Activist: Accidents at the Three Mile Island

Answer choices

1. A

   Relevant8% picked this

   whether the current methods of disposing of sewage sludge by dumping

   If the current methods of disposing of sewage sludge by dumping do a lot of environmental damage, then taking that sludge and using it for deriving oil (rather than just dumping it somewhere) should be a net win for the environment. It sounds like we'd be "meeting our energy needs in a way that better protects the environment from harm than we do at present".

   8%
2. B

   Correct71% picked this

   whether the processes that are used to turn sewage into clean water and sewage sludge have been

   Why this is right

   Here, whether we say the processes have been improved in recent decades or haven't (i.e. they're the same as they were 20-30 years go), it makes no difference. The process that takes sewage and separates it out into clean water and sewage sludge doesn't really have anything to do with the activist's hope. If it's been improved, that doesn't necessarily mean anything good for the environment. If it's the same as it's been for decades, that doesn't mean anything. The new thing being discussed is the idea of taking that sewage sludge, once it's been separated from the clean water in sewage, and then deriving an oil from it that can generate power. This answer has nothing to do with our new idea for what we do with sewage sludge. It's only talking about the process that leads to us getting sewage sludge in the first place.

   Skill tested: Evaluate · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   71%
3. C

   Relevant16% picked this

   whether the cost of producing and using oil from sewage sludge would

   It wouldn't be very practical to use sewage sludge as an energy source if the cost of producing and using oil from sewage sludge is not economically sustainable.

   16%
4. D

   Relevant2% picked this

   whether the burning of oil from sewage sludge would, in contrast to nuclear power production, produce gases that would have a harmful

   Ceasing nuclear power and starting to use sewage sludge power might not be a net gain for protecting the environment from harm if sewage sludge led to harmful global warming gases, whereas the nuclear power didn't.

   2%
5. E

   Relevant3% picked this

   whether waste products that would be produced in deriving oil from sewage sludge and burning it would be as dangerous as those produced by

   Ceasing nuclear power and starting to use sewage sludge power might not be a net gain for protecting the environment from harm if sewage sludge led to waste products that are just as dangerous as those nuclear power created.

   3%