality-of-climate-change/?_r=0">The New York Times</a>.<br> <br> For some countries, climate change could literally mean doom. "To visit the Maldives is to witness the slow death of a nation," a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3930765.stm">BBC</a> reporter wrote in 2004. About 80% of the Pacific nation’s 1,200 islands are no more than 1 meter (about a yard) above sea level. Given the rate at which ice caps are melting and seas are rising, scientists say the Maldives could be uninhabitable by the end of the century. To dramatize what would happen to Maldives’ 360,000 residents if climate change continues unchecked, the country’s president staged an underwater <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/is-it-too-late-to-save-the-maldives-from-climate-change-and-islamic-extremism-9901424.html">cabinet meeting</a> in 2009.<br> <br> The great irony is that the people who did the least to cause climate change are the ones who will endure its greatest devastation. Global–scale, human–induced climate change began with the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. That’s when factory owners in western Europe and the United States first burned coal to power large–scale manufacturing technology, when locomotives and steamships began replacing horsepower and wind. With their head start in industrialization, Western Europe and the United States have enjoyed a higher living standard than other parts of the world. In the process, they have burned through a bigger cumulative pile of fossil fuels than other regions, emitting greenhouse gases that have changed the climate for everyone.<br> <br> "Equality is a big issue," says <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/paris-climate-agreement-report-oxfam-a7030446.html">Lord Stern</a>, one of the world’s foremost climate economists. "The rich got rich on high–carbon growth and it’s the poor people of the world – whether they be poor people in rich countries or poor people in poor countries – who suffer earliest and most."<br> <br> The differences in greenhouse gas emissions are startling. According to a study by <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/extreme-carbon-inequality">Oxfam</a>, a global anti–poverty organization, the poorest half of the world’s 7 billion people are responsible for about 10% of global emissions arising from individual consumption. The richest 10% of the world’s population create 11 times more greenhouse gas emissions than the poorest half. And the richest 10% of people emit 60 times more greenhouse gases than the poorest 10%. The activities of the world’s richest 1% generate emissions that are about 175 times that of the poorest 10%.<br> <br> The international climate agreement forged in Paris at the end of 2015 calls on richer nations to donate funds to help poorer countries adapt to climate change. But there’s no "meaningful mechanism" for making that happen, according to Oxfam. Oxfam also found that rich nations fell short on their 2009 pledge to donate $100 billion a year to help poorer nations adapt. Only $16 billion has been paid, Oxfam reports – far short of the $500 billion a year that poorer countries may need, according to the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/paris-climate-agreement-report-oxfam-a7030446.html">United Nations</a>.</p> <h4>&nbsp;<br> For discussion</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was familiar?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Why are the effects of climate change so unequally distributed, both around the world and within countries?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What parts of the world have contributed the most to climate change, and how?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>If the countries that did the most to cause climate change are suffering the least, how should they behave toward the countries that are most severely affected?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Reading 2:&nbsp;<br> Vulnerability, recovery, philanthropy</h4> <p>Why are some places more resilient than others in the face of disaster? When calamity strikes, what do governments and individuals owe to those in need? Should it matter how close to home the needy are? These are some of the questions that arise from the rapid succession of three powerful hurricanes within a single month.<br> <br> Hurricane Harvey struck Houston on August 25, 2017, followed by Irma, which made landfall in Florida and other southeastern states on September 10. Irma also skirted Puerto Rico before&nbsp; moving to the mainland. But while Puerto Rico dodged the center of the hurricane, Irma still knocked out nearly 70% of the U.S. commonwealth’s fragile electrical system. Ten days later, Maria’s 100–mile–per–hour winds dealt the island a direct hit, and all but 5% of the island was without power.<br> <br> All three hurricanes brought death and destruction. But Puerto Rico’s weaker economy and infrastructure made the island more vulnerable than the mainland areas affected by this season’s storms. <a href="https://datausa.io/profile/geo/puerto-rico/">Nearly half</a> of the island’s 3.4 million people live below the poverty line, compared with an official poverty rate of <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.html">13.5%</a> for the United States as a whole in 2015. Puerto Rico has been in recession for 11 years, and its government is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/trump-s-response-puerto-rico-point-out-its-debts-n804941">$74 billion</a> in debt. (<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/how-puerto-rican-hurricanes-devastate-many-and-enrich-a-few/2017/09/22/78e7500c-9e66-11e7-9083-fbfddf6804c2_story.html?utm_term=.7933634d51f0">Many argue</a> that U.S. policies helped lead to Puerto Rico’s impoverishment.)<br> <br> It’s hard to compare the damage caused by the three hurricanes because the extent of Puerto Rico’s losses can’t yet be calculated. Harvey killed 75 people and Irma another 69. Two weeks after Maria, the official death count was 36, but no one knew the real toll because so much of the island’s <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/10/06/556230520/communication-issues-in-puerto-rico-make-it-hard-to-register-deaths">communications system</a> was still not working. There was limited fuel to get vehicles across the mountainous terrain, slowing the distribution of food, water, and other supplies. About three–quarters of the hospitals were still using emergency generators, and at least one hospital reported indoor temperatures above 110 degrees. Ten days after the storm, <a href="http://www.indystar.com/story/news/nation/2017/09/30/puerto-rico-by-the-numbers/720731001/" target="_blank">more than half</a> of the territory still lacked access to clean drinking water.<br> <br> Aid has also been delayed by the Jones Act, a law that only allows U.S.–owned ships to carry goods between Puerto Rico and other U.S. ports. Eight days after Maria hit Puerto Rico, the Trump administration lifted the requirement for a 10–day period, but containers full of supplies sat in the harbor because trucks and drivers could not reach the ports.<br> <br> Despite Puerto Rico’s extreme need, donors have been slower to open their wallets following Maria than they were after Harvey and Irma. As of October 4, 2017, combined donations and pledges to the Red Cross and Catholic Charities for Harvey recovery had surpassed $350 million; for Irma, the number was $47 million. Just <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/10/04/puerto-rico-donations-lag-behind-fundraising-harvey-irma-victims-vegas-shooting/731955001/" target="_blank">$2 million</a> had trickled in by then for Maria, a number that was probably kept down by the news of a mass shooting in Las Vegas that swept aside news about Puerto Rico.<br> <br> One reason for the gap in giving may be the incorrect perception on the part of many Americans that Puerto Rico is a separate nation. Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million people are, in fact, U.S. citizens. But <em>The New York Times </em>reported that a poll by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/nearly-half-of-americans-dont-know-people-in-puerto-ricoans-are-fellow-citizens.html" target="_blank">Morning Consult</a> found that only 54 percent of respondents knew that Puerto Rico is part of the United States.<br> <br> Should shared citizenship be part of the criteria for giving?<br> <br> "I find the notion that we need to give more because people are Americans a bit uncomfortable, simply because we have a tradition of giving all over the world when things happen, like earthquakes in Mexico and tsunamis in Asia," Stacy Palmer, the editor of <em>The Chronicle of Philanthropy</em>, told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/10/04/puerto-rico-donations-lag-behind-fundraising-harvey-irma-victims-vegas-shooting/731955001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>. "There may be some lack of understanding about Puerto Rico being part of the U.S., but mainly the factors have to do with being a third disaster that is now battling with the Las Vegas shooting for our giving."</p> <h4>&nbsp;<br> <strong>For discussion</strong></h4> <ol> <li>Why was Puerto Rico so vulnerable when Hurricane Maria struck the island?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Why has aid been slow to reach so many of Puerto Rico’s people?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you know anyone who has been affected by this season’s hurricanes? Do you know anyone who has tried to offer help in any way, by gathering supplies, raising money, or volunteering in recovery efforts?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Why have donors given less for recovery from Maria than for recovery from the earlier hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida? How do you feel about the different levels of aid for the different hurricane recovery efforts?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In offering aid, should people and governments consider the nationalities of those in need before deciding whether and how much to give? Or should aid be based on where the need is greatest?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Extension activities<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><strong>A. Research countries’ vulnerability to climate change</strong><br> <br> As homework, break students into small groups. Either assign each group a country or ask students to decide on a country they will research. (You might direct students to this <a href="https://www.cgdev.org/media/who-hurt-climate-change" target="_blank">c</a><a href="https://www.cgdev.org/media/who-hurt-climate-change">hart</a>, which shows the risks of climate change to countries around the world.)<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask each group to research the answers to these questions about the country they have selected:</p> <ol> <li>What is the most serious threat that climate change poses for this country? &nbsp;Cite three pieces of evidence to support your view that this is the most important threat for this region.</li> <li>What strategies is this country using to adapt to climate change and to the major threat you have identified?</li> <li>Has this country been a major contributor to greenhouse gases?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;<br> In the next class, ask students to discuss their findings with other members of their group and prepare to report their findings to the class.<br> <br> As students report on their country, you might point out the countries they’re discussing on <a href="http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/site-content/wdi/maps/2017/world-by-income-wdi-2017.pdf" target="_blank">this map from the World Bank</a>, which includes the per capita income for each country.&nbsp; Note that in general, people in countries that contributed the least to climate change have the lowest incomes – and the fewest resources to respond to climate change.<br> <br> Finally, have students explore, either in small groups or all together, how their countries might move toward renewable energy. <a href="http://thesolutionsproject.org/why-clean-energy/#map–world–1" target="_blank">The Solutions Project has developed a model</a> for 100% renewable energy for every country and state.<br> &nbsp;<br> <br> <strong>B. Take Action</strong><br> <br> If students are interested, support them in finding ways to help people in the country they have researched address climate change challenges. Students might begin by identifying organizations in these countries that are doing this work. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br> <br> Alternatively, have students explore how their own state or community could 1) become more resilient to climate change or 2) move toward 100% renewable energy.&nbsp; Help students identify organizations in your area that are working toward these goals, and decide on how students could get involved.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-10-10T09:04:12-04:00" title="Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 09:04">October 10, 2017</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Tue, 10 Oct 2017 13:04:12 +0000 fionta 303 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org