Identify a current environmental problem, issue, or concern facing Californians. Then, imagine some level of government (it really doesn’t matter which level) is holding hearings on this matter and they have commissioned you to come before them as an historical expert. In preparation for your testimony, you write up a report (which will be this paper) that provides historical context for the contemporary issue. This is obviously the same format as the Contemporary Issue Group Presentation. You may choose to build upon your group presentation in this assignment, or you may choose an entirely different topic from the one your group presented.
Your task is NOT to write a history of this specific issue. Rather, it is to use the broader environmental history of California and the U.S. to provide insights into how to think about this issue. For example, if the issue has to do with some sort of industrial activity (oil or gas drilling, industrial agriculture, etc.) you might discuss the history of industrialization in California, what some of the environmental, social, and economic effects industrialization have been in the past, and how policymakers can use these insights to inform their plans for the future.