Now you can match wits with a computer to see if you can find the right energy mix for the country for 2050. It’s an online game devised by a nonprofit effort called PoweringANation.org.
The multi-media site is being put together by students at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, an effort that’s part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. The Energy Cocktail game is particularly fun – you try to create the balance of energy sources that won’t raise costs dramatically but that also meets the goal of decreasing carbon dioxide emissions.
The Balancing Act game is fun too, if you’re a local government policy wonk. You pretend to be a city manager making decisions about everything from a new water park to a cattle ranch to a new shopping mall, trying to balance the need for economic development with the strains on local water sources and power plant capacity.
And be sure to watch the video from the Gulf coast town of Venice, La. I saw it last month when I was visiting campus as a parent of a soon-to-be UNC student and a UNC J-school alumna.