SOCAN’s Master Climate Protector – The Course

This program incorporates both a training component and a service component.  It is designed for individuals who want to know more about Climate Change and what we can do to address this critical problem.

Individuals who complete the 10-week course by actively participating in at least 8 of the 10 sessions and completing the Greenhouse Gas Footprint Calculator become Master Climate Protectors and receive a name badge and  MCP t-shirt. Participants missing a class are expected to review materials and complete assignments for that session.  

Participants are encouraged also to complete 20  hours or more of approved Service activity to become Certified Master Climate Protectors. They receive a certificate and bar to add to their name badge indicating the year of certification.  Ideas for service opportunities are included on the Service activity page but others are possible.

Annual Re-certification is accomplished by completing a 3-hour update session, updating the Footprint Calculator, and 20 additional hours of service. Bars are added to the name badge for each year of re-certification participants complete.

The Training Component

The 10-week course will be held weekly. Each session is 3 hours long.

Weekly Session topics and Key Questions

Session 1 – Intro & Basic Science, Info about program

Key Questions:

  1. What is the difference between climate and weather?
  2. What is the current scientific understanding of anthropogenic (human caused) global warming and climate change?
  3. What are the major contributors to global warming?
  4. What are the regional climate trends, projections, and consequences?

Session 2 – Alternative Explanations

Key Questions:

  1. What is the current scientific understanding of global warming?
  2. What has been the global temperature trend for the last two million years?
  3. What are the main hypotheses to explain global warming that compete with the current scientific understanding?
  4. What are the scientific explanations regarding the main competing hypotheses that have been offered to explain the 20th – 21st Century global warming trend?
  5. Why is the claim of a global warming slowdown this century bogus

Session 3 – Energy & Construction

Key Questions:

  1. What are the Global and US energy sources and trends?
  2. How is energy used in the home and how can we increase efficiency to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions?
  3. How are Greenhouse Gas emissions measured and what does it show for the US and Oregon?
  4. What is the Cool Climate Greenhouse Gas Footprint calculator and how do we use it to reduce our household GHG emissions?


Key questions:

  1. What GHG emissions result from transportation?
  2. What are the contributions of transportation to GHG emissions at global, national, state, local, and individual levels?
  3. What options are available to reduce our transportation footprint?
  4. What is your GHG footprint for transportation?

Session 5 – Weather & Water 

Key Questions:

  1. What is the distribution of water on the Earth and how is it affected by Climate Change?
  2. How does Climate Change affect severe weather?
  3. What are the sources of water in the Rogue Valley and how is it managed?
  4. How can we measure and manage our  household water usage?
  5. What is a Water Footprint Calculator?
  6. How does climate change affect aquatic and riparian species in the Rogue Valley?

Session 6 – Terrestrial (Land Based) Natural Systems

Key Questions:

  1. How do organisms and biological communities (natural systems) respond to variations in environmental temperature and precipitation and how might projected trends influence them?
  2. What is sequestration and how does it vary among natural systems in space and time?
  3. How can we respond to the claim that “carbon dioxide is a plant food and its increase in the atmosphere will be positive?”
  4. What are the national and regional trends and projections for wildfire and why is this important?

Session 7 – Agriculture

Key Questions:

  1. How will climate change, particularly reduction of water availability and temperature increase, influence agriculture, personal gardens, and landscaping?
  2. What impact will the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration have on agriculture?
  3. What is Regenerative Soil Management and how can it make a difference?
  4. What are the consequences of the food choices we make as consumers?

Session 8 – Human Responses (Consumption, Health, & Psychological)

Key Questions:

  1. How will climate change affect human physical and mental health?
  2. How do population trends impact global warming and climate change?
  3. What is consumption and how does it impact global warming and climate change?
  4. How do we change our consumption habits and adjust our economic growth model?

Session 9 – Individual & Collective Actions

Key Questions:

  1. What are the major human-induced causes for global warming?
  2. What are reasonable GHG reduction goals?
  3. What are the main individual actions we can take to reduce GHG emissions?
  4. What are the main collective (political) actions we can take to reduce GHG emissions?

Session 10 – Wrap-up

Key Questions:

  1. What were the major points of each session and why are they important?
  2. What personal and collective actions can I take?

Questions about Climate Change? email

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