APES chp 3

Economics and ecology

(blank) and (blank) are measured in different units.

Risk management

Decision-making plan that weighs policy alternatives and selects the most appropriate regulatory action by integrating risk assessment results with engineering data, and with social, economic, and political concerns.

Economic Issues

It can be argued that all environmental issues are also (blank)

China

Largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Business costs and increase profits.

Preventing pollution can cut:

1. Evaluating the scientific information regarding various kinds of risks. 2. Deciding how much risk is acceptable 3. Deciding which risks should be given highest priority. 4. Deciding where the greatest benefit would be realized by spending limited funds. 5. Deciding how the plan will be enforced and monitored.

Risk Management plan includes:

Ecosystems

Tangible source of economic wealth.

Negligible risk

The point at which there is no significant health or environment risk.

The tragedy of the commons

The problems inherent in common ownership of resources were outlined by biologist Garrett Hardin in his essay:

Supply/demand curve

The relationship between supply and demand is often illustrated by a:

External Costs

Those that are born by someone other than the individuals using the resource.

1. Industrial revolution 2. Technology revolution 3. Modern era of globalization

World has seen three economic transformations in the past century:

Brown Fields

Areas perceived to have environmental liabilities.

1. Cost savings 2. Increased design efficiency 3. More efficient environmental protections

Benefits of extended product responsibility:

Renewable resources

Can be formed or regenerated by natural processes.

Renewability Substitution Interdependence Adaptability Institutional commitment

Characteristics that define sustainability:

Cost-benefit analysis

Concerned with whether a policy generates more social benefits than social costs.

Sustainable development

Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Pollution Costs

Expenditures to correct pollution damage once pollution has already occurred.

Performance Bonds

Fees collected to ensure proper care is taken to protect environmental resources.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Formal quantitative method of assessing costs and benefits of competing uses of a resource, or solutions to a problem, and deciding which is most effective.

1. Identification of the project 2. Determination of all impacts 3. Determination of the value of impacts 4. Calculation of net benefit

Four steps in a cost-benefit analysis:

Subsidy

Gift from the government to individuals or private enterprise to encourage actions considered important to the public interest.

Tradable emissions permits

Gives companies the right to emit specified amounts of pollutants.

Debt-for-nature exchanges

Innovative mechanism for addressing the debt issue while encouraging investment in conservation and sustainable development.

Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfield Revitalization Act

Law provides incentives for small businesses and other entities to develop brown fields, most of which are in urban areas.

Risk and Cost

Most decisions in life involve an analysis of two factors:

Nonrenewable Resources

Not replaced by natural processes, or the rate of replacement is so slow as to be ineffective.

1. Cost of instituting programs 2. Lack of assessment tools and information 3. Difficulty in building working relationships 4. Hazardous waste regulations 5. Antitrust laws

Obstacles of extended product responsibility:

Deposit-refund programs

Place a surcharge on the price of a product which is refunded upon return for reuse or recycling.

Environmental costs

Pollution, species extinction, resource depletion and loss of scenic quality are all examples of:

Life-cycle Analysis

Process of assessing environmental effects associated with production, reuse, and disposal of a product over its entire useful life.

Information Programs

Provide consumers with information about environmental consequences of purchasing decisions.

Emission fees and taxes

Provide incentives for environmental improvement by making damaging activities and products more expensive.

Sustainable development

Requires choices based on values.

Natural Resources

Structures and processes humans can use for their own purposes but cannot create.

Supply

The amount of a good or service people are willing to sell at a given price.

Demand

The amount of good or services that consumers are willing and able to buy at a given price.

Extended product responsibility

The concept that the producer of a product is responsible for all negative effects involved in its productions, including the ultimate disposal of the product.

Economics

The study of how people choose to use resources to produce goods and services, and how those goods and services are distributed to the public.

Pollution prevention costs

Those incurred to prevent pollution that would otherwise result from some production or consumption activity.

Deferred costs

Those that may not be immediately recognized and must be paid at a later date.

1. Labor (human resources) 2. Capital (technology and knowledge) 3. Land (natural resources)

Three categories of resources:

Models

Used to estimate risks for situations with no known history.

Risk assessment

Uses facts and assumptions to estimate probability of harm to human health or the environment that may result from particular management decisions.