| [home page](https://chengyiing.github.io/cheng-dataviz-portfolio/) | [data viz examples](dataviz-examples) | [critique by design](critique-by-design) | [final project I](final-project-part-one) | [final project II](final-project-part-two) | [final project III](final-project-part-three) | # The final data story My final Shorthand: [https://carnegiemellon.shorthandstories.com/humans-in-the-shadow-of-renewables/index.html](https://carnegiemellon.shorthandstories.com/humans-in-the-shadow-of-renewables/index.html) My presentation slides: [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JDXgPHXEM9iEn25T8KmwtJMnMYE6lVV6ArupCR0XDl4/edit?slide=id.p2#slide=id.p2](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JDXgPHXEM9iEn25T8KmwtJMnMYE6lVV6ArupCR0XDl4/edit?slide=id.p2#slide=id.p2) # Changes, Audience, and What Helped Me since Part II I found the professor’s feedback on Part II especially inspiring. First, the comment about what makes my story interesting really resonated with me: > “Here at CMU and most people that I personally know assume that Green Energy is simply the 'go-to.' ...However, your story shows the flip side of that: there are people—entire communities at the local and state level—that still rely on 'old' energy such as Coal Mining for their livelihood. This alone brings up an interesting cross-roads.” This feedback helped me decide on the tone for my final presentation: I wanted to speak directly to my audience, starting with “We all know green energy is a good thing… but do you know this transition isn’t fair?” Second, defining my audience was the trickiest and most confusing part. My instructor gave many examples—maybe my audience could be green energy environmentalists, or West Virginia investors, or East Coast policymakers. I realized that in future projects, it might be valuable to clearly distinguish between these audiences and personalize my work for each. But for this project, I wanted my audience to be general. I assumed they were not familiar with the uneven impacts of the energy transition, so my main goal was to raise awareness. I believe that simply drawing more attention to this issue is already important, and I wanted my call to action to be flexible. I didn’t want to force everyone toward a single action, but rather hoped that different people—whether policymakers or investors—could take away something meaningful based on their own perspectives and experiences. For example, policymakers might focus more on equity in future legislation, and investors might consider the lives of displaced workers in their future decisions. Finally, I realized my call to action needed to be more tangible. My instructor suggested: > “Can I click a button to learn more? Can I sign up for a newsletter or sign my name on a petition to support Old Energy given that it's been fundamental to the country's building?” Although I was still torn—because I didn’t want to push my broad audience toward a single prescribed action—I ultimately chose to say, “If you want to learn more, you can choose…” I included links to three NGOs that support displaced workers (such as retraining programs), as well as a YouTube video about environmental justice, hoping that those interested (including my classmates) would be encouraged to explore further. # Key Reflections and What I Learned I learned a lot from watching other students’ presentations. For example, I really liked how some classmates used slides for their one-minute pitch, rather than relying on flashy Shorthand animations. I realized that clarity and simplicity are crucial for the audience to absorb information. That’s why I also created a slide with only a few of my key data visualizations. I also noticed that information should be concise, with low color saturation, and the language should be accessible and easy to understand. One classmate’s presentation about LLM performance stood out to me because he spoke at a moderate pace and used plain language instead of technical jargon, which made the content much more approachable. So, when preparing my own presentation (I wrote my script in advance), I cut out a lot of detail, simply raised the core question, pointed out that we’re at a crossroads, and ended with a call to action—successfully finishing within one minute. Admittedly, I was very tired and unexpectedly nervous on stage, so I don’t think I performed my best, but I still hope my story resonated with my classmates and maybe even inspired some of them. At the end of class, I reflected on the relationship between story and data. I’ve always felt that I start with a story and then look for data to support my argument. But the instructor emphasized that, once you have the data, the real skill is extracting the story from the data itself. That’s something I want to work on in the future. ## References Apostolopoulos, N., Kakouris, A., Liargovas, P., Borisov, P., Radev, T., Apostolopoulos, S., Daskou, S., & Anastasopoulou, E. Ε. (2023). Just transition policies, power plant workers and green entrepreneurs in Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria: can education and retraining meet the challenge? Sustainability, 15(23), 16307. https:// doi.org /10.3390/ su152316 307 Arora, A., & Schroeder, H. (2022). How to avoid unjust energy transitions: insights from the Ruhr region. Energy Sustainability and Society, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-022-00345-5 Bowen, E., & Christiadi. (2017). Fossil fuel opportunities for West Virginia: 2017 Update. Bureau of Business & Economic Research, West Virginia University. https://www.energywv.org/assets/files/EnergyPlan/ Fossil -Fuel-Opportunities -for-West-Virginia-2017-Update.pdf Carley, S., Engle, C., & Konisky, D. M. (2021). An analysis of energy justice programs across the United States. Energy Policy, 152, 112219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112219 Carley, S., Evans, T. P., Graff, M., & Konisky, D. M. (2021). Just transitions and energy justice: Policy approaches to energy transitions. Energy Policy, 151, 112345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112345 California Energy Commission. (2023). Just transition program. https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/just-transition Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP). (2023). The Risk of fiscal collapse in coal-reliant communities. https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/publications/risk-fiscal-collapse-coal-reliant-communities/ EFI&NASECO. The U.S. Energy & Employment Report (2020).  https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a98cf80ec4eb7c5cd928c61/t/5ee78423c6fcc20e01b83896/1592230956175/USEER+2020+0615.pdf EPA. (2023). Biden-Harris Administration selects West Virginia University to receive $800,000 pollution prevention grant to advance environmental justice. United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-selects-west-virginia-university-receive-800000-pollution Harris, D. M., & McCarthy, J. (2023). A just transition to what, for whom, and by what means? Transition technology, carbon markets, and an Appalachian coal mine. Energy Research & Social Science, 106, 103307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103307 Harrison, K. (2013), "The Political Economy of British Columbia's Carbon Tax", OECD Environment Working Papers, No. 63, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5k3z04gkkhkg-en. HEILMANN, F., & POPP, R. (2020). HOW (NOT) TO PHASE-OUT COAL: LESSONS FROM GERMANY FOR JUST AND TIMELY COAL EXITS. E3G. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep28821 Morris, A. (2016). Build a better future for coal workers and their communities. Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/build-a-better-future-for-coal-workers-and-their-communities-morris-updated-071216.pdf PNNL. (2023). Blended financing in renewable energy: Experiences and opportunities (PNNL-31909). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. https://www.pnnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-31909.pdf USAFacts. (n.d.). West Virginia economy. https://usafacts.org/topics/economy/state/west-virginia/ United States Department of Energy. (2021). United States Energy & Employment Report (USEER). https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-07/USEER%202021%20Main%20Body.pdf UK Skills Partnership. (n.d.). DITTVET Brochure. https://ukskillspartnership.org.uk/moogryce/info/dittvetbrochure.pdf West Virginia Legislature. (n.d.). Code of West Virginia. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/5B-2F-2/ WV Office of Energy. (2013). Energy Plan: 2013-2017.  https://www.energywv.org/assets/files/EnergyPlan/ENERGY_ 5year_Plan_ALL-2013-2017.pdf ## AI acknowledgements Perplexity is used for translation, grammar check and data searching.