Studied by 57 PeopleEconomics
Tags & Description
Economics
The study of how and why individuals and groups make decisions about the use and distribution of valuable human and nonhuman resources
Environmental economics
The application of the principles of economics to the study of how environmental resources are managed
Macroeconomics
The study of the economic performance of economies as a whole
Microeconomics
The study of the behavior of individuals and small groups
Analytical subject
Environmental economics is one. We want not only to describe the state of the environment and changes in it, but also to understand why these conditions exist and how we might bring about improvements
Positive economics
The study of what is
Normative economics
The study of what ought to be
Analytical models
A simplified representation of reality, in the sense that it isolates and focuses on the most important elements of a situation and neglects the others
Moral approach
According to it, environmental degradation is the result of human behavior that is unethical or immoral
Profit motive
According to this view, in private enterprise economics, people are rewarded for maximizing profits
Economic incentive
Something in the economic world that leads people to channel their efforts at economic production and consumption in certain directives
Unit pricing
Identification of and labeling of items for sale with the retail price per unit, permitting easier price comparisons among similar products
Public policies
Wide range and variety of public programs and policies devoted to environmental matters, at all levels of government: local, state, regional, federal, and international
Perverse incentives
Incentives created by a policy that actually work against the overall objectives of that policy
Consequences
Adequate information is required about these for effective decision-making
Public sector
The issue is effective public policy
Private sector
The issue is the bottom line of the profit-and-loss statement
Benefit-cost analysis
Primary type of public-sector analysis in environmental policy. Studied in terms of the environmental benefits they would produce, compared with the costs that are entailed
Nonmarket
The benefits of environmental improvements are usually _____ in nature
Nonmarket valuation techniques
Useful to estimate environmental outcomes
Stratospheric ozone
The earth's protective _____ is being destroyed by chemicals devised by humans for a number of industrial purposes
Global climate change
The rise in surface temperatures of the earth stemming from the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
International
Some environmental problems are _____ simply because there is a national border between the pollution source and the resulting impacts
Globalization
A term used to refer to the perceived changes that are taking place in the world economy, including the rapid growth of trade among nations, privatization of economic institutions, massive international flows of financial capital, and growth of multinational firms
Pollution havens
Places which firms move in order to have to spend less on pollution-control measures
Political policy environment
Environmental policy decisions come out of the political process
Economy
A collection of technological, legal, and social arrangements through which individuals in society seek to increase their material and spiritual well-being
Production
Refers to all those activities that determine the quantity of goods and services that are produced and the technological and managerial means by which this production is carried out
Distribution
The way in which goods and services are divided up, or distributed, among the individuals and groups that make up society
Consumption
The final utilization of goods and services
Natural assets
Economies make use of these. The natural world provides these and energy inputs without which production and consumption would be impossible
Laws of nature
Processes and changes of the natural world are governed by these
Natural resource economics
The study of nature in its role as provider of raw materials
Environmental economics
The study of residuals flow and its resultant impacts in the natural world
Renewable resources
Living resources, such as fisheries and timber; they grow in time according to biological processes
Nonrenewable resources
Those for which there are no processes of replenishment—once used they are gone forever
Assimilative capacity
The ability of the natural system to accept certain pollutants and render them benign or inoffensive
Biological diversity
A resource that resides not in any one substance but in a collection of elements
Ambient quality
The quantity of pollutants in the environment, for example, the concentration of SO2 in the air over a city or the concentration of a particular chemical in the waters of a lake
Environmental quality
A term used to refer broadly to the state of the natural environment. This includes the notion of ambient quality and such things as the visual and aesthetic quality of the environment
Residuals
Material that is left over after something has been produced
Emissions
The portion of production or consumption residuals that is placed in the environment, sometimes directly, sometimes after treatment
Recycling
The process of returning some or all of the production or consumption residuals to be used again in production or consumption
Pollutant
A substance, energy form, or action that, when introduced into the natural environment, results in damages from a lowering of the ambient quality level
Effluent
Sometimes ______ is used to talk about water pollutants, and emissions to refer to air pollutants, but in this book these two words are used interchangeably
Pollution
Some people might say that ______ results when any amount, no matter how small, of a residual has been introduced into the environment. Others hold that ______ is something that happens only when the ambient quality of the environment has been degraded enough to cause some damage
Damages
The negative impacts produced by environmental pollution on people in the form of health effects, visual degradation, and so on, and on elements of the ecosystem through disruption of ecological linkages, habitat destruction, species extinctions, and so forth
Environmental medium
Broad dimensions of the natural world that collectively constitute the environment, usually classified as land, water, and air
Source
The location at which emissions occur, such as a factory, an automobile, or a leaking landfill