PowerPoint ® Lecture prepared by Gary A. Beluzo A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Will Business as Usual Get Us There? 24
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of efforts to reduce environmental impacts by focusing on scale or efficiency. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of efforts to reduce environmental impacts using market based mechanisms versus command and control strategies. Discuss the degree to which an environmental Kuznets curve implies that economic growth can increase affluence and reduce environmental impacts. Discuss whether a slowing in population growth sets the stage for economic development or whether the opposite is the case. Explain how biogeochemical cycles can be used to assess the sustainability of economic activities. After reading this chapter, students will be able to
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Behind the Headlines: Drilling for Oil in ANWR Politicians tend to frame issues as a battle between the “good guys” and “bad guys”. Both sides exaggerate and use labels “Anti-growth Preservationists” who value Caribou more than jobs “Tools of the Oil Industry” unconcerned about the environment. A False Dichotomy
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company The Geography of Alaskan Oil
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Understanding Possible Solutions Efficiency gains reduce environmental degradation Reducing scale of economic activity reduces environmental degradation Energy = Energy * GDP GDP Policies that focus on efficiency seek to reduce the amount of energy used to produce an inflation corrected dollar’s worth of GDP Policies that focus on scale seek to reduce GDP
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company The Parable of the Plimsoll Line
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Efficiency Internalizing Externalities
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Efficiency Working with the Market Eliminating Subsidies Personal Choices
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Scale: An Upper Limit on Size and Economic Well-Being?
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Oil Balances in China
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Chinese Meat Consumption
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company China’s Crude Birth Rate
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Environmental Kuznets Curve
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Sulfur Emissions, Scale vs. Emissions
Copyright © 2007 McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Operationalizing the Precautionary Principle Society should err on the side of caution Should avoid actions that have potential to cause large irreparable environmental damage Society currently acts in nearly the opposite way Current generation must pay the potential cost to future generations Assurance Bonding