Environmental Economics, Politics, and Worldviews

Economic Importance of Natural Resources  Neoclassical economists  Ecological economists  Environmental economics takes middle ground eco-economy... 17-2 How Can We Use Economic Tools

Environmental Economics, Politics, and Worldviews

Chapter 17

Core Case Study: Rescuing a River

 Nashua River – the filthiest river

 Marion Stoddart developed a restoration plan

and won over state officials

Individuals Matter: Marion Stoddart

Fig 17-1, p 401

17-1 How Are Economic Systems Related

to the Biosphere?

 Concept 17-1 Ecological economists and most

sustainability experts regard human economic systems as subsystems of the biosphere and

subject to its limiting factors.

Resources Supporting Economic

Three Types of Resources

Fig 17-2, p 403

Natural Resources Manufactured Human Resources Goods and Services

Resources

Economic Importance of Natural

Resources

 Neoclassical economists

 Ecological economists

 Environmental economics takes middle ground

eco-economy

Strategies to Transition to

Eco-economy (2)

 Decrease income and wealth taxes

 Increase taxes on pollution, resource waste, and

environmentally harmful actions

 Innovation-friendly regulations

 Tradable permits

 Selling of services instead of things

Ecological Economics

Fig 17-3, p 403

Solar Capital

Economic Systems Production

and energy, and natural

services such as air and

Degradation of renewable resources

(used faster than replenished)

Depletion of nonrenewable resources

Heat Goods and services

Components of Environmentally

Sustainable Economic Development

Fig 17-4, p 404

Recycling, reuse, and composting

Water conservation

Recycling plant Landfill

Cluster housing development

Wind farms

Bicycling

Deep-sea CO2 storage

High-speed trains

Underground CO 2 storage using abandoned oil wells

Production of energy-efficient fuel-cell cars Forest

17-2 How Can We Use Economic Tools to Deal with Environmental Problems?

 Concept 17-2A Using resources sustainably will

require including the harmful environmental and health costs of resource use in the market

prices of goods and services (full-cost pricing)

 Concept 17-2B Governments can help improve

and sustain environmental quality by

subsidizing environmentally beneficial activities and by taxing pollution and wastes instead of

wages and profits.

External Costs

 Market price leaves out environmental and

health costs associated with its production

 Goods and services include external costs

 Excluding external costs

services

Use of Environmental Economic

Indicators

 Gross domestic product (GDP) does not

measure environmental degradation

 Estimating the value of natural capital

 Genuine progress indicator (GPI) monitors

environmental well-being

Genuine Progress Indicator

= Genuine +

-progress

indicator

Benefits not included in market transactions

Harmful environmental

& social costs GDP

Comparison of GDP and GPI

Fig 17-5, p 406

Include Harmful Environmental Costs in Prices of Goods and Services

 Environmentally honest market system makes

sense

 Not widely used

of business

• Difficult to estimate environmental costs

environmental costs with purchases

 Government action needed

 Encourages companies and consumers to go

green

 Programs in Europe, Japan, Canada, and U.S.

 Used to identify fish caught by sustainable

methods

Reward Environmentally Sustainable

Businesses

 Encourage shifts

• Phase in environmentally beneficial subsidies

 Unknowingly, Americans pay:

• $2,500 per year in harmful subsidies

• Additional health costs

Environmental Taxes and Fees

Fig 17-6, p 408

Tax Pollution and Waste

 Green taxes discourage pollution and waste

 Current tax system

• Discourages jobs and profit-driven innovation

• Encourages pollution, resource waste,

degradation

 Tax shift towards green taxes needed

Use of the Marketplace

Trade-offs: Tradable Environmental

Permits

Fig 17-7, p 409

Individuals Matter: Ray Anderson

 Inspired by Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce

 First totally sustainable green corporation

• Saved >$100 million

Selling Services Instead of Things

 Shift from material-flow economy to service-flow

17-3 How Can Reducing Poverty Help Us Deal with Environmental Problems?

 Concept 17-3 Reducing poverty can help us to

reduce population growth, resource use, and

environmental degradation.

Widening Gap Between Rich and Poor

 Poverty – harmful health and environmental effects

 Reducing poverty benefits individuals,

economies, and the environment

 Trickle-down/flow-up model unsustainable

Global Distribution of Income

Reducing Poverty

 Some countries reduced poverty rapidly

 Developing countries must change policies,

emphasizing education

 Debt forgiveness for developing countries

 Condition – debt money devoted to basic needs

Additional Measures to Combat Poverty

 Increase nonmilitary government and private aid

 Combat global malnutrition and infectious

diseases

 Invest in small-scale infrastructure

 Encourage microloans to poor

Case Study: Microloans to the Poor

 Poor lack credit record and assets for loans

 Microcredit

 Grameen Bank, Bangladesh

and birth rate

Millennium Development Goals

 Reduce poverty, hunger, and improve health

What Should Our Priorities Be? (1)

Expenditures per year (2005)

and similar snacks

Fig 17-9b, p 413

Expenditures per year needed to Reforest

the earth Protect tropical forests

Restore rangelands Stabilize water tables Deal with global

HIV/AIDS Restore fisheries Provide universal

primary education and

eliminate illiteracy

Protect topsoil

on cropland Protect biodiversity Provide basic

health care for all

Provide clean drinking

water and sewage

treatment for all

Transition to an Eco-economy and

Shifting to More Environmentally

Sustainable Economies

Fig 17-10, p 414

Green Careers

Fig 17-11, p 414

17-4 Implement More Sustainable and Just Environmental Policies?

 Concept 17-4 Individuals can work with others,

starting at the local level, to influence how

environmental policies are made and whether or not they succeed

Democratic Government and

Environmental Problems

 Complex problems – biodiversity, climate

change

 Long-term problems need integrated solutions

 Lack of environmental knowledge of political

leaders

Principles for Environmental Policies (1)

Principles for Environmental Policies (2)

 Public access and participation principle

 Human rights principle

 Environmental justice principle

Individuals Matter

 People create change together – grassroots

 Politics local at a fundamental level

 Be an environmental leader

• Work within existing systems – vote with your wallet

• Run for local office

• Propose and work for better solutions

What Can You Do?

Fig 17-12, p 416

Developing Environmental Policy

 Law making

 Fund and implement regulations

 Staff environmental regulatory agencies

• Political pressure

• Industry gets their people appointed

 Industry offers regulators high-paying jobs

Case Study: Managing Public Lands in

the United States (1)

 Federal government manages 35% of the

country’s land

 National Forest System – U.S Forest Service

 National Resource Lands – Bureau of Land

Management

 National Wildlife Refuges – U.S Fish and Wildlife

Service

Case Study: Managing Public Lands in the United States (2)

 The National Park system

 National Wilderness Preservation System

 Contain valuable natural resources

 Use of lands controversial

Four Principles of Public Land Use

 Protect biodiversity, wildlife habitat and

ecosystems

 No subsidies or tax breaks to extract natural

resources

 Fair compensation for use of property

 Users of resource extractions responsible for

environmental damage

Lands Managed by the Federal

Government

Fig 17-13, p 417

United States Environmental Laws

 Recently most federal environmental laws and

regulatory agencies weakened

Major United States Environmental Laws

Fig 17-14, p 419

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)

 Range from grassroots to global organizations

 Bottom-up changes

 Citizen-based global sustainability movement

 Some industries and environmental groups

working together

Students and Corporations Can Play

Important Environmental Roles

 Student environmental awareness increasing

 Environmental audits – change on campuses

 Capitalism thrives on change and innovation to

drive technology and profits

 CEOs and investors see profits by selling green

products and services

Importance of Environmental Security

 As important as military and economic security

 Depletion of the natural capital leads to

instability

 Terrorism and violence bred and fueled by

poverty, injustice, and inequality

Stronger International Environmental

Policies

 United Nations and other international

organizations influential

 International Organizations

laws and institutions

Trade-offs: Global Efforts to Solve

Environmental Problems

Fig 17-15, p 422

Shift toward Environmentally

17-5 How Do the Major Environmental Worldviews Differ?

 Concept 17-5 Major environmental worldviews

differ over what is more important – human

needs and wants, or the overall health of

ecosystems and the biosphere; different

worldviews include varying mixes of both

priorities.

Human-centered Environmental

Worldviews

 Differing worldviews affect beliefs, behaviors,

and lifestyles

 Planetary management worldview

 Stewardship worldview

Life-centered and Earth-centered

Worldviews

 Environmental wisdom worldview

 Part of life community

 Earth does not need saving – we need to save

our own species

Comparison of Three Major

Environmental Worldviews

Fig 17-16, p 424

Earth Flag

Fig 17-17, p 425

Science Focus: Biosphere 2

 Self-sustaining glass and steel enclosure

 Artificial ecosystems and species from various

biomes and aquatic systems

 Unexpected problems unraveled life-support

system

 Large-scale failure of biosphere’s species

17-6 How Can We Live More Sustainably?

 Concept 17-6 We can live more sustainably by

becoming environmentally literate, learning from nature, living more simply and lightly on earth, and becoming active environmental citizens.

Environmental Literacy (1)

 Develop respect for all life

 Understand how life sustains itself

 See the big picture – connections

 Think critically to gain environmental wisdom

 Understand and evaluate environmental

worldviews

Environmental Literacy (2)

 Learn to evaluate consequences

 Foster a desire to make the world a better place

Avoid the Mental Traps

Major Components of Environmental Literacy

Fig 17-18, p 426

We Can Learn from Nature

 Kindle a sense of awe, wonder, mystery, and

humility

 Develop a sense of place

 Choose to live more simply and sustainably

 Gandhi’s principle of enoughness

 Reduce environmental footprint

Interrelated Components of Sustainability Revolution (1)

Interrelated Components of Sustainability Revolution (2)

 Demographic equilibrium

 Economic, political transformation

The Sustainability Dozen

Fig 17-19, p 428

Drive an energy-efficient vehicle Reduce car use

heating and cooling

systems, lights, and

appliances

Use renewable energy,

especially wind and direct solar

Insulate your house and plug air leaks

Walk, bike, carpool, or take mass transit whenever possible

Don't use pesticides on your garden or lawn

Buy or grow organic food Buy locally grown food Reduce meat consumption

Animation: Resources Depletion and Degradation

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Animation: Two Views of Economics

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