1. Dollars and Environmental Sense: Economics of Environmental Issues
Chapter 27
Dollars and Environmental Sense: Economics of Environmental Issues
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

2. The Economic Importance of the Environment
Environmental Economics
The study of relationships of the importance of the environment to the economy
Includes:
The impact of environment as a result of economic activity
Regulation of the economy and economic processes
The objective of balancing environmental and economic goals of society
Development of economic policy to minimize environmental degradation
Finding solutions to environmental problems
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

3. The Environment as a Commons
Land or another resources owned publicly with public access for private uses
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

4. Environmental Science 5e
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

5. Environmental Science 5e
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

6. Environmental Science 5e
Externalities
Externality (Indirect Cost)
An effect not normally accounted for in the cost-revenue analysis of producers and often not recognized by them as part of their costs and benefits
Direct Costs
Those borne by the producer and passed directly on to the user or purchaser
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

7. Environmental Science 5e
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

8. Risk-Benefit Analysis
Def: The riskiness of a present action in terms of its possible outcomes
The relation between risk and benefit affects our willingness to pay for an environmental good
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

9. Environmental Science 5e
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

10. Environmental Science 5e
Evaluation of environmental intangibles is becoming more common in environmental analysis
When quantitative, such evaluation balances the more traditional economic evaluation and helps separate facts from emotion in complex environmental problems
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

11. How Do We Achieve an Environmental Goal?
Moral suasion
Direct controls
Market processes
Government investment
Many controls have been applied to the use of desirable resources and the control of pollution
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e

12. Marginal Costs and the Control of Pollutants
Marginal Costs: the cost to reduce one additional unit of pollutant
3 methods of direct control of pollution
Setting maximum levels of emission
Requiring processes and procedures
Charging fees for emission
Botkin and Keller
Environmental Science 5e