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118 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Malthus' hypothesis?
- What is an example of his predictions? |
Looked at food production + pop growth graphs and concluded that since biological growth is exponential, and food growth is linear, there will be some kind of food catastrophe
- Copan: Mayan settlement - bad crop practices led to sub-par food yields and everyone died |
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Who is Bjorn Lomborg? What does he study?
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Cornucopian (like me :) )
- Humans have outlived / confronted environmental problems in the past and will continue to do so in the future - When pushed enough, we can react to any shortages/ limitations Example: Green Revolution (1960's) |
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What is the economic approach to viewing the environment?
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- Environment is viewed as an economic asset
- Everything is compared using $$ Turn the environment into $$$ |
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What is Deep Ecology (Arne Naess)?
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-Nonhuman environments have intrinsic value
- There is a questionable morality of humans assigning value to other species |
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What are problems with Deep Ecology?
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If no values are assigned to the environment, the default value will be 0
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What is Positive Economics?
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What is, what was, what should be
Ex: How did the banking crisis affect the environment? |
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What is Normative Economics?
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Describes what should be
Ex: Should we have financial incentives in order to boost green building? |
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What is Strategic Bias?
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Respondent tries to influence results by providing a biased answer
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Information Bias
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Asking people who do not know what you/ they are talking about will not be able to accurately answer
- Perhaps geographical (asking someone about somewhere they've never been may be problematic) |
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Starting Point Bias
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Surveyors give a range of values at a starting point
- Closed ended question |
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Hypothetical Bias
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It's easy to set a price for something you'll never buy
- Situation is not real |
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What are indirect, observable methods?
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- Involve actual behaviour
- We can infer value instead of measuring it |
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Valuing Natural Resources
Example: Bees in Costa Rica |
- Wild bees in tropical forest provide pollination services for coffee farmers
- Increase productivity by 15-50% - Ecologists were able to place a tentative price on the lives of these bees due to their pollinating services |
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What is a stipulation of cost-benefit analysis for the environment?
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All costs + benefits must be monetized
- Markets that don't exist dont get counted (common with environment) - Markets such as carbon sequestration and air purification do not exist and therefore cannot be counted :( |
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Evaluating Pollution Damage
- What do we use to evaluate damage done by pollution? |
A good idea; human health costs money!
- Effects on human health - Effects on human enjoyment of the environment - Damage to vegetation, animals, other resources All $$ estimates |
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What are the steps to Assessing Damage?
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1. ID affected categories
2. Find causal relationships 3. Estimate responses to mitigating portion of damage 4. Convert this into $$$ |
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What are ways in which we can find out if a substance is toxic?
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- Compare two populations
- Figure out possible synergistic relationships between pollutions - Tests on animals (ethics problems) |
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What are the disadvantages of experiments on animals?
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1. Expensive
2. Ethics 3. Extrapolation difficult 4. Translating high-dosage, short duration into low dosage, long duration - a lab animal will be pumped with a lot of the chemical over a short period of time, however the chemical may have an alternative long term effect |
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Epidemeology
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The study of the causes of diseases
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What are the three types of values?
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1. Use Value
2. Nonuse Value 3. Option Value |
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Use Value
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Direct use of environmental resource (fish, water, timber)
- Not necessarily something you will buy + sell |
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Option Value
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The value people place on having future reserves of a resource
- Having enough trees, that at some point they can be cut down and used with no problems - Reflects a desire to retain usage for future generations |
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Nonuse Value
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Something you will never use, but you would still like to preserve it
- Polar bears in the Arctic - We will never "use" polar bears, but we are willing to pay to keep them safe |
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What is Total Willingness to Pay?
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TWP= use value + nonuse value + option value
- Nonuse value is the most controversial portion of the equation |
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Why didn't the U.S' plan to save the Northern Spotted Owl work out very well?
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Used a survey to find the value of the NSO.
All logging was banned in the area where it lived (Oregon) and many people lost their jobs + timber became more expensive * The cost of the preservation of the owl was only borne by the local community* |
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When does a system reach efficiency?
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When net benefits are maximized
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T/F: Every cost-effective solution is efficient
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False
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Impact Analysis
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Sometimes info is not available for a cost-benefit analysis
- Impact Analysis does not try to convert things into $$$ Q: How should we do this? |
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Environmental Assessments
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Comprehensive + systematic processes for identifying, analyzing + evaluating the environmental effects of proposed projects
- Integration of public concerns and environmental consideration into decision making - Introduced in the 1970's - Law in Canada + US |
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What is the general criterion for sustainability?
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At the very least, future generations should be left no worse off than us
- It is possible to use depletable sources as long as the future generations are protected |
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Human Capital
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Intelligence, talent, organization
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Financial capital
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Cash, monetary system
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Manufactured capital
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tools, machines, ect
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Natural capital
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Living things, natural systems
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What is weak sustainability?
What is an example of Weak Sustainability? |
Total Capital is kept constant
- If you use up natural capital, replace it with manufactured/ financial capital * THIS DOES NOT WORK Nauru: Miners bought the rights to the land to mine aluminum, and made a trust fund for the island. They had to buy everything and have it imported because the destruction of all of their forests led to no more natural capital. Eventually, corruption caused the trust fund to run out and everyone was SOL |
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What is strong sustainability?
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Natural capital is kept constant
- We are always going to need natural capital |
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Difficulties between being sustainable and efficient
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- Difficult to know total amount of resource
- Difficult to know population growth rate - Difficult to know what future generations will prefer - Difficult to know future innovations |
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What are the Natural Capitalism strategies?
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1. Radical Resource Productivity
2. Biomimicry 3. Service and Flow Economy 4. Invest in Natural Capital |
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What is the problem with the workforce today? How is it different than the problem before the Industrial Revolution?
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- The problem with the workforce today is that the machines are too efficient and too bulky (too many materials). We need to scale back on equipment and scale up on human work forces, in order to use less materials
This problem is the opposite of the situation before the Industrial Revolution: There was an abundance of resources and a shortage in humans |
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What is the basis of a Service Economy? Advantages/ Disadvantages?
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Manufacturers sell a "service" instead of a product
- They maintain ownership + are reliable for the disposal + delivery - Products that stop working are returned + fixed Example: Interface carpeting |
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What is the general problem of pollution costs?
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Damages (pollution) is externalized, but clean up cost is not
- It doesn't cost the steel company anything to pollute, but it costs lives (in diseases), and dollars (in clean up) |
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Why are cars so heavy?
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Ford needed to make cars cheap + affordable: used wood and steel then switched to steel
- A big heavy body needs a big heavy engine |
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What are some advantages of carbon-fibre composites?
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Lightweight and very durable
- Moldable (fewer parts) - Potentially recyclable - less scrap than with sheet metal |
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What are some disadvantages of carbon-fibre composites?
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- Expensive compared to steel
- Carbon fibre/ plastic come from synthesized oil - is it much better? (yes, a little) |
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Which of the following is the easiest to reconcile with profits? Hardest?
1. Radical Resource Productivity 2. Biomimicry 3. Service + Flow 4. Natty Caps Investment |
Easiest: RRP because they can often make a profit while cutting costs (by saving energy/ materials)
Hardest: Natty Caps Investment because no business wants to "waste" tangible money on intangible objects (although it would be an easy way to raise popularity) |
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What is "cashing out"? What is the significance of it?
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- An experiment that took place in LA: Businesses with over 50 employees would give their workers an ultimatum of either a 70$ cash payment a month (and they had to give up their parking pass), or they could keep their pass and not get money
-Solo driving fell by 17% |
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What is a smart way in which cities can prevent car congestion?
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Some cities (Tokyo, Stockholm) do not build apartment buildings with parking lots (if you have a car -tuff luck)
- Developers in already clogged cities (Maybe San Jose) give out free transit passes with every condo/ apartment downtown - The city of London makes people pay to drive into the middle of the city: large deterrant |
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Why is it hard to make super efficient neighbourhoods in which all amenities (including work) are all in a contained block which can be free from congestion and copious amounts of cars?
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It is very hard to get the giant myriad of businesses into one small area
- The popular jobs (service industries) will not pay enough to sufficiently run a neighbourhood - The chances that double income families will be able to land both jobs in the area is very slim |
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Stock Pollutant
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Accumulate over time
no/ or very very long disposal capacity Ex: Heavy metals, dioxins, ect |
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Fund Pollutant
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Environment has some absorptive capacity (will eventually dissipate)
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How much waste did Canada produce in 2002?
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67 billion pounds
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Critiques of GDP as a measurement of growth
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1. It doesn't count natural or human capital
2. Government spending counts towards GDP count So government spending (ex: a stimulus package) will be counted towards the GDP of a country |
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Why isn't recycling better established?
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The cost of producing copious amounts of garbage is higher for society than it is personally.
- This gives little incentive to individuals to curb their emissions |
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What was the garbage pricing experiment in Georgia?
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Marietta, Georgia
Two options: - go to the store, and buy bags 1 at a time - arrange a can number and prepay for it Results: The people who had to buy it bag-by-bag ended up reducing consumption by 51% Others reduced it by 20% Max cans fee: "If I payed for two cans, I may as well fill both!" |
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What sort of subsidies and rules make it easier to use raw materials instead of recycled ones?
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Things like subsidies for mining
- for 4000$ you can rent a hectare of crown land and mine it - Minerals are very cheap + the extraction process is cheap - Why would we make the effort to recycle our stuff and pay extra if we can just get cheap raw materials? |
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Choke Price
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When the cost of mining a resource = the cost of recycling a resource
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"Take Back Principle"
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Germany has implemented a take back principle: all manufacturers must take back the packaging of their supplies
- This has led to a drastic reduction in packaging Problem: How can you find a market to take your old junk? |
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What types of plants would you find in a polyculture?
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- N fixers
- N users - Climbers - Things to Climb on (corn) |
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What are perverse subsidies? What sectors can they be found in?
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- Subsidies that end up doing more harm than good
- Agriculture - Energy - Transportation - Water - Forestry - Fisheries |
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What happens when subsidies don't work? What is an example?
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- Tend to leave environment + economy worse off
- Distorts markets Ex: Pesticide subsidies in Indonesia - Rice was doing badly - Quit using pesticides + switched to more enviro friendly farming - Rice yield increased dramatically |
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T/F: Taxes raise price, and decrease consumption
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True
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What is the radical tax idea put forth by the authors of Natural Capitalism?
What are the problems with it? |
- Shift taxes from labour + income, + tax things that are unhealthy for the environment
- businesses will leave taxing country |
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What is the "Walmart" experiment? What is the significance of it?
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Started building a Walmart, ran out of funds or something, and half ended up being daylit while the other was artificially lit.
- Customers were happier + bought more on the daylight side - They switched the format around for controls and found that the daylight always made people happier! Significance: - People are happier in more natural settings - Businesses can benefit from greening themselves! |
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Why does L. Hunter Lovins say that "Greenwashing" is good?
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Companies are able to make profit off of going green -good incentive
- If they default, the backlash is strong enough to get them on track |
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What is the biggest expenditure for companies?
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People!
- yearly salaries are a lot of moolah |
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How does having a green building benefit a business?
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- PR value
- Happier workers= more productive = monetary savings - less inputs/ utilities |
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What is initial cost?
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The cost it will take to get from a plot of land to a building
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What is lifetime cost?
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Building repairs, utilities, ect
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What is the significance of initial vs. life-cycle costs for green buildings?
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Initial costs (MAY) be higher
- Life-cycle costs will almost always be lower - Initial costs can be cut by using recycled/ refurbished materials - Life-cycle costs will remain low because there will be a lower need for utilities |
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What are the benefits of "early adopters" of green technologies?
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- Get technologies ready, drive need for manufacture
- Lower costs by creating innovations + popularity in the sector |
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What is the issue with rainwater in Colorado (and India)?
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You actually don't own the rain!
- It is illegal to collect water in rain barrels |
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What are some benefits of renovations?
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- Usually more cost-effective
- May preserve culture + architecture - Reduces inputs to waste system - Reusing/ recycling entire buildings |
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What is LEED certification? What are the benefits/ importance of it (Condos example)?
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External auditing
- need to keep having buildings audited to make sure they stay up to standards (expensive) - Increased PR value Condos: - a bunch of condos were built to LEED standard and sold for a premium - They ended up not actually being LEED certified - angry customers sued the company |
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What is the premise of "Beyond Sustainability?
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- Leave ecosystems better off than before
- Stormwater/ greywater filtering systems Ex: Willow School |
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What information does the Kuznet curve give us?
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It shows environmental degradation vs. per capita income
- Low per capita income= low environmental degradation - Medium per capita income = very high environmental degradation - High per capita income= low environmental D Problem: We need to find a way to tunnel through this barrier (to get from low emissions + low per capita, to low emissions + high income) * We can't wait for everyone to go through this developmental curve. If we do, we'll be saying bye-bye to the environment Use technology transfer + industrial efficiency to tunnel through curve |
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Why is biodiversity an exception to the Kuznet Curve?
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- Even wealthy countries are still losing biodiversity at a rapid rate
- We don't know when it will stop - We don't know what we're doing to make it happen - We don't know how to stop it - We're not sure where we are on the curve |
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How are economic development, biodiversity, and poverty linked?
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:)
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How are the benefits + costs of preserving biodiversity distributed?
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Depends
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What is goal #7 of the Millenium Development Goals?
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Environmental sustainbility
- Shows that the environment IS important! |
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What are the negative impacts of conservation?
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- Loss of land, homes, resources
- Loss of opportunity for future use - Loss of non-use values Neighbours - crop raiding - physical attack from wild (protected) animal - harassment from park staff |
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Why is investing in infrastructure in a conservation area dangerous?
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Conservation area = attracts minimal amounts of tourists
- Invest in infrastructure, and it becomes more popular for tourists - Possible loss of habitat due to development - Increased popularity = increased disturbance |
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A good example of ecotourism (beneficial for all)
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- Snow leopards in C. Asia
- Snow leopards endangered, big attraction for tourists - Villagers host explorers while they go out and look for snow leopards - Villagers who refrain from killing leopards benefit from $$ from ecotourism - Money goes back to villages and pays for leopard proof livestock corrals |
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What is whole-system engineering?
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All parts of the system have to be optimized together
- Requires human capital (brainz) - A main staple of green/ passive technologies - A possible way to tunnel through the efficiency cost barrier - Optimizes efficiency |
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Pipes + pumps example of smart engineering
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- smaller pipes cost less, but you need to fight friction with large pumps and motors
- larger pipes cost more but reduce pumping energy by reducing friction - more importantly, you can use smaller pumps and motors - pipes laid out first (straight runs), then pumps and motors located * The conventional way of laying pipes (place ends in inconspicuous places and then use inefficient amount of piping to connect the ends) |
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What is the Biosphere 2? What is the significance of it?
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Biosphere 2: Oracle, Arizona
- "physical" model of Earth - 8 scientists - many ecosystems - The scientists were to live in this biosphere and live for 2 years What happened: - Oxygen levels quickly plummeted - Things got not so healthy - They had to pump oxygen into it Significance: We can't re-create nature, we don't know the secrets of nature - If it took $200 million to keep 8 people shoddily alive, how much are ecosystem services worth!? |
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According to Constanza et al, how much are ecosystem services worth?
- Atmospheric regulation of gases - Waste treatment - Nutrient flows - Water storage/ purification |
Whole: 33 trillion
- Atmo: 1.3 trillion - Waste: 2.3 trillion - Nutrient: 17 trillion - Water: 2.8 trillion THATS A LOT OF MOOLAH! SAVE NATURE SAVE MONEY |
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How can we set emissions charges?
- What are possible complications with this? |
- Trial and error approach most useful (tough to get on first try)
- Pick a rate + observe emissions Complications: If you set the emissions charge and then raise it, companies will be ANGRY |
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Emission Permits
- What does Greenpeace do with emission permits? |
Each source needs a permit to emit pollution (permits can be bought + sold)
- Exact amount of permits issued to control pollution Greenpeace: Buy up permits - This leaves less for the market, people must reduce emissions even further |
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Who is Thomas Midgley Jr? What is the significance?
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- American chemist (1880's-1940's)
- Solved two serious issues in the early 20th cen - Created CFCs and leaded gasoline - WOOPS! - Ended up doing more harm than good |
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Why did Thomas Midgley make the things he made? What were the consequences?
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CFCs: Fridges were exploding, he created CFCs to be a safe refrigerant. Little did he know, they do not mix well with the ozone layer! LUL
Leaded fuel: Burned more efficiently, prevented "knocking" in engines, gave everyone lead poisoning |
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Advantages of Perennial cereals/ polyculture?
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- Polyculture prevents damage from weather, pests, disease
- Polyculture provides nutrients - Improves food security (more than one crop available if there is a failure) - Perennials are stronger + generally healthier - Better for soil (esp prairie/ hilly soils) |
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Disadvantages of Perennials
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Resistance from agri-business
- Place- specific - Varying harvest times + heights (difficult for North American large farms) |
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What important things are chilling (quite literally) in a vault in Svalbard, Norway?
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Seeds!
- This is where the world seed bank is - Seeds kept + periodically grown to ensure viability - Hybrid research |
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Aspects of permaculture
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- Polyculture
- Low chemical - Emphasis of perennials - community based |
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Case Study: NOx in Sweden
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• charge imposed on large energy producers
• not intended to raise money; intended to provide incentive to control pollution • money flows back to energy producers • The catch: charge based on emissions and rebate based on energy production • Result? o Incentive for companies to reduce emissions and improve amount of energy production o emission levels fell o estimated benefits exceeded costs by more than 3 to 1 |
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Who is Norman Borlaug? What did he contribute to the Green Revolution?
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- o Agronomist who developed dwarf high-yield disease-resistant wheat
• advantageous since if wheat is tall (as it used to be) then high yield wheat falls over and is useless • dwarf weight has a sturdier base and therefore can support the higher yield o input intensive |
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What is India's fertilizer catch-22?
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Due to the Green Rev, India could feed it's whole population (very good!)
- Heavily subsidized fertilizer (urea) - Sold for less than profit - kills soil biota - Yields started plummeting - Food prices raising New plan: directly subsidize farmer! |
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What is the significance of agriculture in Cuba?
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• collapse of Soviet Union in 1989 caused food crisis in Cuba
• loss of foreign exchange cut country off from seed, petroleum and fertilizer imports • cut off from export market • caloric intake of population fell by 1/3 • Response was inventive o right away searched out old farmers • they were the only ones who knew the old methods (including how to use oxen) used tropical cattle instead of European cattle • tropical cattle grow slower and use less water etc. o Cuban policies • Land provided for those who could farm • experts in traditional techniques (oxen vs. tractors) trained new farmers • all available land in urban areas used for crop production (3 million tons within city) significantly reduces transport costs (especially since they don’t have much fuel) • percentage of food from producers taken for schools, retirement homes and rest could be sold in any way |
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What are food deserts? How can this be remedied?
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Poor areas of cities: no grocery stores!
- only fast food/ convenience stores - must drive far for cheap + healthy food Urban agriculture Ex: SPIN in saskatoon - Chicago example (greenhouses on top of parking lots) |
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Detroit farm plans
- what are some concerns about this? |
• land prices in Detroit are super cheap since everyone is leaving due to industrial downfall
• Hantz (a land developer) wants to start converting this vacant land into large 10,000 acre farms • as there is less vacant land, the prices of remaining land will increase Concerns: o the food grown there may not make it to the locals and instead be shipped out to supermarkets for rich people o placing farms in the city may increase urban sprawl if people begin moving back to Detroit, since they’ll only be able to grow in the periphery o there are unofficial community gardens in these vacant lots that will have to be shut down if they start buying the land up |
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T/F: wheat, rice, corn, potatoes, barley, cassava and sorghum provide ¾ of world’s food
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True!
God forbid if there was ever a massive crop failure! |
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Green building principles
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1. Low impact materials
2. Energy Efficiency 3. Healthy buildings 4. People-centered buildings 5. Beyond sustainability |
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What is off-gasing?
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Some building materials have harmful substances in them, which continue to leak harm once they've been built into buildings
Ex: Formeldahyde |
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What is the current problem with Hamilton's storm sewers?
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Hamilton has a combined system, which means the stormwater sewers and the sewage sewers are connected. In times of very heavy rainfall, the sewage treatment plant gets overwhelmed and they have to release all of the water into the bay
Yucky sewage flows into the harbour (potentially) up to 31 times a year :( |
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T/F: 55% of household water is used in the bathroom
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False: 65% of household water is used in the bathroom
Mostly from toilet flushin |
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What are three policy ways to deal with pollution?
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1. Legal Limit
2. Emissions charge 3. Remove people |
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What is a problem with the legal limit approach to pollution control?
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- Does not give incentive to reduce emissions below legal limit (companies will stay just at the legal limit because they do not get any benefits for reducing emissions further)
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What is SPIN farming? What is the significance?
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- Farming in residential backyards in Saskatoon
- half-acre growing area - backyards provide microclimate (from urban heat island), fewer pests, controlled environment, less wind - plots yield 3 veggie crops/ year - Easy transportation: you're already in the city! |
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What are benefits of reducing pollution?
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- Reduced death rates
- Lower illness rares - Better visibility - Reduced building damage - Improved agricultural activity |
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What is contingent valuation? What are some potential biases with this method?
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A survey asking people to put a value on environmental change
Biases: - Starting-point bias - Strategic bias - Hypothetical bias - Information bias |
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How has the energy efficiency of cars changed over time in North America?
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- car efficiency decreased early in the 20th century and started to increase in the 70’ s
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Which is a product that can be used in a service economy (at the moment)?
a. furnace b. water heater c. wall paneling d. air conditioner |
Wata heater
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What causes firms that produce low levels of pollution to actually be at a disadvantage?
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- They are spending money/ time to clean up their mess (cost of pollution is internalized), but the costs are externalized for other firms and they do not have to spend any extra money
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T/F: 1/4 of the labour force is used for materials extraction, 3/4 is used for manufacturing
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TRUE!
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What is one danger of developing super efficient hypercars?
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- Driving will become more attractive, increase the number of cars on the road
- Even though it will be cleaner, there will be increased congestion, frustration, and chance of accidents |
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What are "cob" houses made of?
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wet sand, clay, fibre
- Houses can be shaped with curves and furniture can be built into house! - Not very good insulation, only able to be built on Canada's West Coast |
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Fukuoka Method of farming
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Japanese no intervention farming
- Continuously grows rice + barley with a ground cover of clovers |
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What are the benefits of "management intensive rotational grazing"?
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- Beef worked more = leaner= premium price
- cheaper for the farmer - produces less N runoff |
