One of the goals of the Air Quality Committee's public service efforts is to encourage committee members to foster environmental awareness in their communities. One method of doing this is through public education and teaching.

To encourage members to teach about air quality issues on Earth Day, and/or any other day, the Air Quality Committee is providing a lesson plan from US EPA's Project A.I.R.E. The topic of the lesson plan is "Air Pollution Allowance Trading," a topic that has lately received significant news coverage.

This lesson plan is designed for seventh to twelfth graders and is intended to introduce students to pollution abatement measures based on free market trading of pollution allowances. In the exercise, students break up into six different groups, each representing an industry subject to a fictitious air pollution allowance trading system and each with a set of facts and conditions. The students will be required to make a series of decisions in order to comply with environmental regulations, as well as determine the price of pollution allowances and whether to implement pollution control measures. A separate link to additional reading material has also been included, as the materials US EPA has designed to summarize the concept of emission trading will be helpful for the students to review and discuss prior to engaging in the role play exercise.

Contact the school or teacher as early as possible to give teachers sufficient time to work the presentation into their lesson plans. Consider contacting schools in disadvantaged communities. Invite your colleagues to participate and/or present this information as well. Most important of all- remember to have fun!

Air Emission Trading Materials

Reading Material to prepare for lesson