^•Understand what is meant by “reliable science”. What exactly is the peer review process? o Reliable science - peer-reviewed, scholars agree, well-documented methods o Peer review process - assessment by experts in fields —> judge validity, significance + originality of work

^•Know definitions for atomic number and mass number

o Atomic # - the total number of protons

o Mass # - the totaL number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus

^•Understand the different trophic levels, names of each level with examples o Producer (plants)

o Primary consumer (herbivores)

o Secondary consumer (carnivores and omnivores)

o Tertirary consumer (carnivores)

^•What is the definition of evolution and natural selection?

o Natural selection - process where individuals with certain genetic traits are more likely to survive and reproduce under a specific set of environmental conditions o Evolution - genetic change over time

^•What are the different types of species interactions, what are the effects on each organism (+/-/0) and have real-life examples for each.

o Interspecific - btwn species and intraspecfic - within species (-,-)

o Predation + herbivory (+/-)

o Mutalism (+/+) - bees and flowers

o Commensalism (+/o) - barnacles attacheing themselves to whales

o Parasitism (+/-) - tapeworms living in the intestines of animals, absorbing nutrients from the host’s digestive systems

^•What is primary productivity and how does it vary based on ecosystems? Where do we see it the highest/lowest?

o Primary productivity - refers to the rate at which producers (mostly plants) in an ecosystem convert solar energy into organic compounds through photosyntehsis o Aquatic ecosystems

▪ Highest productivty - coral reefs and estuaries can have high primary productivity - coral reefs have a lot of sunlight, warm temperatures, and

nutrient rich water, while estuaries get nutrients from both rivers and oceans ▪ Lowest productivity - opean ocean areas, especially the deep sea, often have lower productivity because there’s less sunlight and fewer nutrients

o Terrestrial ecosystems

▪ Highest productivity - rainforests tend to have very high productivity - they get lots of sunlight and have a warm, humid climate with plenty of rainfall, providing ideal conditions for plant growth

▪ Lowest productivity - deserts usally have lower productivity - theres sunlight, but water is scarce, limting plant growth. Cold tundras also have low productivity due to harsh weather conditions

^•Understand ecological succession, the general stages, and the two different types o Ecological succession - gradual change in species/habitats composition o Primary - no previous biotic (ex: lava field, exposed rock)

o Secondary: previously occupied, underwent disturbacne (ex: forest after wildfire) ^•What is the difference between density dependent and density independent factors? Be able to give examples of each.

o Density-dependent factors - these are environmental factors whose impact on a population changes based on the population’s density or size

o Examples

▪ Competition for resources

▪ Predation

▪ Disease

▪ Intraspecific competiion

o Density-independent factors - affects population size but not dependent on # of individuals in a population

o Examples:

▪ Natural disasters

▪ Climate events

▪ Habitiat destruction

^•What is bioaccumulation and biomagnification? Example?

o Bioaccumulation - increased concentration of contaminants in tissues of specific animals (ex: mercury in fish)

o Biomagnification - concentration of toxins from ingesting contaminated organisms (ex: mercury poisoning in humans from fish consumption)

^•What trends are we currently seeing with global population size and growth rate? o Population size (increases)

o Growth rate (decreases)

^•What are examples of macro/micro nutrients? What are some problems that arise when we lack access to certain micro nutrients?

o Macronutrients - large group of nutrients

▪ Carbohydrages, proteins, fats, and fibers

o Micronutrients - pead vitamins/minerals

▪ Vitamin A: important for vision

▪ Iron: component of hemoglobin that helps transport oxygen in your blood - low level of iron could suffer from amneia (light headidness)

▪ Iodine - helps function your thyroid gland - lack of it = stunt of growth, brain damage

▪ Zinc - deficiency of zinc = lead to hairlos + makes you more susceptible to more types of infection/changes around your nails

^•What are CAFOs? What are problems associated with them?

o C (concentrated) A (animals) F (feeding) O (operations)

o Problems

▪ Major emitter of methane - from cow farts, burps, wastes

▪ Methane bad GHG b/c higher potency than carbon dioxide (environmentally speaking)

▪ Amount of antibiotics preemptively given to animals in these CAFOs (lead to antibiotic resistance or bacterial resistance to antibiotic resistance -> can be problematic

^•How is soil texture determined? What is loam?

o Soil texture is determined by particle size

o Loam: well-suited for plant growth b/c it allows for water to pass through 40/40/20 ^•What are pesticides? What pests do they target – what are benefits and drawbacks of synthetic pesticides?

o Pesticides - substances meant to control pests

o Types of pests

▪ Insecticides - control insects

▪ Herbicides - kill or inhibit growth of unwanted plants

▪ Fungicides - used to control fungal problems like molds, mildrew and rust ▪ Rodenticides - mouses, mices

o Benefits

▪ Effective at quickly killing target insect pests, weeds, fungi

▪ Relatively inexpensive compared to other pest control methods

▪ Easy to apply in large quantities across fields and crops

▪ Boost crops yields by reducing pest damage

o Drawbacks

▪ Can be toxic to humans, animals, and beneficial insects

▪ Can contiminate soil and water supplies

▪ Pest can develop resistance over time, requring more pesticide use

▪ Some ingridients may be carcinogeic or endocrine disruptors

^•Be able to explain the main differences between cross breeding, transgenesis and gene editing, specifically related to how the genetic modification is different.

o Crossbreeding

▪ Uses breeding only to get exisiting desirable traits into one plant variety ▪ Resulting plants will have the same # of chromosomes and genes at the starting one

▪ Getting traits that you want (samething w/animals and tomatoes)

▪ Complex process in terms of doing it for multiple generations (there can be so much variation) - there’s different traits that comes along

▪ Galaxy suite - known for delicious variety of flavors

▪ Select two different parents for offspring

o Transgenesis

▪ Uses labortaory processes and breeding to make a trait from another organism available in a plant variety

▪ Resulting plants will have the saem # of chomromes as the starting plants, but there will be a small # of new genes in the plant. Plants sometimes have

1000s or hundred of thousnads of gnes, so many people describe the addition of 1-4 transgenes as small

▪ Genetic and trait differences are the result of which version of each DNA segemnts they have AND the added transgene

o Gene-editing

▪ Uses laboraotry, plant growth, and breeding processes to help combine existing genes in ways that are desirable

▪ Resulting plants will have the same # of chromosomes and genes as the starting plants, thougb there might be times when gene editing is utilized to delete one of the thousands or tens of thousand genes in a plant

▪ Gene editing we are not adding another gene from another organism into the tomato

▪ You are editing within the gene you are working with - playing around with the genes that are already there (laboratory techniques)

▪ CRISPR - the mechanism where gene editing could happen

^•CRISPR is able to detect a particualr sequence - and it could guide it

+ find it and it has the ability to edit

^•What are some alternatives to synthetic pesticides and some potential drawbacks? o Biological controls

▪ Natural predators

▪ Parasites

▪ Disease causes bacteria and viruses

^•Drawbacks?

o Messing with food chain

o Can be pests themselves

o Can be difficult to manage

o Can take time

^•What are hydroponics? What are some benefits and drawbacks to this type of farming? o Hydroponics - growing plants w/no soil but instead nutrient rich water o Advantages

▪ Conserve water

▪ Closed environemnt —> no runoff

▪ Land + light efficient

▪ Sell locally —> less C emission from transportation

▪ No need for pesticides

o Disadvantages

▪ Expensive

▪ Costly —> electircally, energy, produce

^•What can be done to help address the issue of biodiversity? Specific to invasive species? o Research funding

o Surveys or tracking observations

o Increasing inspection of imported goods

o Educated the public

^•Know information about international treaties and the Endangered Species Act from what we discussed in class.

o UN Convention on Biological Diversity

▪ Goals

^•Reduce global rate of biodiversity lose

^•Share use of genetic respirces

^•Control and prevent spread of invasive speices

o Endangered Species Act

▪ Endangered - protect species that are considered endangered

▪ Threatened - likely to become endangered

▪ Vulnerable - least at risk (natural rate, locally depleted, could be candidates for future listings)

^•What is the definition of invasive species? What are different examples of invasive species we went over in class? What harm do these invasives cause?

o Invasive speices - nonnative species that outcompete populations of many native species for food, disrupt ecosystems services, transmit disease and lead to economic losses

o Examples

▪ Zebra mussels

^•They will mass around/grow stationary objects - clogging shit rutters

+ painful to step on

▪ Round goby

^•They reproduce really quickly + frequently —> then they eat a lot,

some of their diet has charged where they feed on another invasive

species

▪ Autumn olive

^•Invasive shrub —> this is introduced in the US to help control soil

erosions

o Grows almost everywhere

o Out shades/out compete native plants

o Silvery underside (how you identify) + grows red berries

where people can eat

o Birds like to eat berries and humans as well

▪ Spotted lanternfly

^•NYS is concered b/c it will feed on post trees + eat sac from tree +

when it eats it —> releases honey dew where it leads to mold/fungi to

grow (susceptible to diease) and from relasing this will attract more

insects + wineries concerned b/c it attracts grapes

▪ Emerald ash borer

^•They affect ash trees and they bore through the trees - for most

invasive bugs - they are most destructive in their larval stage and what

happens are there eggs are lied inside trees - they then borrers through

trees where they prevent the trees to transporting nutrients throughout

^•What are different types of harvesting techniques (for trees)?

o Clearcutting - harvesting select mature trees at relatively short intervels. Opens up space for light and room for growth. Remaining trees provide shelter for new growth o Shelterwood - remove all trees in a stand. As you would expect this could lead to increase in soil erosion, destroy wildlife habitat, and potentially leave the possiblity for invasive species to move in

o Group selection - remove individual mature trees - may be because the tree is disceases or high value

^•What does restoration of degraded sites look like? What types of practices are employed? (Related to what we discussed in class)

o Involves the process of rehabilitating ecosystems and landscapes that have been negatively impacted by human activities, natural disasters, or other factors o Practices employed:

▪ Dredging

▪ Removing chemical strestors

▪ Controlling invasive species

▪ Replating

▪ Captive breeding/resstablign fauna

▪ Montoring

▪ Erosion control

▪ Bioremediation

^•Relying on bacteria or plants to restore an area

^•What is the definition of geology? What are the three different zones of earth? o Study of dynamic processes taking place on the earth’s surface and in its interior o Three major concentric zones of the earth

▪ Core

▪ Mantle

▪ Crust

^•Continental crust

^•Oceanic crust: 71% of crust

^•Know the different types of rock

o Sedimentary rock - made of sediments, tiny particles of weathered and transported rocks, include limestone and shale

o Metamorphic rock - exisiting rock subjected to high temperature pressures, fluids, or a combination, are made up of rocks like sedimentary and ingenous that are squeezed, folded and heated

o Igneous rock - forms under intense heat and pressure, and then cools

^•What are greenhouse gases – what do they do and what are examples? o Greenhouse gases - CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor

o Can trap heat in the atmosphere (like a blanket)

o We need GHG to survive - we need it to warm us up in order to survive ▪ There is too much GHG emitted into the atmosphere —> trapping too much ^•What are the effects of climate change?

o Increasing temperatures

o Ice reduction

o Sea level rise

▪ Thermal expansion

^•What trends do we see with acid rain across the U.S.?

o Mostly caused by human activites, fossil fuels released into atmosphere react w/water and oxygen to form sulfuric and nitric acid, winds spread —> acid rain enters water systems as runoff —> toxic to aquatic animals, robs soil of their nutrients

^•What are some methods of water conservation we went over in lecture? o Cloud Seeding

▪ Forcing rain to happen with silver

o Desalinzation

▪ Removing salt from salt water

o Reclaimed water

▪ Treated sewage water

o Sponge citties

▪ Lessening the amount of pavement/blacktop

▪ Increasing vegetation and wetlands

^•What is happening with water out West?

o There has been an overdrough of water for states outside the west, like in Arizona, o Solutions:

▪ Upcycling water

▪ Conserving it

▪ Moving it to where it needs it

^•What leads to dead zones such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico? What are ways to prevent dead zones?

o Nitrogen and Phosphorous —> Mississippi leading into gulf of mexico —> Missiissippi river is running through major farming regions —> a lot of fertilizers running through it then flows out into the sea into the gulf mexico

o Anything that needs oxygen to survive is dead there - fish relies on disscolved oxygen and since there’s no oxygen there leads to large amount of deaths

o Clean water act was able to control the point source pollution, however, it made nonpoint hard to control

^•What is water pollution? What is the difference between point source and nonpoint source pollution?

o Any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that adversely affects living organisms or makes water unsuitable for desired uses

o Point source pollution - pollution that comes from a specific site, easy to regulate and monitor

▪ Examples

^•Drain pipes

^•Ditches

^•Power plants

^•Sewage treatment plants

o Nonpoint source pollution - pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single, specific site

▪ Examples

^•Golf courses

^•Lawns in surburbia that may have pesticides/fertilizers sprayed on

them

^•Parking lots

^•Increase in pollution in nonpoint due to accumulation of rain/more

runoff

^•Highly episodic nature

^•Know information about each of the energy sources that we go over in class (From the Conventional and Sustainable Energy lecture).

o Coal

▪ Soil fossil fuel formed from remains of land plants

▪ Conventional coal is plentiful

^•Low cost

o Issues with coal?

▪ It’s dirty

▪ Contributes to air pollution

▪ Environemntal damage to extact it

▪ Dangerous for workers

o Oil

▪ Refining of crude oil

▪ Offshore drilling

▪ 2010 BP oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico

▪ Canadian oil snads

o Geothermal

▪ Heat stored in soil, underground rocks, and fluids in the earth’s mantle ▪ Geothermal heat pump system

^•Uses temperature difference between the earth’s surface and underground

^•Fluid carried through a closed a loop

o Wind-water solar

o Hydropower

▪ Produce electricity from flowing water

▪ Pros

^•Renewable energy source

^•Low GHG emissions

^•Long lifespan of facilities/water storage for multiple uses

▪ Cons

^•Environemntal impact

^•Ecosystem destruction

^•Sedimentation

^•Risk of dam failure

^•Limited suitable locations

^•High initial costs

o Wind

▪ Kinetic energy captured by wind turbines

▪ Offshore windfarms

▪ What about birds?

o Solar energy

▪ Photovaltic cells

^•Convert solar energy to electric energy

o Nuclear power

▪ Controlled nuclear fission reaction in a reactor

▪ Nuclear fission: the splitting apart of nuclei that release energy - each fission releases neutrons which causes more chain reactions

▪ Fuel rods & control rods

▪ Safety/risk

▪ Waste

New material:

Waste

^•What is the EPA waste management hierarchy?

o Is a framework that outlines the preferred methods for managing waste to minimize its environmental impact

▪ It goes from most preferred to least preferred

^•Source Reduction and Reuse

^•Recycling/Composting

^•Energy Recovery

^•Treatment and Disposal

^•What are different ways to dispose of waste?

o Waste incinerators

▪ Involves burning waste materials at high temperatures. This process can reduce the volume of waste and generate energy in the form of heat or

electricity

▪ It can, however, release pollutants into the air, and the ash produced may requrie special disposal

o Sanitary landfill

▪ is a carefully designed trash area where garbage is collected, placed in layes, and covered with soil every day. The goal is to bury the waste in a way that

minimizes harm to the environment. The site has a special bottom layer to

prevent pollution, and the garbage is compressed to take up less space

^•What are trends by country related to how they handle their waste?

o Countries either prefer recycled or composted/incinerated

o The US seem to be the only state that prefers landfills over incincerated ^•What’s going on with China and waste? (Discussed in class and featured in the video linked on the slide)

o Shipping e-waste to China is now officially banned

o In 2018 China extended its ban on trash imports to include more types of trash (plastics, etc.)

▪ Banned 24 different types of paper and plastic, including things like reusable water bottles

▪ China changed the requirements of the recycables it still accepts (only wants higher grade clean up that is perfectly sorted

o China started implemnting more stricter guidelines on what they were going to take —> this dramtic shift in policy is coming out of national campaign to reduce carbon footprint

o Sort recycles —> squeeze into cubes and in normally circumstances sell them to companies that turn the paper/plastic into all industrial products

o Half of it would go oversees, 90% goes to China

o It has affected businesses within the US by millions

o A broker buys recycleables, and then they ship it out around the world (this job has gotten much harder after the policy that China implemented)

o In the market, price has been dramatically reduced on things like mixed paper o After the ban, US paper and plastic has been to exporting to countries like India, Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam (it has 2x)

o Vietnam enated a restriction because they weren’t able to hold all of the containers being sent by the states

▪ If china doesn’t come back —> programs stop

^•At the worst scenario, recycling can stop as a whole

o Some states are giving waivers to companies to throw out recycable o Essentially, china is very important to every one of these companies, since they are the ones collecting it and turning it into valuable goods

^•What is the definition of recycling?

o Reprocessing discarded materials into new, useful products

^•What is the definition of composting?

o Type of recycling that converts organic waste to soil-enriching organic fertilizer ^•What are anaerobic digesters? What are some environmental and economic benefits with them that are featured in the video we watched in class and linked on the webpage? o Peter Melnik - Barway farm

o Are facilities to break down organic materials, such as food waste, agricultural residues, and wastewater sludge, in the abscnece of oxygen

o Taking food waste and common ore and mix them tgt in the digester vessle and make electricity from it

o Digestor is heated to 105 degrees and inside there are tiny microbes are from the cows digestive tract as well as all of the food waste

▪ It produces methane which would normally be realesed into the air which are one of the causes of climate change

o When gasses are captured it is stored in these compartments (black bubbles) where it could then be turned into energy and generate power —> could potentially produce a megawatt of electricity every hour (it’s enough to power digestor, diary farm, houses, outbuildings) still have 90% of its electicity back on the grid

o It powers some of the waste sent to the digestors and it is enough to power two towns

o What do they get? They are getting around $100,000 a year in savings —> digestors are built and run by vanguard renewables and they pay farmers a fee for using their land + gives them free electricity to power their farms and houses o Environmetnal benefits?

▪ Turns food waste into renewable energy

▪ It could possibly reduce greenhouse gas emissions

▪ It diverts sending wastes to landfills and send it to these anaerobic digestion (could possibly save $ too) + reduce carbon footprint

^•What are different characteristics that makes something hazardous waste? o Any discarded material, liquid or solid that contains substances known to be ▪ Fatal to humans or laboratory animals in low doses

▪ Toxic, carcinogenic, or causing birth difects in humans or other life forms, ▪ Ignitable with a flash point less than 60 degrees C

▪ Corrosive, or

▪ Explosive or highly reactive (undergoes violent chemical reactions either by itself or when mixed with other materials)

^•How is Love Canal connected to hazardous waste?

o 20,000 tons of chemicals, such as dioxins, heavy metals, and chlorinated hydrocarbons, were buried behind people’s homes and it was found out throuh reading a newspaper story

o Chemicals were dumped in a canal by the Hooker Chemical Company in the 1940s and 50s

o These chemicals/odors that have been leaked into people’s homes have caused: skin rashes, birth efects, miscarriages

o 88 chemicals were identified and 11 were known to cause cancer

o Love Canal Homeowner Association, created by Lois Gibbs, to address these problems

o Hugh Carey ordered the state to buy the first row of homes along the canal, these rows being bought out forced families to move out, however, people living not in those two rooms weren’t classified as “danger”

o The EPA had conducted a preliminary study that indicated residents may have increased chromosomal abnormalities —> but before they were able to confirm it with families the reports got leaked, so they had an emergency team rush out to niagara to conduct interviews with these families

o The residents living near love canal were finally exacated from their homes when protestors had a standoff with the EPA

o Gibbs became the face to clean up toxic waste dumped by companies across the country

▪ To deal with this pollution, superfund legislation was enacted

^•This was established so incase another love canal came on to the

horizons - there would be $ there, you’d go in, and you could do

testing, cleanup, and then you could go after responsible parties

^•This has been criticized as costly and bureaucratic, however,

superfund has led to remediation of nearly 400 toxic sites

^•Love canal were the first addressed, but it took nearly two decades

and cost more than $350 million

^•Due to it being too expensive, too hard to move and toxic, it was

capped in a clay and surrounded by a drainage system

o In ’88 a decision was rendered that the area was suitable for rehabilitation - homes around the surrounding neighborhood was now put back on the market and put below market price —> hearing this there were protestors, and Louis Gibb believed that the area was still not safe due to fact that 20,000 tons of chemicals could still remain in the center of Love Canal

▪ Even with reasonable doubt, there are monitoring wells around this site sor ed flags would go up if there was a problem

▪ The homes around love canals, is probably one of the “safest” places to live now

▪ Residents who lived there 35 years ago, there was leaked EPA report of a preliminary study; a follow up study revealed that love canal residents had no higher rate of chromosal abnormalities than the rest of Niagara county

^•Over the years, there have been a higher rate of birth defects and

some cancers among former residents but a direct link between the

leaking canal and long term development of serious diseases have not

been established

o In 2011, a city crew repairing a sewer line discovered a pocket of chemical waste less than 1/2 a mile from the landfill —> state and investigators said there was no danger; the waste was isolated, have not leaked from the landfill, and was believed to be leftover from original cleanup

^•What is RCRA, CERCLA and Superfund sites?

o Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) - enacted in 1976, where it addresses the management and disposal of hazardous waste. Primary objectives are to protect human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste dispoasls, conserve energy and natural resources, and reduce the generation of hazardous waste

o Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) - enacted in 1980, known as the superfund law, addresses the cleanup of hazardous waste sites that post a threat to human health and the environment - it establishes a fund to finance the cleanup of contaminated sites and holds responsible parties liable for the costs

o Superfind sites - are locations identified by the EPA as contaimianted with hazardous substances and designated for cleanup under the Superfund program - these sites ar added to the National Priorites List (NPL) based on criteria outlined in CERCLA ^•What is phytoremediation? What are examples we talked about in class?

o Is a process that uses plants to remove, stabilize, or degrade contaminants in soil, water, or air. It’s an environmentally friendly and cost-effective approach to

remediate polluted environments

o Genetically modifed poplars

▪ Sunflowers - they help clean up radiation

▪ Cattails (Typha spp.)

Urbanization and Sustainable Cities

^•What are general trends we’re seeing with people living in cities/moving to cities? Projected for the future? More or less people living in cities?

o There are more people moving from rural to urban areas

o However, urbans that are less developed, are gaining amore attraction than rural areas that are less developed

^•What are different ways to define a city?

^•Why are cities growing in size? What are examples we discussed?

o Natural increase

o Increased immigration

▪ Push factors

^•Economic hardship

^•Politcal instability and conflcit

^•Lack of educational opportuntiies

^•Environemtnal factors

^•Health and safety concerns

▪ Pull factors

^•Economic opportuntiies

^•Educational opporutnites

^•Politcal stability and rule of law

^•Better healthcare

^•Family reunficiation

^•What are some problems with population increases in cities?

o Air pollution

o Wastewater treatment

o Water shortages

o Rising sea levels

o Informal settlements

^•What is urban sprawl? What are different characteristics of urban sprawl? o Unlimited outward extension of city boundaries that lowers population density, consumes open space, generates freeway congestion, and causes decay in central cities

o Known as low density development (surburban)

o Charactersitics:

▪ Unlimited outward expansion

▪ Low-density residential and commercial development

▪ Leapfrog development that consumes farmland and natural areas

▪ Fragmentation of power among many small units government

▪ Dominance of freeways and private automobiles

▪ No centralized planning or control of land uses

▪ Widespread strip malls and big box shopping centers

▪ Great fiscal disparities among localities

▪ Reliance on deteriorating older neighborhoods for low-income housing ▪ Decaying city centers as new development occurs in previously rural areas ^•What are some environmental issues with cars?

o Air pollution

o GHG Emissions

o Climate Change

o Resource depletion

o Land use and habitat fragmentation

^•What is smart growth? What are some features/examples of smart growth? o Smart growth - strategies for well-planned developments that make efficient and effective use of land resources and existing infrastructure

o Urban design that offers the benefits of more walking, more social contact, and surroundings that include water and vegetation can provide healthful physical exericse and psychic respite

o Examples:

▪ Mix land uses

▪ Take advantages of compact building design

▪ Create a range of housing opportunties and choices

▪ Create walkable neighborhoods

▪ Foster distinctive, attractive communtiies with a strong sense of place

▪ Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environemtnal areas

▪ Strengthen and direct development towards exisiting communities

▪ Provide a varity of transportation choices

▪ Make development decions predictable, fair, and cost effective

▪ Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development

decisions

^•What is conservation development/cluster development/open-space zoning? o Conservation development - is like building homes while being mindful of nature o Cluster development - is about putting houses close together in one part of an area, like a group or cluster

o Open-space zoning - is a rule or a plan in a city or town that designates certain areas to be kept as open and undeveloped spaces - these areas can be parks, green belts, or nautral landscapes, it could be enjoyed for recreation or to preserve nature

Ecological Economics

^•What is the definition of economics – how are economic decisions determined? o Economics - a social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services to satisfy people’s needs and wants

o Economic deicisions are determined by

▪ Supply - amount of good and supply that are available

▪ Demand - amount of good/service that people want

▪ Price - market value/market equilibrium

^•What are different types of capital we went over?

o Natural capital

▪ Any sort of wealth that natural resources/ecosystem services that are provided by our natural environment

o Human capital

▪ Physical/mental task from people

o Built/Manufactured capital

▪ Any sort of infrastructure

^•Buildings, roads, tools/materials, etc

o Social capital

▪ Your relationship with other pople

▪ Overall connections with other individauls

▪ Social capital —> wealth that can potentially turn into financial capital

^•What’s the difference between neoclassical economics and ecological economics? o Neoclassical economics

▪ View the earth’s natural capital as a part of the human economic system - the potential for economic growth is unlimited - and we can find substitues for any resource or ecological service that is depleted or degraded

o Ecological economics

▪ There are no substitues for many natural resources - including clean water, clean air, fertile soil, biodiversity and they provide important ecological

services

^•What are different ways to value natural resources, including nonuse values? o Constanza et al. (2014)

o Values 17 ecosystem services to be be atleast $125 trillion per year

▪ If forests are worth $15.6 trilion due to ecological services they provide - are we charging enough for timber?

o Existence value

▪ A value placed on an old-growth forest or endangered species just because it exists

o Aesthetic value

▪ A value placed on a forest or species due to its beauty

^•Why turn natural capital into monetary values?

o Can assist in the assessment of cost-benefit analuysis

▪ Cost benefit analysis: compare estimated costs and benefits of actions such as implementing pollution control regulation, building a dam, preserving a forest, etc

^•They’re going to turn the NP on campus into a parking lot and

administration is going to do a cost beenefit analysis

^•How would you calcualted the value of the NP on campus?

o Aesthetic value

o Help with flood control

o Fresh air

o Bird migration

^•What is the difference between market pricing and full pricing?

o Market price or direct price

▪ So what’s the price

^•All the raw materials, labor, shipping, and the markup for the dealer

▪ What’s no included in the price but could still be considered “costs” in making that car

^•External/hidden cost

o Amount of fossil fuels

o Pollutions from the actual making/shipping

o Potential in desturction of land to mind and make this material

o Human health impact

o Health care costs/taxes

▪ A cord of wood goes for about $300

^•The lumbar, transporation, labor to cut it, transport it, etc

^•What could be other external or hidden costs that are not calcualted in that $300.00 price

o Destruction of habitat

o Loss to biodiversity

o Soil fertiliy

o Potentially issues of invasive speices spread

o Full pricing

▪ Considers not only the market price but also includes indirect costs such as environmental, social, or long-term impacts associated with the

products

▪ Why do these external costs or hiddne costs matter

^•We pay for it in different ways: through higher expenses of

healthcare/insurance, dealing with environmental degradation,

pollution cleanup

^•Be able to explain the other economic tools that can be used to address environmental problems (specifically environmental indicators and examples we talked about with green businesses).

o Taxes on carbon

o Environmental indicators:

▪ GDP: the annual market value of all goods and services produced by all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic operating within the country

▪ Environmental economists call for the inclusion of environmental indicators - the GPI - Genuine Progress Indicator

^•Benefical transactions: unpaid volunteer work, housework, etc

^•Harmful environemntal effects: pollution, crime, resource

depletion, etc

▪ Environmental Performance Index:

^•Is a measure that ranks counties based on their environmental

performance

Environmental Policy Part I.

^•What is the difference between policies and politics?

o Policies: the laws and regulations enacted and enforced by government

o Politics: the process by which indivudals and groups try to influence or control the polciies and actions of government at the local, state, national, and international levels

^•What is the policy lifecycle?

o Problem recognition

o Research

o Policy formulation

o Budgeting

o Policy implementation

o Monitoring

o Policy adjustment

o Evaluation

^•How does the media influence the policy cycle? Know information based on the case/video we watched in class.

o Pollution and the Clean Water Act

o Cuyahoga River Fire in Cleveland in 1969

o With exposure from a single photo from the Infamous Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969 - the fire was actually a small and quickly extinguished blaze, but it was mistakenly named in NYT magazine photo that showed a much larger fire

o A sewage treatment plant plays a crucial role in preventing contamination of the Cuyahoga River

o The Clean Water Act was expedited following the Cuyahoga River fire, and the federal Environmental Protection agency was created

o Since then, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency have worked to protect and restore the Great Lakes

^•In general – how are policies made?

o The bill is at first proposed or brought up by the president, members of Congress, or other sources

o Then the proposed law, known as a bill, goes through both chambers of Congress - the House of Rep and Senate —> they both need to have a general consensus of a 2/3rd votes

o If it then gets accepted, then the president could either veto it or sign the bill then it turns into a law

o Then the judical branch goes over it to ensure, that everything is in line of the constitution

^•What are the three branches of government – what role do each of them have in policymaking?

o Executive (president, VP, and President’s Cabinent)

▪ They propose ideas for new laws, called bills, and work with government agencies to put policies into action

▪ The President could use their power to influence the legislative process by suggesting priorites in the State of the Union addresses and through other names

o Judical branch (supreme courts and the lower federal courts)

▪ Is to interpret laws and ensure they are in line with the constitution

▪ When there are disputes about the meaning of laws or whether they follow the constitution, the courts, espeically the Supreme Court, make decisions

o Legislative (house of representatives and senate)

▪ Where laws are made

▪ Members of Congress, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Represenatives, debate and vote on proposed laws

▪ They can suggest and draft bills, hold hearings to gather information, and make changes to the proposed laws

▪ Has the power to approve or reject presidential appointments and treaties ^•What is lobbying? What are trends we see with lobbying?

o Having people put influence in legislation

o Negative connotation

o More $ = much larger impact on how much the legislation goes

o A lot of $ spent on lobbying has increased tremendously

^•How are the courts involved in policymaking? Know specifics on the cases we discuss in class.

o Oncce a bill gets passed, the judicial branch ensures whether or not the law that is passed through goes hand and hand with the constitution

o Litigants must show they have standing - the right to take part in lega proceedings (valid interst in the case)

o SWANCC v. US Army Corps of Engineers (2001) case

▪ The court held that the Army Corps of Engineers exceeded its authroity by asserting jurisdition over isolated, non-navitable interstate waters solely

because they were used as habitat by migratory birds

o Sackett ET UX.v. Environmental Protection Egency

Environmental Policy Part II.

^•How is the executive branch involved in policymaking?

o Executive branch = president

o If there’s gridlock/taking too long —> that can come thru executive order (president make a rule and bypass congress)

o Protection of land (national park, national monuments), antiquity act (presidents are able to protect certain areas in the US for development)

^•What is the history/context of the first Earth Day?

o Earth day is an annual event celebrated on April 22nd to demonstrate support for environmental protection (first celebrated in 1970)

^•What is NEPA? Know details based on what we discuss in class.

o This laws oversees action by federal agencies (USDA, US Forest Service, Department of Transportation) and requires agencies to complete an Environmental Impcat Statement (EIS) before any development project or action

▪ Federal agencies to consider environmental impacts of whatever action they are planning to do

o What does EIS contain

▪ Detailed and time-consuming

▪ Department of transportation want to build highway - before the

transportation can just build highway - they have to follow NEPA and prepare an EIS

▪ Talks about alternatives to project (no action at all, we can not build highway and have no action or increase the amount of exits and encourage people to

go around the main highway)

▪ You have to list - what are the positives enviromental impact and what are the negatives environmental impact

▪ Is the agency required to choose the least harmful method (not required to list but required to go thru the process)

▪ Procedural law - forcing federal agencies/states to go through this process ^•Know information about international policy and the environment based on what we discuss in class.

o United Nations

▪ UN Environemntal Programme (UNEP)

▪ Benefit

^•We deal with a lot of global problems

^•Climate change = global problems that we need to address

^•Need all hands on deck to address things like climate chaange

▪ Drawback

^•A lot of the bad = not really legally binding that there - it relies on the

country that stick with what they’re planning to do

^•We need everyone on board and to stick with the game plan

^•What are examples of some different environmental organizations we discussed? o Pesticide action

▪ Works in over 90 countries - very much towards replacing the use of synthetic hazardous pesticides on more ecologically sound alternatives

o International rivers

▪ Protecting rivers and communitiees that rely and depend on thise rivers

o World-wildlife fund

o The Sierra club

o Audubon society

o Greenpiece + Friends of the Earth (more action oriented - covered by the media)

What then shall we do?

^•What did we discuss in class related to environmental education?

^•What is citizen science? What are some examples we discussed?

^•What did we discuss related to consumption? How was your environmental footprint calculated based on the activity we did in class (i.e. what were the different categories)?

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