Class Notes

Question 1

Elements of Env Policy

Answer 1

1. Values
2. Politics
3. Tech and Science
4. Policy Design and Economics

Question 2

1st gen env issues pre1960s

Answer 2

degradation
conservation
soil erosion - 1930s Dust Bowl
wildlife and habitats

Question 3

2nd gen env issues: 1960s-1990s

Answer 3

modern environment
population
pesticides
tech/radiation
resource depletion
industrial pollution desertification

Question 4

3rd gen env issues: 1990s-today

Answer 4

acid rain
ozone depletion
GMOs
toxics
biodiverstiy loss
intense urbanization
endocrine disrupters
calls for cost effectiveness and data interpretation

Question 5

weak sustainability

Answer 5

not to preserve everything as is, but based on utility. okay to use oil now if tradeoff is that you leave future generation with equal utility

Question 6

strong sustainbility

Answer 6

future generations should have some capital stock as current/past generations

Question 7

renewable resources: two solutions to tradeoffs around optimum

Answer 7

1. informal local enforcement/collectives (mafia, lobster marine fishery, water/irrigation enforcement)
2. formal government regulation (restrict through area, tech, effort, or econ incentives)

Question 8

how to regulate open access?

Answer 8

1. restrict access
2. restrict tech
3. restrict fishing area
4. make effort more costly
5. restrict fishing season. problem = push to super-sized limited season, people get bigger boats
6. e.g. min size of fishing net, Problem = young fish can escape and spawn offspring, but average fish size decreases (natural selection happens)
7. marine reserves, close some areas to fishing. Problem = fishermen will relocate effort around reserves, catch as fish leave reserves
8. problem = decreased profits

Question 9

what are economic incentives for open access problems?

Answer 9

1. ITQs. ITQ = 1/1000 of TAC total allowable catch. Can be freely traded like stocks in company. Fisherman in ITQ fishery have incentives to lobby for optimal S*
2. Territorial rights. Grant local monopolies. (doesn’t work for migratory species)

Question 10

definition of fishery collapse

Answer 10

catch is less than 10% of historic maximum

Question 11

% of GHG emissions from deforestation

Answer 11

15-20%

Question 12

green paradox definition

Answer 12

trying to do climate change legislation by telling people now, you encourage people to rush in and do unenv things now. by announcing something will happen in the future, people rush in the present and make things worse

Question 13

abatement

Answer 13

pollution reduction

Question 14

MC abatement is (inc/decr) because…

Answer 14

increasing, because harder to abate additional units

Question 15

rent seeking

Answer 15

lobbying by some firms to get weaker regulation than competitors

Question 16

First international implementation of PP

Answer 16

1987 Montreal Protocol.