Persuading the American people to fight against global warming

I have to write a 12 pg essay on global warming. My teacher said that my thesis was little broad. I am afraid that I will not be able to write a 12pg research paper if I narrow my thesis. My teacher also said that he wants my counterargument to be in the last paragraph of the body. I have two in mind, but I don't know which one is better. Please let me know what you think of what I've so far. Bellow is my topic outline.

Global Warming

I. Introduction
A. What is global warming/greenhouse effect?
B. Thesis: If left alone, scientists predict that man-made global warming will undoubtedly cause many adverse problems to our planet. In order to preserve the Earth for the future generations of children, everyone must make the vital effort and take the necessary action to help turn back the dial on global warming before time runs out.

II. Global warming is a man-made phenomenon and we must hold ourselves accountable.
A. U.S is number two in CO2 emission after China
B. Energy-Burning of fossil fuels/oil/natural gas
C. Farming-deforestation, tilling, livestock
D. Industrials-making cement

III. If we do not hold ourselves accountable and take actions to reduce CO2 emissions, Earth will suffer greatly years from now.
A. Surface temperature
B. Ocean temperature/Melting ice/Sea level rise
C. More severe weather
D. Changing seasons
E. Animal and plants

IV. We are already experiencing numerous consequences of a stronger greenhouse effect. This proves that global warming is happening and is not a myth.
A. Surface temperature
B. Ocean temperature/Melting of sea ice/Sea level rise
1. "Underwater holocaust"/ Loss of coral reef
2. Disappearing glaciers
3. Disappearing coastal cities-EX: Manhattan
C. Extreme weather
D. Changing seasons
E. Animals and plants moving/ Tropical Disease Spreading

V. Solution-What governments are doing about global warming
A. Establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
B. The Kyoto Protocol
C. Carbon Trading
1. The Emission Trading Scheme (ETS)
2. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
D. The Clean Cars law
E. Renewable Energy

VI. Solution-What individuals can and should do about global warming
A. Improving energy efficiency
B. Alternative fuels
C. Energy Conservation
D. Living a carbon-neutral lifestyle
1. Reducing carbon footprint
2. "Going green"

VII. Counter argument
A. Some people think that global warming is a good thing and believe that nothing should be done about it, but they are wrong.
B. With countries like China and India being exempt from the Kyoto Protocol's initial phase, many people think that it would be useless to try to fight global warming, but they are wrong.

VIII. Conclusion

I would switch sections III and IV.

I notice that under solutions, you have not mentioned diet change (reduced meat-dairy-egg consumption; shift toward plant-based diet) even though UN-FAO has identified livestock production as the industrial sector most responsible for global warming.

I also notice that reduced consumption in general is not on the list. When people buy new products rather than reusing, repurposing, or repairing old items, this increases their carbon footprint. However, this must be explained, as most people only think about direct energy use (their own car, their own heat, etc.) rather than the energy use (and associated emissions) associated with the products they buy and consume.

One way to narrow your thesis would be to make it more consistent with your title: persuading the American people to fight against global warming. This would give you more rather than less to say, as you could then cite statistics about the carbon footprint of the average American versus the average person living in other countries and also talk about the ways that Americans in particular can join the struggle against climate change.

If you do that, then you would want to choose the first of your counterarguments.

You definitely need to narrow your thesis. You could probably write a 12 page paper arguing that CO2 is the prime culprit of global warming. You could then probably write another 12 page paper arguing that global warming will have severe enough effects to warrant fighting against it rather than simply adapting to it. Most of the sub-points for IV, V, VI could also be topics for their own essays. To try and cover all of this in a single essay is a mistake, because you will end up only repeating environmentalist talking points, without ever having time to scratch the surface of your topic and to go into detail on any given point. So, decide which aspect of the topic interests you the most, and focus on that. Given your current topic, you might want to focus on performing a cost-benefit analysis of fighting global warming versus adapting to it, which at least narrows your topic to one aspect of the economic dimension of the issue, though even that might prove to be a bit much to handle in a mere 12 pages. You might be better off looking at some aspect of the Kyoto Protocol, or at one of the climate effects you blame on global warming, such as increased hurricane strength. They aren't as interesting as the question of how we should deal with global warming, but they are probably more manageable.

I will try my best to narrow down my thesis.Thank you so much for your helpful advices.

No problem. It's good that you posted your outline here before you tried writing the essay itself -- you likely saved yourself many hours of frustration. Feel free to post your new outline once you have it written.