Environmental policy & decision-making

What is economics?

the study of the production and consumption of sacred resources and the way they affect behavior

Supply

the amount of a resource available

Demand

the number of people that are willing to purchase or use that resource

Explain the relationship between supply, demand, and resource pricing

when supply is high, demand is low, and the price of a resource is low

when demand increases, or supply decreases, the price of a resource can be driven up

what is a cost-benefit analysis?

when decision makers analyze the cost and benefits and see if it’s worth it or not

what are the ecosystem services

• provisioning

• cultural

• regulating

• supporting

provisioning

goods that humans use directly from the ecosystem

cultural

non-material benefits that people obtain from the ecosystem

regulating

the ability of an ecosystem to regulate air, soil, or water quality, provide flood control or disease control

supporting

provides the necessities to allow an ecosystem to functio

why are enviormental policies necessary?

without government policies in place, individual self-interest may create irreparable damage to the environment (tradegy of the commons)

what are environmental policies?

rules that are put into place to regulate the effects of human activities on the environment

how many policies are there

2

regulations

focuses on the threat of punishment if rules are not followed

what are the drawbacks to regulations

they are expensive to enforce and often not the best way to manage industry

incentive

the environment of an environmentally friendly activity through subsidies (payments by government or tax breaks 9 reductions of taxes owed )