Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
82 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Economics
|
studies how people use resources to provide goods and services in the face of demand
|
|
|
Is environmental protection good for the economy?
|
Yes
|
|
|
T/F Environmental problems are also economic problems
|
True
|
|
|
Economy
|
A social system that converts resources into goods and services
|
|
|
Goods
|
manufactured materials that are bought
|
|
|
Services
|
work done for others as a form of business
|
|
|
Subsistence economy
|
people get their daily needs directly from nature or their own production
|
|
|
Capitalist market economy
|
buyers and sellers interact to determine prices and production of goods and services
|
|
|
Centrally planned economy
|
the government determines how to allocate resources
|
|
|
Mixed economy
|
governments intervene in the market
|
|
|
In mixed market economies, governments intervene to:
|
-Eliminate unfair advantages held by single buyers or sellers
-provide social services (national defense, medical care, education) -provide safety nets for elderly, disaster victims, etc. -manage the commons -reduce pollution and other threats to health and quality of life |
|
|
What do economies do?
|
Receive inputs (resources), process them, and discharge outputs (waste)
|
|
|
what does traditional economics do to the environment?
|
ignores it
|
|
|
What does economic activity use as "goods"?
|
natural resources (sun's energy, water, trees, rocks, fossil fuels)
|
|
|
Ecosystem services
|
essential services support the life that makes economic activities possible
|
|
|
Some examples of ecosystem services are...
|
-Soil formation
-Water purification -climate regulation -pollination -nutrient cycling -waste recycling |
|
|
What two things reduce the functioning of ecological systems?
|
resource depletion and generating pollution
|
|
|
what services disrupts economies?
|
Degradation of ecosystem services
|
|
|
what depresses economic opportunities?
|
pollution
|
|
|
what hurts poor people the most?
|
ecological degradation
|
|
|
What is a prime way to alleviate poverty?
|
restoring ecosystem services
|
|
|
What is also blamed for economic inequality?
|
rich vs. poor
|
|
|
what does neoclassical economics examine?
|
the psychological factors that underlie consumer choices
|
|
|
conflict between buyers and sellers leads to...
|
production of the "right quantities of a product
|
|
|
cost-benefit analysis
|
costs of a proposed action are compared to benefits that result from the action
|
|
|
capitalist market systems operate according to?
|
neoclassical economics
|
|
|
economic models treat resources and workers as:
|
infinite, substitutable, and interchangeable
|
|
|
nonrenewable resources (fossil fuels)
|
can be depleted
|
|
|
renewable resources (forests)
|
can also be used up
|
|
|
future events are
|
discounted
|
|
|
which is more important... short-term costs and benefits or long-term costs and benefits?
|
short-term costs
|
|
|
which is more important: present conditions or future ones?
|
present conditions
|
|
|
external costs
|
affect people other than buyers or sellers
|
|
|
affluenza
|
material goods do not always bring contentment to those who can afford them
|
|
|
economic development
|
improved efficiency of production (technology, ideas, equipment)
|
|
|
ecological economics
|
civilizations cannot overcome environmental limitations
|
|
|
steady-state economies
|
economies that mirror natural ecological systems; they don't grow nor shrink but stay stable
|
|
|
environmental economies
|
unsustainable economies have high population growth and inefficient resource us
|
|
|
non-market values
|
values (e.g., ecological cultural, spiritual) not included in the price of a good or service.
|
|
|
greenwashing
|
consumers are misled into thinking companies are acting more sustainably than they are
|
|
|
market failure
|
occurs when markets ignore the environments positive impacts on the economies (ecosystem services) and the negative effects of activities on the environment or people (external costs)
|
|
|
Government intervention counters market failure through:
|
-Laws and regulations
-Taxing harmful activities -Designing economic incentives to promote fairness, conservation, and sustainability |
|
|
Policy
|
a formal set of general plans and principles to address problems and guide decision making
|
|
|
Public policy
|
governmental laws, regulations, orders, incentives, and practices to advance societal welfare
|
|
|
environmental policy
|
pertains to human interactions with the environment
-regulates resource use or reduces pollution -to promote human welfare and/or protect resources |
|
|
Science
|
provides information and analysis
|
|
|
ethics and economics
|
clarify how society can address problems
|
|
|
Governments interacts with
|
citizens, organizations, and private sector
|
|
|
market failure
|
justifies government intervention
|
|
|
tragedy of the commons
|
commonly held resources will become overused and degraded
|
|
|
free riders
|
people are tempted to cheat and not participate in sacrificing to protect the environment
|
|
|
free riders
|
people are tempted to cheat and not participate in sacrificing to protect the environment
|
|
|
how does an entity get a "free ride"
|
by avoiding sacrifices made by others
|
|
|
regulations
|
specific rules to achieve objectives of broadly written statutory laws
|
|
|
homestead act
|
anyone could buy or settle on 160 acres of public land
|
|
|
general mining act
|
people could mine on public land for $5/acre with no government oversight
|
|
|
Timber Culture Act
|
encouraged the timber industry to clear-cut ancient trees with little government policy to limit logging or encourage conservation
|
|
|
customary law
|
international law arising from longstanding practices or customs held by most cultures
|
|
|
conventional law
|
arises from conventions or treaties
|
|
|
North American Free Trade Agreement
|
(NAFTA) Adresses U.S.-Mexico-Canada issues
|
|
|
United Nations (UN)
|
plays an active role in policy. sponsors conferences, coordinates treaties, publishes research.
|
|
|
World Bank
|
one of the largest funding sources for economic development in poor countries
|
|
|
European Union
|
seeks to promote europe's unity and its economic and social progress
|
|
|
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
|
entities that influence state, national and international policy
|
|
|
Step 1
|
Identify a problem
|
|
|
Step 2
|
pinpoint causes of the problem
|
|
|
Step 3
|
Envision solution
|
|
|
Step 4
|
Get organized
|
|
|
Step 5
|
Cultivate access and influence
|
|
|
Step 6
|
Shepherd the solution into law
|
|
|
How a bill becomes law
|
before a bill becomes law, it must clear multiple hurdles
|
|
|
Step 7
|
Implement, assess, and interpret policy
|
|
|
Environmental policy has 3 major approaches:
|
-Lawsuits
-Command-and-control -Economic policy tools |
|
|
command-and-control approach
|
a regulating agency prohibits actions, or sets rules or limits
|
|
|
green taxes
|
tax environmentally harmful activities and products
|
|
|
polluter-pays principle
|
the party that pollutes is held responsible for covering the costs of its impacts
|
|
|
carbon taxes
|
controversial taxes on gasoline, coal-based electricity, and other fossil fuels
|
|
|
subsidy
|
a government giveaway of cash or resources to encourage a particular industry or activity
|
|
|
tax break
|
helps an entity by relieving its tax burden
|
|
|
permit trading
|
a government-created market in permits for an environmentally harmful activity
|
|
|
cap-and-trade emissions trading system
|
the government sets pollution levels
|
|
|
Ecolabeling
|
tells consumers which brands use environmentally benign processes
|
