Chapter 20 Sustainability, Economics, and Equity

Sustainability The basic needs of humans are food, water, shelter, education, and a disease/toxic free environment. Something is sustainable when it meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The environmental systems need to be able to continue to provide people with breathable air, drinkable water, and productive land for food and raw materials.

Economics Examines how humans either as individuals or as companies allocate scarce resources in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Scarcity A market occurs whenever people engage in trade. In a market economy, the cost of a good is determined by supply and demand.

Supply The Law of Supply The supply curve (S) shows how many units that suppliers of a given product or service are willing to supply. If you are the only supplier of this product, and many people want it, you are likely to be willing to produce many of the product. However, if there is competition for your product, you may be concerned how many you can sell and will produce less now that you share the market with other suppliers. The Law of Supply When the price of a good rises, the quantity supplied of that good will rise and when the price of a good falls, the quantity of the good supplied will also fall.

Demand The Law of Demand The demand curve (D) shows how much of a good consumers want to buy. Factors that determine demand include income, price of the good, tastes, expectations, and the number of people who want the good. The demand curve slopes downwards because as the price of the good rises, the demand declines. The Law of Demand When the price of a good rises, the quantity demanded falls and when the price falls, demand rises.

Scarcity and Equilibrium When the price of a good reaches an equilibrium point and the two curves (S and D) intersect. At this price, suppliers find it worthwhile to supply exactly as many of the product as consumers are willing to buy.

Externalities The costs or impact of a good or service on people and the environment not included in the economic price of that good or service. Ex. costs of using common resources such as water, air, land, or the oceans and the costs of air and water pollution or solid waste products.

Wealth and Productivity National Economic measurements that gauge the economic wealth of a country in terms of its productivity and consumption. GDP (gross domestic product)- the value of all products and services produced in a year in a given country. GDP does not reflect externalities such as pollution. This type is the most commonly used. GPI (genuine progress indicator)- attempts to address this shortcoming by including measures of personal consumption, income distribution, levels of higher education, resource depletion, pollution, and the health of the population.

Kuznets Curve

Microlending The practice of loaning small amounts of money to people who intend to start a small business in less developed countries.

Environmental and Ecological Economics Capital is the totality of our economic assets – 3 categories: Natural Capital – resources of our planet, such as air, water, and land. Required for ALL economic systems. Human Capital – human knowledge and abilities Manufactured Capital – all the goods and services that humans produce. As you will see in a purely free market economy accounting of all costs such as natural resource depletion and degradation and externalities are not always accounted for, this is called market failure.

Environmental and Ecological Economics Environmental Economics – is a subfield of economics that examines the costs and benefits of various policies and regulations that seek to regulate or limit pollution and other causes of environmental degradation. Ecological Economics - is a method of understanding and managing the economy as a subsystem of both natural and human systems. It’s goal is the preservation of natural capital, the goods and services related to the natural world.

Both environmental and ecological economic systems require the assignment of a monetary value to intangible benefits of natural capital called valuation. (ex. Protect a watershed to clean water instead of paying for a purification system)

Environmental Worldviews Your environmental world view shows how you think the world works, how you view your role in it, and what you believe to be proper environmental behavior. The 3 types are listed below: Anthropocentric- human-centered, considers that human beings have intrinsic value and nature should provide for our needs. Biocentric- life-centered, says humans are just one of many species on Earth, all of which have equal value. Ecocentric- Earth-centered, places equal value on all living organisms and the ecosystems in which they live, and it demands that we consider nature free of any associations with our own existence.

Precautionary Principle In many situations, scientific uncertainty complicates the estimation of the comparative risks of different actions. Precautionary Principle states that when the results of an action are uncertain, such as the effects caused by the introduction of a compound or chemical, it is better to choose an alternative known to be harmless. Uncertainty is often used by industry to downplay or disregard problems in the environment. It is also used as a reason to avoid implementing expensive measures that would mitigate future environmental harm. The public favor this principle because if we wait for certainty we run the risk of creating an environmentally unsustainable and inequitable future.

Precautionary Principle The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity was strengthened in 1994 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (800 governments and organizations) by using the precautionary principle as a guideline for the sustainable use of plants and animals. The 1987 Montreal Protocol used the principle to phase out CFC’s from refrigeration and commercial use to prevent ozone depletion, even though there was scientific uncertainty at the time.

World Agencies 1945 United Nations (UN) – promote dialogue between countries for promoting peace 1972 United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) – gather env. info, conduct research, and assess env. problems, negotiates env. treaties. 1944 The World Bank – technical and financial assistance to developing countries to reduce poverty and promote growth 1945 The World Health Organization (WHO) – improve human health 1965 The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) – facilitating democratic governance, poverty reduction, crisis prevention and recovery, env. and energy issues, and prevention of HIV/AIDS

United States Agencies 1970 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – oversees all governmental efforts related to the environment. 1970 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – enforces health and safety regulations in the workplace. 1977 The Department of Energy (DOE) – advance energy and economic security

Deterrents and Incentives Ways to protect the environment, promote human safety, and internalize externalities. Command and control – sets regulations for emissions and controls them with fines. Incentive based – constructs financial and other incentives for lowering emissions based on profits and benefits. Green Tax – a tax on environmentally harmful activities or emissions in an attempt to internalize some of the externalities that may be involved in the life cycle of the product. Sometimes rebates and tax credits are used.

Triple bottom line – true success is when adequate treatment of both humans and the environment are equal with the desire to achieve profit.

Many individuals have began calculating their own environmental footprints and started to make attempts at a more sustainable existence without the help of incentives, taxes or other measures. “If the people lead, the leaders will follow.”

Environmental Justice The inequitable distribution of pollution and of environmental degradation with their adverse effects on humans and ecosystems. People that are of lower incomes and minorities that have a disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards.