Monday, 13 April 2020 / Published in Sociology Homework Papers

Sample Sociology Paper on Fossil Fuels in Australia

Fossil Fuels in Australia

Introduction

The Break Free from Fossil Fuels is a global campaign on climate change that will run from May 4-15 and will involve people from 188 nations peacefully resisting against the fossil fuel industry. The Break Free movement is an online platform that rallies people to participate in large-scale actions across the world. The movement comes at a time when there are more calls to curb climate change; there are falling oil prices and after the signing of a novel global climate deal (Goldenberg, Vidal, Taylor, Vaughn, & Harvey, 2015). The movement targets various action locations around the world for the peaceful demonstrations calling for more action to allow for the just transition to 100% renewable energy. Various people recognize the threat of climate change, and there is an argument among scientists that the threshold of destruction has been surpassed. There is thus an urgent need to curb climate change, and of the ways to do this is through ending the utilization of dirty energy, namely fossil fuels.

Fossil fuel companies, however, are some of the biggest in the world and are deliberately sabotaging the accelerated transition to renewable energy (Cohen, 2016). The current campaign targets some of the most iconic and dangerous fossil fuel installations across the globe. The aim of the campaign analysis is thus to discuss and reflect on the current campaign to stop the exportation of coal at the world’s largest coal port of Newcastle between 7 and 8 May. It will delineate the climate change debate and relate the campaign to social movement theories and previous such campaigns. The analysis will also seek to evaluate the success of the campaign, monitor the outcome, and offer recommendations for the future.

Methodology and Research

The analysis will incorporate both secondary and primary means of data collection.

Timing– Since the campaign will be conducted between May 7-8, the qualitative part (Literature Review) should be conducted before the date of the event. Before May 7, the following activities should have been carried out:

Delineating the climate debate and the need to transition to renewable energy
Articulating the difficulties in transition, and what has been done to date in trying to eradicate climate change
Registration for the event
Preparation of questionnaires and interview questions

Primary data collection will be done between May 7-8 while analysis will be done immediately after that.

Accessing information– Secondary data will be accessed through the school library and privately at home via the internet. Primary data will be acquired through the distribution of questionnaires as well as through interviewing. There are numerous challenges when accessing data. Relevant data on past action against climate change is scanty and hardly any that focuses on Australia. Most of the data on such demonstrations are not accurate or reliable as it is mostly ion the form of news items. Additionally, carrying out interviews and distributing questionnaires during the day of the demonstrations might prove to be unwise since most people will be preoccupied.

Secondary Literature

There is numerous material on climate change, measures to curb the trend, and the outcomes of such efforts as delineated below:

Baral, A. & Guha, G. S., 2004. rees for carbon sequestration or fossil fuel substitution: the issue of cost vs. carbon benefit. Biomass and Bioenergy, 27(1), pp. 41-55.

Cam, K. (2016, April 30). Australia: Break Free from Fossil Fuels. Retrieved from australia.breakfree2016: australia.breakfree2016.com

Cohen, S. (2016, April 18). Fossil fuel companies need to become renewable energy companies. Retrieved from huffpost: m.huffpost.com/us/entry

Downing, J., 2008. Social movement theories and alternative media: An evaluation and critique. Communication, Culture & Critique, 1(1), pp. 40-50.

Goldenberg, S., Vidal, J., Taylor, L., Vaughn, A., & Harvey, F. (2015, December 12). Paris Climate Deal:Nearly 200 ations sign in end of fossil fuel era. Retrieved from theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/12/paris-climate-deal

Herzog, A. V., Lipman, T. E. & Kammen, D. M., 2001. Renewable energy sources.” Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Forerunner Volume-‘Perspectives and Overview of Life Support Systems and Sustainable Development, pp. 1-63.

Lorenzoni, I., Nicholson-Cole, S. & Whitmarsh., L., 2007. Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications. Global environmental change, 17(3), pp. 445-459.

Meehl, G. et al., 2007. Global climate projections. Climate change, 3495(1), pp. 747-845.

NHMRC, 2007. National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) – Updated May 2015, Melbourne: nhmrc.gov.au.

Rabin, R. L., 1976. Lawyers for social change: Perspectives on public interest law. Stanford Law Review, 1(1), pp. 207-261.

Stern, P. C., 2000. New environmental theories: toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavio. Journal of social issues, 56(3), pp. 407-424.

Ethical Issues

One of the key challenges with the analysis is that the activities for the demonstration will be communicated on 7th May (Cam, 2016). Training will also be carried out on the same day, increasing the risk for skirmishes since the activities might be changed or be illegal. Since the campaign will involve interviewing respondents and having others fill questionnaires, it will require the signing of consent forms. The respondents must thus produce proof that they are above the age of majority. Moreover, some questions might cause discomfort to the respondents, or lead to them revealing past activities that could be illegal. Their identities must thus be protected by not having them identify themselves. Non-identification might, however, lead to giving false testimony, which might lead to biased results. To curb this trend, a large sample of people has been utilized, and face to face to face interviews will aid in mitigating this risk. Care will also be taken to avoid conflict of interest where the respondents are related, and hence prone to give false witness. Lastly, the provisions stipulated in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) will be followed to the letter.

References