ENEP 250 Test 1

sustainability is a _____ and not an _____

path, end point

planned obsolescence

the practice of modifying products so those that have already been sold become obsolete before they actually need replacement

reliable sources

trustworthy materials that come from experts in the field of study

Delaney Clause

- 1960: US Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - 1996: Food Quality and Protection Act repeals Delaney Clause and directs agencies to seek expert assessment of "acceptable levels" of carcinogens

Risk analysis

- A scientific and political process - there is always uncertainty - there is likely to be disagreement within and between scientific communities - a focus on defining acceptable levels of risk that may divert attention from finding less-risky alternatives

Which of the following is one of the central assumptions of free-market economics?

- All participants have perfect information about costs and benefits. - Markets maximize benefits for all participants. - Market prices reflect the cost of production.

Which of the following is true regarding the devastation experienced in New Orleans and surrounding areas after Hurricane Katrina?

- Widespread channelization of the Mississippi River's watershed increased the vulnerability of the community to major flood events. - There was a continued lack of investment in flood protection infrastructure for poor and minority communities. - There was a delayed initial disaster response by the federal government.

our dominant social paradigm

- acceptance of free market/laissez-faire capitalism - growth and progress - faith in science and technology - humans are separate from, and hold primacy over nature

The Necessary and Proper Clause

- constitutional authorization for Congress to make any law required to carry out its powers - often paired with the Interstate Commerce Clause to provide a constitutional basis for a wide variety of federal laws

free-market economics

- decisions should be guided by markets and the forces of supply and demand - consumers want to maximize their benefit/utility - when all consumers individually pursue their own individual interests, society as a whole benefits

social science principles of sustainability

- economics-> full-cost pricing of externalities - politics -> zero-sum to win-win solutions - ethics -> responsibility to different communities, generations

3 components of laws

- establish policies and directives (Congress) - prescribed methods of policy implementation - prescribed methods of dispute resolution

Gibbons v Odgen (1824)

- federal law regulating interstate commerce takes precedent over state law - Congress can regulate a variety of activities under Commerce Clause

central assumptions of free-market economics

- market prices reflect the cost of production - market participants have perfect information regarding costs and benefits - markets maximize benefits for all participants involved - national success can be best-measured in GNP/GDP

Regulatory strategies for environmental policy

- none - standards and enforcement (federal regulation and implementation, federal regulation and state/local regulation, state/local regulation and implementation) - market tools and incentives - establish common property rights - privatize resource

causes of environmental problems

- population growth - unsustainable resource use - poverty - excluding environmental costs from market costs - increasing isolation from nature

causes of environmental problems and sustainability

- population growth - unsustainable resource use - poverty - excluding environmental costs from market prices - increasing isolation from nature

goal of environmental law in the United States

- prevent pollution from dispersing into the environment - ensure that natural resources are not abused or overexploited -

The Earth itself is a closed ecosystem with a few exceptions:

- solar energy - minerals from meteorites

restraints of environmental law in the US

- state jurisdiction over many environmental concerns - private property is paramount in the US legal system (environmental law often seeks to limit property rights) - adversarial legal/judicial process (everything is subject to appeal, and there are some fundamental debates we have never resolved, like the extent of property rights)

primary strategies to discredit science

- suppress analysis and data - keep results private - pack science advisory committees - magnification/manufacturing uncertainty and doubt - punish/shame whistleblowers - equate fringe/ unaccepted views with mainstream scientific opinion

Thomas Malthus - An Essay on the Principle of Population

- the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to provide subsistence for man - the best means for addressing poverty among the lower classes is moral restraint

Elinor Ostrom - Governing the Commons

- we must use (and pay for) resources every day for survival (ecology) - we should be responsive to a diverse public (justice/democracy)

McCullogh v. Maryland (1819)

-Expanded implied powers through Necessary and Proper Clause -Enforced Supremacy Clause over states prohibiting states to tax the federal government -Bank of the United States ruled constitutional

what are the laws of ecology?

1) everything is connected to everything else 2) everything must go somewhere 3) nature knows best 4) there is no free lunch

key components of sustainability

1) natural capital 2) human activities often degrade natural capital 3) solutions to degradation: social/political and scientific

Judicial review

1) scope of review (guide by Constitution, Administrative Procedures Act and legal precedent) 2) legal standing 3) "ripeness" (which cases are ripe for review)

the ecological basis of sustainability

1) solar energy 2) biodiversity 3) chemical/nutrient cycling

Our Dominant Social Paradigm

1. acceptance of free market/laissez-faire capitalism 2. growth and progress 3. faith in science and technology 4. humans are separate from, and hold primacy over, nature

ecological economics

1. recognize that the economy is a subset of the environment and is dependent on its ecological systems 2. perpetual growth in a system with limited capacity is likely not possible 3. replace economic growth as the primary goal-> economic development 4. people have only bounded rationality 5. there are too many externalities to rely on market corrections 6. markets are unreliable indicators of resource limits 7. future interests should be considered, and ecology and the economy should be considered as co-evolving systems that impact each other over time

Which of the following are components of the Dominant Social Paradigm in the United States?

Acceptance of free-market capitalism and a belief that humans are separate from nature

Economic growth is different from economic development because:

Economic development incorporates measures of human well-being.

How are common pool resources defined?

Everyone can access the resource (non-excludable), but consumption reduces resource availability (rival)

What was significant about the perspective offered by Barry Commoner, author of The Closing Circle?

His was among the earliest appeals made by a Euro-American for the economy to be restructured according to nature, rather than expecting it to bend to our will and desires.

policy problems

Issues that are elevated in the public eye enough to necessitate governmental action - what any group agrees is a problem

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Management of non-hazardous and hazardous solid waste including landfills and storage tanks. Set minimal standards for all waste disposal facilities and for hazardous wastes.

policy conflict

Occurs when two policy objectives cannot both be achieved at the same time

Elinor Ostrom won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics for challenging the accepted wisdom of which concept?

The Tragedy of the Commons

the Interstate Commerce Clause

The US Congress shall have the power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes" (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3)

economic growth

a central theme in all industrial societies, regardless of their political or economic systems

social paradigm

a cluster of beliefs, values, and ideals that influences our collective thinking about society, government, and our roles/responsibilities as individuals

steady states

an equilibrium state to which a system will return following minor disturbances

Basel Convention

an international treaty on the control of transboundary hazardous wastes and their disposal

regulatory context

any efforts to create policy solutions occurs within a broader social environment

politics

balancing interests, short-term solutions, bargaining, compromise

ecosystems

communities of plants, animals, and other organisms interacting with each other and their physical environment (open, nested systems)

normative

describes beliefs or values about how things should be or what people ought to do rather than what actually is

international law for the environment

does it exist

Greenpeace

dramatic encounters protecting whales, seals, etc, putting themselves in danger

how does the suns energy reach us?

electromagnetic waves

solar energy

energy helps plants produce nutrients (photosynthesis) for all life on earth

kinetic energy

energy in motion, including heat and EM radiation

stored energy

energy potential including water behind a dam or chemical energy in your food

no free lunch

everything has a cost

GNP

gross national product - goods/services bought/sold by citizens

politics

groups competing to get their policy measures

how much of the energy from the sun reaches the earths surface

half

Earth from space

illustrated fragility and interdependence

economic development

includes economic growth; measurement of quality of life

economic growth

increase in total financial value of economic transactions of a country

In the US, our electronic waste:

makes up 70% of our total toxic waste.

Law of Conservation of matter

matter can be changed into different forms, but it cannot be created or destroyed

As a result of our global reliance on coal, there are health warnings about consuming many fish species (especially for large fish that are higher on the food chain) because they are contaminated with:

methyl mercury

chemical/nutrient cycling

moves critical nutrients through ecosystems, continually recycling them

what is the environmentally friendly option of lead?

mtbe

natural capital

natural resources and ecosystem services

religious influences on human and nature

our early national/colonial history was dominated by Judeo-Christian perspectives regarding the relationship between humans and the environment, that humans are separate from, and superior to, the rest of nature

direct solar input

photosynthesis, warmth, daylight

federalism

power given to the states where the states have lots of control over environmental issues on the local level

overall goal for sustainability

protect your capital and live within your income (regenerative capacity of earth's resources)

biodiversity

provides the raw materials for adaptation and resiliency

science

requires constant revision, long-term process, seeking truth, and reducing uncertainty

no free lunch example

river channelization and wetland conversion in the Mississippi river basin, barricades of the wetlands caused area around to dry out and the speed of water increases making more problems downstream, resulting in many problems in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina on minority populations

What is the legal basis for environmental policy?

the Constitution lays out explicit limitations on what the federal government can and cannot do, and reserves significant power to the states - no Constitutional basis for environmental policy

Barry Commoner - The Closing Circle (1971) and the Laws of Ecology

the US economy should be restructured to conform to the unbending laws of ecology - pinned capitalist technology as the primary cause of environmental degradation - one of the first appeals to the broader public to embrace the idea of sustainability

ecological footprint

the amount of productive land and water (natural capital) needed to provide an indefinite supply of resources and to absorb and recycle wastes and pollution produced through the use of resources

ecological footprint

the amount of productive land and water needed to provide an indefinite supply of resources and to absorb recycled wastes and pollution produced through the use of resources

energy

the capacity to do work or transfer energy

public policy

the course of action the government takes in response to an issue or problem

wastes and pollution

the presence of material/agent at a level that is harmful to human and other organisms health, survival, or activities - including those that are natural

Which of the following is commonly accepted as the root cause of our environmental crisis?

there is no one root cause

environmental paradox

we must protect our resources, and also protect the interests of those who exploit them

perceived obsolescence

when a customer is convinced, that he / she needs an updated product, even though his /her existing product is working well

externalities

when prices do not reflect all costs, particularly those with social and environmental impacts

1st law of thermodynamics

whenever energy is converted from one form to another in a chemical or physical change, no energy is created or destroyed

2nd law of thermodynamics (law of entropy)

whenever energy is converted from one form to another, we end up with lower-quality or less usable energy than we started as heat is lost to the system

indirect solar input

wind and waves, hydropower, biomass

Australian Cane Toad

• In the 1930s, Australian sugarcane farmers imported hundreds of cane toads as a way to control cane beetles, a native insect pest • The poisonous toads multiplied rapidly, and migrated throughout much of the country, advancing at a pace of 25 miles/year • Major impacts on local wildlife (poisonings, diseases, predation), pets, and humans with no effective local predator • Most efforts to control the invasion have been unsuccessful • And they don't eat the cane beetles

Which of the following are a central idea associated with ecological economics?

- Economic growth is a faulty indicator of social well-being - Our environmental challenges cannot be overcome just by paying the full cost of externalities. - We should account for the interests of those who are not direct participants in market transactions.

global cultural shifts

1) agricultural revolution (10,000ya) 2) industrial revolution (275ya) 3) Information-Globalization Revolution (50ya)

Factors in setting regulation

- science and risk analysis - economic and cost-benefit analysis

Tragedy of the Commons - Garrett Hardin (1968)

- use of the commons is below the carrying capacity of the land (all users benefit) - if one or more users increase the use of the commons beyond its carrying capacity, the commons becomes degraded - unless environmental costs are accounted for and addressed in land use practices, eventually the land will be unable to support the activity

GDP

Gross domestic product - total goods/ services within a country

Which of the following make up the ecological basis of sustainability?

Solar Energy, Biodiversity, and Chemical/Nutrient Cycling

an environmentally sustainable society

a society that meets the current and basic needs of people without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same