Week 10 - Final Exam Review

Hello all,

This week we will spend sections reviewing material for the final exam.

Cheers,
Lauren

Citations

I've received several emails about citations.

First, you may use any citation method you like so long as you are consistent.

Second, if you are having trouble with citations, the following website may be useful: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/hacker/pocket/

Good luck!

Week 8 - Command and Control Solutions vs. Market Solutions

Our discussion in this week's sections will draw on Vig and Kraft's Environmental Policy, chapter 9, in addition to chapters 14 and 15 in Layzer.

"Market-Based Solutions: Acid Rain and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990"

• According to Layzer (2006), what are two reasons conservatives believe market-based approaches are superior to conventional approaches?
• Should the federal government “dictate levels of pollution control required of individual companies,” as it did in the 1970 Clean Air Act? Or should it “limit total emissions and distribute tradeable allowances to all polluters, thereby creating incentives for individual companies to reduce their own pollution at lowest cost” (Layzer: 2006, 385)?
• Critics often cite acid rain regulations as evidence of misplaced enviromental priorities, saying the 1990 National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program report made clear that acid rain does not pose a serious threat? Do you agree or disagree with this critique? Why, or why not?
• Has science played a sufficient role in the development of U.S. acid rain policy? If not, why not, and how might its impact be increased?
• Why do proponents believe emissions-trading programs are more than effective, economically and ecologically, than uniform emission limitations? Can you think of any drawbacks to the emission-trading approach?
  

"Ecosystem-Based Solutions: Restoring the Florida Everglades"

• Given that human beings have fundamentally altered virtually every ecosystem on earth, what should be the target of a restoration--the ecosystem's presettlement state? If that is not feasible, what previous configuration of plants, animals, and ecological processes should be reproduced?
• How should the restoration be accomplished? Should planners rely on technology and intensive management to control natural systems, or should they devise approaches that allow nature to run its course and require human development to be compatible with it?
• What are the appropriate criteria for measuring success?
• Should the federal government spend $4 billion or more to support the Everglades restoration? Why, or why not?
• What might environmentalists do to maintain or increase public support for the Everglades restoration over its projected twenty-year lifetime?
• Is restoring an ecosystem's ecological health a legitimate goal? If so, what are likely to be the most significant obstacles to achieving it?
  

"How much are these fish worth in those 170 lakes that account for four percent of the lake area of New York? And does it make sense to spend billions of dollars controlling emissions from sources in Ohio and elsewhere if you're talking about a very marginal volume of dollar value, either in recreational terms or in commercial terms?" -David Stockman, head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) during President Reagan's first term

Week 6: Common Pool Resource Problems & Collective Action

Common Pool Resource Problems & Collective Action - Readings:

Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science 162 (December 13, 1968), 1243-1248.

David Feeny, Fikret Berkes, Bonnie J. McCay, and James M. Acheson, "The Tragedy of the Commons: Twenty-Two Years Later." Human Ecology, 18 (1990): 1-19.

Judith Layzer, The Environmental Case, chaps 2, 6-9

Concepts

• Tradegy of the commons
• Common pool resources
• Common-property resources

Discussion Questions

• In plain English, what is “the Tragedy of the Commons?”
• What is the literal Commons to which we must all pay attention?
• What assumptions are cited early in the paper (including the philosophy of Adam Smith)?
• How would you define “good” as it relates to quality of life? Consider the “maximum good per person” and its implications according to your definition.
• What do you see as the role of technology in addressing the situation of human population growth in light of the global commons?
• Hardin’s paper addresses many issues of his time that are currently still of international importance. Hardin himself recognizes one problem, however, as paramount, and responsible for all of the specific problems he addresses. What is that one issue?
• Do you agree with Hardin’s assessment? What do you think should be done to address this issue on a global scale?

General Questions

• How does capitalist competition make the tragedy of the commons worse?
• Society has many commons. What are some examples?
• How do games and metaphors, such as the Prisonners' Dilemma and the Tragedy of the Commons game, help us better understand common-pool resource and collective action problems?
• What are the limitations of these games and metaphors?
• Some tragedies occur, but others are avoided. What explains success or failure?
  

Week 6: Common Pool Resource Problems & Collective Action

Common Pool Resource Problems & Collective Action - Readings:

Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science 162 (December 13, 1968), 1243-1248.

David Feeny, Fikret Berkes, Bonnie J. McCay, and James M. Acheson, "The Tragedy of the Commons: Twenty-Two Years Later." Human Ecology, 18 (1990): 1-19.

Judith Layzer, The Environmental Case, chaps 2, 6-9

Concepts

• Tradegy of the commons
• Common pool resources
• Common-property resources

Discussion Questions

• In plain English, what is “the Tragedy of the Commons?”
• What is the literal Commons to which we must all pay attention?
• What assumptions are cited early in the paper (including the philosophy of Adam Smith)?
• How would you define “good” as it relates to quality of life? Consider the “maximum good per person” and its implications according to your definition.
• What do you see as the role of technology in addressing the situation of human population growth in light of the global commons?
• Hardin’s paper addresses many issues of his time that are currently still of international importance. Hardin himself recognizes one problem, however, as paramount, and responsible for all of the specific problems he addresses. What is that one issue?
• Do you agree with Hardin’s assessment? What do you think should be done to address this issue on a global scale?

General Questions

• How does capitalist competition make the tragedy of the commons worse?
• Society has many commons. What are some examples?
• How do games and metaphors, such as the Prisonners' Dilemma and the Tragedy of the Commons game, help us better understand common-pool resource and collective action problems?
• What are the limitations of these games and metaphors?
• Two key elements may prevent tragedy. What are they?
• What are the three main ways to solve common-pool resource problems? What are each of these three solutions conditioned on? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each solution? Which approach do you think works best? Any critiques?
  

Tragedy of the Commons - An Introduction


Interview with Garrett Hardin on the Tragedy of the Commons


Mini Lecture on the Prisoners' Dilemma


Dilbert's Prisoners' Dilemma

Harris Poll - Economic Growth vs. the Environment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Economic Growth or the Environment?
When Cornered, Americans Believe Economic Growth is More Important
Canadians More Evenly Divided on this Issue

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – July 30, 2008 – As economic conditions worsen, people who are asked to make a decision between protecting the environment or economic growth and development have moved even more strongly into the economic growth column. Specifically, a Harris Poll conducted online among 2,454 adults aged 18 and over between June 9 and 16, 2008 by Harris Interactive® found:

• U.S. adults are divided on how they perceive things in their own community as 38 percent say it is going in the right direction while 37 percent believe things have “pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track”. This perception has gotten better in the past few months. In November, almost half (47%) of adults felt things were going off on the wrong track in their community and one-third (32%) felt they were going in the right direction;
  
• More than three in five Americans (63%) say economic growth and development is more important to their region while one-quarter (27%) believe protecting the environment is more important. Just over three in ten Easterners (31%) believe protecting the environment is more important while seven in ten Midwesterners (69%) believe economic growth is more important;
  
• The focus on economic growth has grown over the last year. In June of 2007, Americans were more divided as 48 percent thought economic growth was more important and 43 percent believed protecting the environment was more important. In November, a small 51 percent to 37 percent majority believed economic growth was more important; and,
  
• Looking ahead to the future, just over half of U.S. adults (56%) believe that the quality of life in the area they live in will decrease for their children and grandchildren while 44 percent believe it will increase. Younger generations are more optimistic on this – over half (56%) of Echo Boomers (those aged 18-31) believe the quality of life will increase compared to 38 percent of Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62) and one-third (32%) of Matures (those aged 63 and older).

In Canada, there are different opinions on some of these topics:

• Canadians are much more positive about the direction of their community as over three in five (63%) believe things in their community are going in the right direction and 37 percent say they are going off on the wrong track;
  
• Canadians are more evenly split on which is more important, economics or environment as 45 percent say it is economic growth and development and 44 percent believe it is protecting the environment; and,
  
• One area Canadians agree with Americans on is the quality of life in their region for children and grandchildren as 56 percent of Canadians say it will decrease and 44 percent believe it will increase.

So What?
As the economic woes continue, anything that places the economy versus something else will see economy most likely winning the battle. But, many polls, including earlier Harris Polls, show very strong support for strengthening environmental protections and regulations. Also, most people do not see the hard trade off between economic development and protecting the environment. In fact, many people believe that we not only can do both of these, but that we should be doing both.