Untitled Flashcards Set

Weeks 1-3: Problems of Defining the Environment 

Week 1 Discussion: Sense of Place 

1. Describe what the concept of sense of place is as both the meaning and attachments one has to a place 

1. Place attachment as the emotional connection to a place 

1. A sense of place refers to both attachments and the meanings that individuals or groups hold for a specific place  

2. Four assumptions about sense of place research: 

1. How you regard a landscape depends on how you interact with it 

2. Sense of place is both a social construct and created through interaction with the landscape 

3. Attachments and meanings are subjective, but vary in patterned ways 

4. Patterns in attachment and meaning can help to predict behavior 

Lecture 2.1 (1/27): Belief, Nature, and Place 

1. Biblical versions of Genesis set up two roles for humanity in relation to the environment: 

1. As having dominion over the Earth 

2. As stewards of the Earth 

3. Many fables from the Bible relate to the environment (e.g. Noah’s ark) 

2. The Abrahamic bible is important in our cultural understanding of the environment 

1. Three major world religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) use some version of Genesis 

2. More than 4.1 billion people around the world follow a faith in the Abrahamic tradition 

3. The culture of countries where these religions dominate is informed by these religions and therefore a great deal of humanity is influenced by these ideas 

4. Cultures and governance rooted in places where Abrahamic faiths dominate have outsized influence on global economic and political order 

3. Asian faith and philosophical traditions inform many more environmental attitudes 

1. Taoist thought as minimizing adverse impact 

2. Hindu thought and learning to enjoy spiritual happiness as opposed to pursuing material pleasures that disturb nature’s checks and balances 

4. For all faiths, there are many interpretations and it is difficult to grapple with conflicting imperatives of economic growth and environmental preservation 

5. Animist belief that features of the natural environment are non-human persons that may relate to ancestors and therefore should be respected 

1. Animist faiths reject dualism that “others” the “natural” world as separate from human 

1. Dualism is the belief that humans are separate and above the natural world. Humans will dominate such world. Through dualistic we create extractive and exploitative economic and social systems. Therefore, less emotional connection, more profit, and doesn’t care about the environment, whereas animist faiths are the opposite. 

Lecture 2.2 (1/29): Do Dystopias Matter with Dr. Bedore 

1. Ask questions of your literature like “ Is dystopian/apocalyptic literature dangerous?” 

2. Utopia as no place, the perfect place, etc. 

1. U-topos: no place 

2. Eu-topos: perfect place 

3. Eu-chronia: perfect/ no time 

3. Dystopia as the opposite of Utopia 

4. Apocalypse defined as un-cover or reveal 

1. Types of Apocalypse in media 

1. Types of apocalypses are: environmental, military, pandemic, technological, supernatural. Everyone dies, so the main question is what happens to the people who survive? 

5. Which of the preceding three is most optimistic and why? 

1. A utopia would be the most optimistic one because its a perfect society where people aren’t experiencing poverty, destress or opression 

6. Literature as persuasive tool in climate change 

1. Rhetoric 

1. Art of effective or persuasive speaking and writing, especially the use of figure of speech and other compositional techniques 

2. Literature (note Dr. Bedore had a broad definition) 

1. Can have an impact on topics by persuading people’s minds 

7. Issues of why climate change is controversial, including Marshall’s ideas 

1. Cultural coding more important than science 

1. Cultural coding is shared experiences in a particular domain that would be familiar to members of a specific culture  

2. Confirmation bias  

1. Jumping to interpret evidence that supports what we already think, and discounting evidence that contradicts it. 

3. Bystander effect 

1. People within a group witness an incident but don’t act due to the presence of other bystanders 

4. We like stories with motives, perpetrators, heroes 

8. Understand reasons why we might ignore climate change 

1. People ignore climate change because its an overwhelming task to overcome, so thinking about it generates anxiety that we wish to avoid since it requires a lot of changes. 

9. Consider Dr. Bedore’s opinions on dystopia and climate 

1. Dystopia is the most optimistic of the generes 

2. Literature does have the abiloty to change the world, especially utopian/dystopian/apocalyptic literature 

3. Although speculative fiction can make us uncomfortable or anxious, it taps into our empathy in a way other writing doesn’t do as easily. People triggered by such subjects should avoid, but in general its a good way to do though experiments and activate people 

Week 2 Discussion: Wilderness, dualism, and Utopia/Dystopia 

1. The Trouble with Wilderness by William Cronon 

1. Wilderness Environmentalism as idea that preserving wilderness is the way to save the planet, but wilderness as a concept is full of contradictions 

1. Wilderness- cultural construct shaped by specific historical moments and humans' values; actual definition is that it is an uncultivated/unhabited area. 

2. Wilderness environmental 

2. Dualism between humans and nature is the problem so habit of thinking of wilderness as separate is problematic 

1. Dualism is the belief that humans are separate and above the natural world. Humans will dominate such world 

3. Wilderness is a creation of culture and western American ethos that is destructive of the environment around us. There is nothing natural about the concept of wilderness 

4. Visiting “wilderness” means encountering our own preconceptions of wilderness 

5. Wilderness is a mix of the non-human other and our human projections of meaning onto it 

6. Movements that inform modern thought about wilderness include romantic/spiritual sublime (see lecture on Hudson River School) ideas and the nostalgic, post-frontier, primitivist ideology (vanishing frontier fuels preservation) 

7. Wilderness as elitist landscape for rich tourists. The very men who benefited from industrialization sought to escape it’s debilitating effects (pollution, poverty, etc.) to wilderness 

8. Wilderness is an ideal for people who don’t actually have to live in it and use the land 

9. As a creation, wilderness involves removing people, and this is particularly true of native people 

10. Exporting the idea of wilderness to the developing world is a form of cultural imperialism 

11. Wilderness reinforces dualism while creating the misanthropic notion that if humans are wilderness, it is no longer wilderness so people must be removed 

12. Wilderness idealizes primitivism in which people need to live simpler lives in wilderness to be more pure. 

13. Wilderness as separate doesn’t allow humans to be a positive part of wilderness 

14. Dualism denies that any use can be good (use as abuse of wilderness) 

15. If wilderness is our true home, then ideas of wilderness undermines re-envisioning civilization to be something better 

16. Wilderness seeks to protect distant wilderness while ignoring the beauty and importance and need for protection of more local natural spaces. It makes us contemptuous of “small” local nature 

17. Wilderness environmentalism ignores the real injustice of pollution and other environmental injustice in our communities 

Lecture 3.1 (2/3): Earth Materials and Energy with Dr. Thorson 

1.  The Earth system is a closed system for matter and internal heat, but an open system for energy (e.g incoming sunlight) 

1. Earth system science = whole earth environmentalism 

1. Think about the whole planet 

2. We live in the earth; not on the earth  

3. Atmosphere is just as important as the ground 

2. Closed system – an ecosystem that is confined with a set of boundaries and is not open to any external influences/energy source  

3. Open system- an ecosystem that freely exchange both matter and energy with surroundings 

2. The value of analogies when we look down or up from the Earth surface 

3. Consider the language we use to define where we live and the meaning of each: 

1. Earth – The stuff of the Earth, dirt, etc. 

2. Planet – The astronomical body we live on 

3. World – Everything around us including social and natural systems 

4. Globe – A geometrical object, often used to depict the round object that is our Earth 

5. Nature – the natural world around us, that we are a part of, but in some depictions is set apart from us, setting up a false duality between humans and nature 

4. The Anthropocene epoch distinguish between with A vs. a in terms of current usage and geological time 

1. Unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystem. 

5. Note that people use a lot of stuff over their lifetime and what sorts of categories of matter we use, particularly the vast amount of stone, sand, and gravel used in construction, roads, etc. 

6. Matter and energy usage is driven by the imperative for growth in our economy and this has led to an exponential increase in consumption of everything since about 1950. The Holocene was marked by linear/flat growth and the Anthropocene is marked by near vertical growth 

1. Holocene – name for most recent interval of Earth history and includes present day; geological epoch characterized by stable climate and the rise of human civilization  

7. Some view human growth on Earth as similar to bacterial growth, limited only by resource constraints (compare this with the population discussion in Chapter 2). Ie this is closer to the Malthusian view of growth until population hits hard limits 

8. Growth in population is related to growth in consumption and productivity 

1. Population- all the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country 

2. Consumption- using up the resoruce  

3. Productivity- the state or quality of producing something  

4. In conclusion, growth in population influences consumption and productivity, bc it drives up demand for goods and services and increase the labor force and innovation. If growth exceeds capacity,  it’ll lead to challenges like resource depletion and environmental degradation, limiting future growth 

Human movement of materials on the Earth’s surface on a yearly basis since 1950 is much greater than glaciers during the Pleistocene or rivers throughout the Phenerozoic by ratios of 75:21:5 respectively (Yes, Thor said you should remember those numbers 😊) 

Lecture 3.2 (2/3, 2/5): Earth as a… 

• Sustainability is “…Humans can and should make use of nature to meet their needs, but that we should do so only in ways that respect the needs of future generations” 

• Sustainability- ability to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs  

• Basic approach to environmental problems  

• The leviathan 

• Government or dictator governs how a common resource should be used 

• Ideal outcome: everyone has a fair piece of everything, but the leviathan still has power 

• Reality: the leviathan always has the most and thinks of themselves 

• 2^nd potential problem: leviathan doesn’t know what they’re doing 

• Private property: 

• Equal number of resources for every party. 

• Problem: How to divide commons equitably? 

• 2^nd problem: some commons can’t be easily divided up 

• Pigouvian tax: 

• Tax on market transaction that creates a negative externality  

• Ex: energy companies have to pay a tax for the air pollution 

• Different policy appraoches  

• Assign property rights 

• Regulation (requirements and prohibitions) 

• Incentives (subsidies/payments, taxes) and cap and trade (combo of regulation and incentives) 

• Ideal outcome: company invests money into finding cleaner ways to produce energy 

• Problem: costs are passed down to the consumer while the company keeps polluting and politically very hard to pass these taxes 

• Ex: people drive cars and hurts the highways and its expensive to maintain highway; so to pay the Pigouvian tax is the vehicle registration fee. 

• The three-legged stool of Academia and how we approach problems with roles for science, social science, and humanities 

• 3 legged stool: 

1. Science enables us to discover new facts with which we can understand the world 

2. Social science helps understand groups of people, organize them, and create good governance models 

3. Humanites helps us understand people and communicate with them in a way that can move them to action 

• Consider the role of art in informing how we relate to the world around us 

• Hudson River School of Painting 

1. A large measure the result of the work of Thomas cole. Its important because it celebrated the vast wilderness of the American landscape. Cole’s style of painting was based on his study of European landscape painters and included striking weather patttens and topography. 

2. Role of Thomas Cole in 19^th century 

1. An American landscape painter and founder of the Hudson River school. The first significant American landscape painter; known for his romantic landscape and history paintings  

3. Style of Cole in painting the sublime  

1. Sublime- associated with powerful emotions with spiritual awe, with vast spaces and the manifestation of the grand. Developed a formula for sublime. 

4. Elements of Hudson River School landscapes including 

1. A spacious view of wild & irregular mountain scenery in the distance; 

1. Spacious-  have a lot of space 

2. A gorge or powerful flow of water in the middle distance 

1. Gorge – narrow and deep valley with steep and rocky walls 

2. Powerful- great force of energy 

3. Humanity diminished by the landscape 

1. Vastness/harshness of nature makes humans feel small, powerless, or disconnected. Could also mean that human actions are harming the environment, whcih in turn affects humanity negatively 

4. A glow of light representing spiritual presence in the “wild”. 

1. A light that shows theres a spiritual or divine force in nature, offering guidance or peace even in the wild untamed world  

1. Consider the metaphors we might use to describe the Earth as an apple, blue marble, pale blue dot, etc. and how they express concepts like the fragility of our biosphere, our “loneliness” in space, the importance of protecting what we have, etc. 

1. Earth is a small/fragile object and symbolizes how precious and finite our planet is. We need to take care of it, and cherish it bc the resources and beauty is limited and easily damaged. Encourages humanity to take care of the planet since its a shared responsibility since we are alone in the universe and its the only thing we know.  

2. Understand the concept of scale in space and time and how many natural phenomena vary in space and time 

1. Scale influences the way we deal with the environment in many ways including personal action and policies.  

3. Describe the Earth’s atmosphere, its layers, and what defines those. 

1. Atmosphere consists of serveral layers with different temperatures, pressures and compositions 

2. Troposphere: warmed by greenhouse gases 

3. Stratosphere: warmed by chemicals absorbing light, including ozone UV  

1. Ozone: forms the ozone layer and absorbs the ultraviolet radiation 

4. Mesophere: atmosphere less dense and gets colder 

5. Thermosphere: chemicals highly excited by sunlight so warmer, but not dense 

4. Recognize the drivers of the Earth System: Gravitation, energy flux from the Sun, circulation, and what makes life possible 

1. Gravitation – includes tidal forces resulting from the interaction of water and the earth with the moon and the sun, and rotation of the earth 

2. Energy flux from sun – radiation from the sun results in wind stress, heating and cooling of the land and ocean surface as well as the atmosphere, and evaporation and precipitation of water 

3. Complex process of interaction between these forces results in a complex and variable pattern of atmospheric and ocean circulation 

4. Circulation of ocean and atmosphere governs the nature of life that occurs in different parts of the world  

5. Chemistry combines with these other factors that provide energy to make life possible  

Week 3 Discusion: The Anthropocene and Earth Metaphors 

1. The video and article by/about Thor reinforces the points from his lecture about the importance of the Anthropocene as a concept and way of describing the great acceleration of the human use of materials from the Earth system to support growing populations and economies 

1. Great acceleration – rapid and significant growth in human activities. Marked by a dramatic increase in various aspect of human society – population, industrialization, urbanization, and resource consumption. Also refers to environmental harm. 

2. The World’s biggest membrane likens the Earth’s atmosphere to the membrane of a cell, including the importance of that membrane for protecting the life within from the harsh environment of space, but also nurturing life. 

3. Consider the metaphors for Earth and its atmosphere that we have discussed and how they relate to our concept of our role as part of the global environment. 

Weeks 4-6: Economics and Institutions 

Lecture 4.1 (2/10, 2/17, 2/24, part of 2/26): Stuff, Growth and the Economy 

1. The impossible hamster as a metaphor for the absurdity of limitless growth 

1. Nature puts limits on the growth of any organism 

2. In the last 100 years (85% since 1950), we have seen 3X growth in energy use, 24X growth in the economy, 45X growth in population, and 80X growth in industrial pollution, all as part of the great acceleration of the Anthropocene 

3. Exponential growth is seen by Capitalism as “normal, natural, right, necessary, and inevitable” leading to a culture of growth 

1. As above: Nature puts limits on the growth of any organism 

2. Statements means capitalist systems and economies tend to view constant economic expansion and growth as fundamental to their operation and sucess 

3. Exponential growth -  growth at a constant rate overtime, where amount of growth compounds, increasing faster as time profresses. Refers to GDP 

4. Culture of growth: encourages a focus on increasing profits, expanding markets, scaling businesses, and consuming more resources. Growth is desired and expected, and priortized over other valueus such as sustainability, equality and environmental perservation 

5. Capitalism: a system where private individuals and companies own the means of production and operate in a competitive marketplace to generate profit, which can drive economic growth and innovation, but leads to challenges like inequality and environmental harm 

4. The Problem of Capitalism 

1. Economic growth is a primary policy goal of most governments 

2. There is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection 

3. Economic growth is no longer improving people’s lives in the developed world 

5. How economic growth works 

1. Growth is usually measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 

1. GDP-  total value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders over a specific time period  

6. Economic growth model currently means raw materials are input into the economy and waste products go out, without much regard for where they come from or where they go 

7. Recognize Planetary Boundaries that are being stressed by growth including (you don’t need to know amounts, but know the categories): 

1. Planetary boundaries – refers to limits within which humanity can safelt operate without causing irreversible environmental damage 

2. Climate change- rapid industrialization and burning fossil fuels have led to an increase in global temperatures, causing climate instability, extreme weather events, rising sea levels 

3. Novel entities (e.g. invasive species)- refers to introduction of new substances, organisms, or modified organisms into the environment, like invasive species and these entities can disrupt ecosystems, etc. 

4. Stratospheric ozone depletion – ozone layer protects earth from harmful UV rays, ozone layer has thinned out by chemicals like chloroflurocarbons  

5. Atmospheric aerosol loading- aerosols are tiny particles or droplets in the atmosphere that can affect climate and human health. Excessive aerosol loading from industrial pollution, vehicle emissions, and burning fossil fuels can contribute to acid rain, smog, changes in atmospeheric circulation 

6. Ocean acidification- absorption of excess CO2 by the oceans is causing ocean acidification, which threatens marine life 

7. Biogeochemical flows- cycling essentially nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous. Excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture, along with pollution from industrial activities, is disrupting these natural cycles, leading to eutrophication (nutrient overload), dead zones in oceans, and loss of biodiversity. 

8. Freshwater change- human acitivies like deforestation, industrialization, and overuse of water resources are placing a significant stress on freshwater systems. Over-extraction of water for agriculture and urban development, coupled with pollution, is leading to water scarcity and deteriorating water quality. 

9. Land use change- conversion of natural ecosystems into urban, agricultural, or industrial areas. Deforestation, urban sprawl, and intensive agriculture disrupt ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, and contribute to climate change by releasing stored carbon. 

10. Biosphere integrity- Human activities like habitat destruction, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change are driving biodiversity loss, which can destabilize ecosystems and affect services that humans rely on, such as pollination, water purification, and soil fertility. 

8. The ecological footprint concept as a measure of how much land society needs to: 

1. Produce the resources it consumes 

2. Assimilate the wastes it generates 

3. Ecological footprint- measure of the environmental impact of an individual, community, organization. Represents amount of natural resources and ecosystem services needed to support a person’s or population lifestyle, including the production of food, goods, services and waste 

9. Global ecological footprint has exceeded biocapacity so we are in a state of overshoot 

1. Biocapacity – earths ability to produce resources and absorbs waste 

2. Overshoot – human ecological footprint; amount of resources we consume and waste we generate; exceeding earths biocapacity  

10. Can we decouple economic growth from resource use through technology? So far the answer is no 

1. Decouple- disengage economic growth  

2. No we can’t decouple bc GDP growth has overwhelmed any decoupling 

11. Through history in the US, happiness does not go up with GDP 

1. How Gross National Happiness varies by country with GDP (levels off after a level of basic income 

1. GNH-  measure of the overall well-being and happiness of a population 

2. Buying power makes us feel more freedom 

12. GDP measures all goods and services paid for in the economy so it includes negative factors like cleaning up pollution or paying for divorce lawyers. This creates perverse incentives for growth 

1. GDP does not include important factors like the value of household and volunteer work 

2. Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) takes out the harmful pieces of the economy and adds in the benefits of social goods that aren’t paid for 

1. GPI- takes account of economic activity, environmental health, social well being and inequality 

3. GPI has leveled out over time while GDP has grown, meaning much of growth is not creating social benefit 

13. The progress an economy might take from growth to degrowth to a steady state economy (SSE) 

1. Growth- an increase in the total output of goods and services in an economiy, measured by GDP 

2. Degrowth - economy intentionally reduces its size in terms of resource use, energy consumption, ecological impact aiming for sustainability rather than expansion 

3. SSE-  an economic system that aims to maintain a stable level of output and resource use. Seeks to stablilize the economy at a level that can be sustained by earths natural resources without leading to degradaation or use 

4. Represents a shift toward sustainability where economic activity managed in a way that preserves the environment, promotes social equity and ensures the well being of future generations 

14. Characteristics of a SSE 

1. Stable population 

2. Stable per capita consumption  

3. Energy and material flows are reduced and kept within ecological limits 

4. Constant stocks of natural and human-built capital 

15. People and resources in a SSE have: 

1. Sustainable Scale 

2. Fair Distribution 

3. Efficient Allocation 

4. High Quality of Life 

16. How to achieve SSE 

1. Limit resource use 

1. Impose strict resource and emission caps 

2. Employ cap –auction-trade system 

1. Caps set based on ecological criteria 

2. Permits auctioned by government 

3. Trade between industries to allow efficient allocation 

2. Stabilize population 

1. Births + immigration = deaths + emigration 

1. Wealthy countries have balance immigration with emigration 

2. Poorer countries: Prodvide education, access to birth countrol, and equal rights for woman 

3. Reduce inequality 

1. No growth  

2. Finite resource use = finite amount of wealth 

3. Must deal with distribution explicitly 

1. Need a minimum and maximum income 

4. Reduce working hours 

1. Can’t increase production if it results in higher resource use  

2. Instead shorten the working day, week and year 

1. Same salaries but more leisure time 

5. Reform the monetary system 

1. All money would be created and spent into existence by a public institution  

2. Banks would be prohibited from creating money, but would instead have to borrow existing money to lend it  

6. Change how we measure progress 

1. What happens to GDP isnt important  

2. Replace GDP with two sets of accounts: 

1. Well-being : to be maximized  

2. Resource use: to be reduced and kept withing ecological limits  

7. In other words, gradually change existing policies from growth towards a steady state 

17. The industrialized world needs to go through degrowth to get to SSE, but some places still need to experience growth to get to a basic standard of living and create equity around the world 

Lecture 4.2 (2/12): How Environmental Economists Think About Environmental Issues with Dr. Segerson 

1. Environmental economics as oxymoron; economics as problem or solution? 

1. Oxymoron- a combination of contradictory or opposing terms 

2. Environmental economics is seen as an oxymoron because traditional economic models often prioritize growth, consumption, and profit maximization, which can lead to resource depletion, polllution, and environmental degradation 

3. Economics as a problem – lead to unsustainable growth, resource depletion, and environmental harm because they prioritize short term proftis over long term environmental sustainability 

4. Economics as a solution – environmental economics offers tools and policies that can address environmental issues such as pricing externalities, encouraging green technologies, and valuing ecosystems. Shift economic incentives to align with sustainable development 

1. In short it helps our understanding of environmental problems and shaping ways to address environmental problems  

2. Flow diagrams representing the relationship between humans and the environment (note dualism here!) 

3. Environmental economics distinct because it focuses on market failures including externalities 

1. Market failures – when invisible hand doesn’t work 

2. Externalities – when activities generate benefits or impose costs outside of markets -> benefits and costs to society differ from benefits and costs to those undertaking the activity 

3. Example of costs and benefits of electricity production or pollution control and how these relate to idea of market failures and externalities 

1. Electricity Production: 

1. Production/consumption generates private benefits 

2. Production generates private costs (to utilities) 

3. Production generates external social costs  

4. Private and external costs depend on how electricity is produced  

2. Pollution control: 

1. Generates external social benefits 

2. Generates private costs (to utilities) 

3. Might also generate external social costs 

4. How to “measure” benefits of environmental protection (e.g. with air pollution) 

1. Biophysical measures: ambient air concentrations 

2. Non-monetary human measures: asthma cases, reduced mortality, infant birth weights 

3. Monetary human measures: willingness to pay for risk reductions  

4. Economists prefer to keep things to markets, but market failures may require government intervention in the form of policy (how to assess the right policy) 

1. Markets- place or system where buyers and sellers come together to exchange goods, services, or information 

5. Three policy approaches to dealing with market failures: 

1. Assign property rights  

1. Ex: water rights, harvest rights in fisheries, and pollution rights 

2. Regulation 

1. Requirements and prohibition 

3. Incentives 

1. Subsidies/payments, taxes, cap-and- trade (combo of regulation and incentives) 

6. Subsidies are positive incentives that can take the form of direct payments or tax credits 

1. Subsidies: financial assistance or support provided by the government or an organization to help reduce the cost of a good, service, activity. Suppoed to encourage the production or consumption of certain goods and services. 

2. Direct payments: financial assistance provided directly from a government or organization to individuals, businesses or groups 

3. Tax credits - reduction in the amount of taxes owed, either through a direct deduction from the tax bill or through a refund if the credit exceeds the taxes owed. It's typically used to encourage certain actions or provide financial relief. 

7. Can create a market for ecosystem services through a system of payments for ecosystem services (PES) 

1. Inflation Reduction Act uses positive incentives to individuals and businesses to take environmentally beneficial actions (all carrots, no sticks) 

2. Ecosystem service- refers to the benefits that humans receive from natural ecosystems 

3. PES-  create a market for protecting/conserving environment (pay people so they’ll do it  

1. Source of payment: 

1. Government programs, non-government organizations such as conservation groups, and private companies  

8. The effectiveness of subsidies depends on elasticity 

1. Elasticity- explains how much things change when prices change. Helps us understand how people or businesses respond to price change 

2. Individual elasticity: tells us how much more or less people buy when the price goes up or down.  

1. Ex: if a product’s price drops by 1% how much more of it will people buy (as a percentage) 

3. Business elasticity: tells us how much more a business will produce if the price of the product increases by 1% 

1. If prices go up, how much more will companies make 

9. Economists prefer taxes (or cap-and-trade) to subsidies – explain why 

1. Economists prefer taxes to subsides bc the cost og gov revenue must be replaced or cut gov services. Subsidies doesn’t address the harm practices. Taxes and cap and trade systems provide market signals that encourage people and businesses to reduce negative impacts, and allows for greater flexibility, and a broad incentive for innovation. Subsidies, are less flexible bc they support specific technologies or behaviors which will lock in inefficient or outdated practices, reducing the incentive to innovate or find more cost-effective solutions. Taxes/cap and trade generate revenue, less gov intervention, and long term sustainable whereas subsidies have the opposite effect. 

2. Example of carbon tax 

1. Makes ppl pay for their carbon emissions -> increase prices of carbon intensive goods 

2. Similar to how businesses pay for other inputs 

3. Tax revenue can be used in a variety of ways 

4. Higher prices create incentives for individuals and businesses  

10. Explain how cap-and-trade works with steps indicated 

1. Regulator sets cap  

2. Permits are distributed by some method  

1. Free distribution 

2. Auctioned off 

3. Permits holders can buy/sell/trade their permits -> creates a market for permits 

4. Trading make both buyers and sellers better off  

5. Caps work like a regulation; trade works like an emissions tax 

6. Scope is often limited  

Week 4 Discussion: Environmental Economics 

1. Describe the LEAF program and how it uses some of the methods discussed in Dr. Segerson’s lecture to help preserve rainforests and what this means for how environmental economics can create tools that help to solve environmental problems/market failures. What are the limitations of tools like this? 

1. LEAF stands for lowering emissions by accelerating forest finance. A group of 12 companies and 3 countries have committed one billion dollars in finance for forest protection. uses payments for ecosystem services and carbon credits to tackle environmental problems like deforestation by aligning economic incentives with environmental goals. While it can be effective, it has limitations, such as relying on ongoing incentives, price fluctuations, potential shifting of problems elsewhere, and challenges in monitoring and scaling, which need careful management for long-term success 

2. Discuss alternatives to the classic economic indicators, like GDP, and how we might use them to create a better measure of human well-being that allows us to get beyond the imperative of economic growth. 

1. Gross national happiness (GNH) 

2. Human development index 

3. Genuine progress indicator 

4. Social progress index 

5. Ecological footprint 

3. Understand the implications of non-growth mindset for how our economy might work in the future and how that relates to lecture 

1. non-growth economy would focus on sustainability, social equity, and well-being instead of continuous GDP growth 

Lecture 5.1 (2/19, 2/24): Tragedy of the Commons 

1. Explain the Tragedy of the Commons (it’s explained well in this lecture, the textbook, and the video for the Discussion Response) 

1. Individuals act based on their own self interest, overuse and deplete a shared resource  

2. Characteristics of the commons 

1. Non-excludable: cant stop people from using it  

2. Rivalrous: when someone consumes the good, there is less available for everyone else 

3. Commons: public space like air, land or oceans  

4. Be able to identify different things on axes of non-excludable and rivalrous 

1. Excludable and rivalrous: private goods  

2. Rivalrous and non-excludeable: commons 

3. Non-rivalrous and excludable: club goods 

4. Non-rivalrous and non-excludable: public goods  

3. Solutions to the ToC 

1. Leviathan: Problems including the Leviathan takes more for self or Leviathan has no clue and screws up the system 

2. Private property: Problem of how to divide commons equitably, especially when it isn’t easily divided 

3. Pigouvian tax: ideally leads to the creator of the negative externality to change practices to avoid the externality , but potential problems that costs are passed on and that taxes are hard to pass 

4. When someone takes advantage of the commons beyond their share, they are free riding 

1. Free riding: individuals or groups benefit from a service, resource, or opportunity without paying for it 

5. What are alternatives to private property or Leviathan (social contracts) 

1. People agreeing on a set of rules of a local community or government regulation 

6. Conditions for avoiding the ToC 

1. The resource, and those who have the right to use it, are clearly identified 

2. The share of the resource someone can use is proportional to their contribution to the resource 

3. The state of the resource is monitored and those who break the rules are punished 

4. Those affected by the monitors participate in decision making 

We did not cover the Local Institutions section at the end of this slide set 

Week 5 Discussion: Commons and Local Institutions 

1. Discuss how the Tragedy of the Commons works as described in the video, the book, and lecture by Dr. Andrews, including understanding the ways problems of the commons can be resolved 

2. Discuss the role of bias in local government. Why do zoning boards and similar bodies have a preponderance of members with special interests or backgrounds that lean toward development? What are some possible ways to change the make-up of zoning boards to be more representative of all community members? 

3. Consider yourself in the role of a member of a town committee or board, such as a zoning board, and what kinds of decisions need to be made and what considerations go into decision-making 

Week 6 Discussion:  

1. Consider the messages of the podcast interview with Nate Hagens and Chapter 16 of the book and be able to respond to material in the questions 

1. If you reflect on your own life, what do you find your own impulses to be and what is your relationship with the "consumptive vortex"? How might you "do the opposite" of those impulses? 

2. He talks about some sort of collapse that society must confront in your lifetime that may be sudden or slow with peaks and dips. What do you think of this notion and how do you see yourself weathering such a collapse? What skills might you develop to be a "rock in the stream"? 

3. He advocates that people can be more prepared by building strong social networks, having a sense of adventure, and having a love-based outlook toward others and the world. What do you think of this approach and what do you think it leaves out? 

4. He says that the University is half trivia (go me!) and half useful. How does the University need to change to suit the future? 

5. What do you think of lawns after reading the chapter? In what ways does this (or does it not) change your vision of a future lawn or the turfgrass you think you will interact with? 

Week 7: Population and Health  

Lecture 7.1 (3/3): Population and Migration 

1. Population has increased dramatically in the last century, reaching peak growth in 1968 

1. Since 1950, most growth has been in less developed countries 

2. Growth is projected to slow or even decrease in many countries of the global north 

3. Global urban populations are growing rapidly, with more than 50% in urban areas in 2008 

4. Urban growth happens because births exceed deaths and because of migration 

5. Migration can be internal or international 

2. The demographic transition theory says a population goes through stages related to development, shifting from high to low mortality and high to low fertility at different times. 

1. Demographic transition theory: the shift from high to low mortality and from high to low fertility  

2. This is generally a sign of development, but not for all situations 

1. If accomplished through genocide, war or disease then it wont yield progress 

2. People will respond to war, genocide and disease by increasing fertility  

3. Know how to interpret a population pyramid and define the kind of population it represents (e.g. a broad base and narrow peak means a young population, whereas an inverted pyramid implies an aging population with few children) 

1. Population pyramid is a graphic representation of the age and sex composition of a population 

1. Vertical axis: age composition of country broken down in 5 yr groups  

2. Horizontal axis: left side shows males in total population, right side are females 

2. Population pyramids also indicate gender structure and dependeny ratios 

3. Know what a dependency ratio is and what it means for a population 

4. I=PAT indicates how environmental impact is related to population, affluence, and technology  

1. I (Impact): Represents the overall environmental impact, such as carbon emissions, resource depletion, or pollution. 

2. P (Population): Refers to the size of the human population, as more people generally increase resource consumption and waste. 

3. A (Affluence): Captures the level of consumption per person, often linked to wealth or standard of living. Higher affluence typically means more resources consumed. 

4. T (Technology): Represents the environmental impact per unit of consumption. While technology can worsen impact (e.g., polluting industrial processes), it can also mitigate it (e.g., renewable energy). 

Lecture 7.2 (3/5): Environment and Health with Dr. Park  

1. What are examples of what in the environment helps you stay healthy and what is a hazard? 

1. Healthy: oxygen, nutrients, medicine/vitamins, beautiful scenery, family and friends 

2. Hazard: bacteria, virus, air pollution, tobacco smoke, stress, natural disasters, noise, and harmful chemicals; anything that can hurt you or make you sick 

2. What do scientists understand about the environmental effect on health, the genetic effect, and our internal environment? 

1. Environment shapes health outcomes (air pollution, contaminated water, and toxic chemicals) 

2. Genetic effects health (can inherit traits) 

3. Mental states and homeostais is vital for overall well being  

3. What is the study of Environmental Health? 

1. Study of how environment affects human health 

4. What is particulate matter? Include the distinction between PM2.5 (ultrafine) and PM10 (fine) in terms of what makes up those different size ranges 

1. Tiny particles in the air that can be harmful when inhaled. PM10 are dust, pollen and mold. PM 2.5 are finer particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less; especially dangerous bc they can penetrate deep into lungs and even enter the bloodstream. 

5. Why is it hard to see local variations in air quality? Discuss lack of many sensors to create a good, spatial view. The network is not dense. 

1. Regulatory air monitoring network in ct is not dense so its difficult to capture local variations in aiq quality and can only capture ourdoor air pollution concentrations. To add on, residential locations don’t fully represent hthe actual geographic context in which people are exposed to air pollution 

6. How do low-cost monitors like Purpleair improve this picture? 

1. Higher spatioemporal resolutions compared to regulatory monitors  

7. What is the problem with most studies focusing only on residential exposure? How might other locations influence health risk? 

1. Many studies have focuzed on residential exposure due to lack of peoples daily travel pattern data. Focusing only on residential locations tells us half of the story. 

8. Discuss how travel data can make it easier to get a more thorough view and how GPS and portable sensors can help with this 

1. Use individuals’ daily travel data to capture the full range of geographic contexts where they are exposed to environmental hazards  

9. Why is there more outdoor air pollution data than indoor and what kinds of pollution might this be missing? 

1. Studies focused heavily on assessing exposure to outdoor air pollution due to a lack of indoor air quality data 

10. What communities are disproportionately affected by outdoor air pollution? 

1. Low income and racial minority communites 

11. Why is measuring indoor air pollution important? What are some of the complications in measuring it? 

1. We spend a lot of time indoors and some complicatons are  unevely distributed across population groups. 

12. What sources of indoor air pollution were important according to this study? 

1. We focused on low-income Latino/Hispanic communities in eastern North Carolina because many Latinos in this region are recent immigrants who have moved for employment, work in highly polluting industries, and live in manufactured housing 

13. What are the major factors in exposure to air pollution? Where you visit, how long you stay there, and what you do there 

1. Where you visit, how long you visit, what you dp can determine your health