Environmental Economics Inside the guide: • Easy-to-understand explanations of common economic terms • Recommended Websites, Articles, & Case Studies • Classroom Resources Scientists. Educators. Economist s . Volume 1: The Essentials 2 3 For more than a decade, the Environmental Literacy Council has been dedicated to helping teachers, students, policymakers, and the general public find cross-disciplinary resources on the environment. Environmental issues involve many dimensions — scientific, economic, aesthetic, and ethical. Through our websites, science-based textbook reviews, and professional development materials, we strive to provide information and resources that convey the importance of environmental science and the deep complexity of environmental decision-making. Made up of scientists, economists, education policy experts, and veteran teachers, our Council is drawn from the ranks of prestigious organizations such as Resources for the Future, AAAS, The University of Virginia, GE Energy, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The multi-disciplinary guidance keeps our materials balanced, current, and scientifically accurate. The Environmental Literacy Council Copyright © 200 7 All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission from the Environmental Literacy Council. Acknowledgements The Council would like to thank the following people for their contribution to the research and production of this guide: Erica Brehmer Dana Hyland Charles Fritschner Megan Wertz Dawn M. Anderson, Executive Director Dr. Roger Sedjo, Economics Project Advisor Nicole Barone Callahan, Project & Web Content Manager For more information about environmental economics or other topics in environmental science, please see our website: enviroliteracy.org 4 Roger A. Sedjo, President Resources for the Future Kathleen Berry Canon-McMillan High School Gail Charnley HealthRisk Strategies Nicholas N. Eberstadt American Enterprise Institute Michael H. Glantz National Center for Atmospheric Research Eric P. Loewen GE Energy Thomas G. Moore Hoover Institution John Opie The University of Chicago F. James Rutherford American Association for the Advancement of Science Frederick Seitz Rockefeller University Leonard Shabman Resources for the Future Herman H. (Hank) Shugart, Jr. University of Virginia, Charlottesville Robert L. Sproull University of Rochester M. Jane Teta Exponent, Inc. Alvin W. Trivelpiece Henderson, Nevada Anne K. Vidaver University of Nebraska, Lincoln 5 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction to Environmental & Resource Economics 6 Chapter 2: The Law of Diminishing Returns 9 Chapter 3: Carrying Capacity 12 Chapter 4: Sustainable Development 15 Chapter 5: How Markets Work – Supply and Demand 18 Chapter 6: Externalities 21 Chapter 7: Net Present Value 24 Chapter 8: Ecosystem Valuation 28 Chapter 9: Trade-offs 31 Chapter 10: Marginal Costs and Benefits 34 Chapter 11: Cost Benefit Analysis 37 Chapter 12: Environmental Impact Analysis 40 Chapter 13: Regulatory Policy vs. Economic Incentives 42 Appendix: Resources for the Classroom 46 Basic Economics 46 Environmental & Resource Economics 47 Diminishing Returns 48 Carrying Capacity 48 Sustainable Development 49 Supply and Demand: How Markets Work 50 Externalities 50 Net Present Value 51 Ecosystem Valuation 51 Trade-offs 51 Marginal Costs and Benefits 52 Cost Benefit Analysis 52 Environmental Impact Analysis 53 Regulatory Policy vs. Economic Incentives 53 Endnotes 54 6 Chapter 1: Introduction to Environmental & Resource Economics Environmental economics is the subset of economics that is concerned with the efficient allocation of environmental resources. The environment provides both a direct value as well as raw material intended for economic activity, thus making the environment and the economy interdependent. For that reason, the way in which the economy is managed has an impact on the environment which, in turn, affects both welfare and the performance of the economy. One of the best known critics of traditional economic thinking about the environment is Herman Daly. In his first book, Steady-State Economics, Daly suggested that “enough is best,” arguing that economic growth leads to environmental degradation and inequalities in wealth. He asserted that the economy is a subset of our environment, which is finite. Therefore his notion of a steady-state economy is one in which there is an optimal level of population and economic activity which leads to sustainability. Daly calls for a qualitative improvement in people's lives – development – without perpetual growth. Today, many of his ideas are associated with the concept of sustainable development. By the late 1970s, the late economist Julian Simon began countering arguments against economic growth. His keystone work was The Ultimate Resource, published in 1981 and updated in 1996 as The Ultimate Resource 2, in which he concludes there is no reason why welfare should not continue to improve and that increasing population contributes to that improvement in the long run. His theory was that population growth and increased income puts pressure on resource supplies; this increases prices, which provides both opportunity and incentive for innovation; eventually the innovations are so successful that prices end up below what they were before the resource shortages occurred. In Simon's view, a key factor in economic growth is the human capacity for creating new ideas and contributing to the knowledge base. Therefore, the more people who can be trained to help solve arising problems, the faster obstacles are removed, and the greater the economic condition for current and future generations. Environmental economics takes into consideration issues such as the conservation and valuation of natural resources, pollution control, waste management and recycling, and the efficient creation of emission standards. Economics is an important tool for making decisions about the use, conservation, and protection of natural resources because it provides information 7 about choices people make, the costs and benefits of various proposed measures, and the likely outcome of environmental and other policies. Since resources – whether human, natural, or monetary – are not infinite, these public policies are most effective when they achieve the maximum possible benefit in the most efficient way. Therefore, one job of policymakers is to understand how resources can be utilized most efficiently in order to accomplish the desired goals by weighing the costs of various alternatives to their potential benefits. In competitive markets, information exists about how much consumers value a particular good because we know how much they are willing to pay. When natural resources are involved in the production of that particular good, there may be other factors – scarcity issues, the generation of pollution – that are not included in its production cost. In these instances, scarcity issues or pollution become externalities, costs that are external to the market price of the product. If these full costs were included, the cost of the good may be higher than the value placed on it by the consumer. A classic example of an externality is discussed in Garrett Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons, which occurs in connection to public commons or resources – areas that are open and accessible to all, such as the seas or the atmosphere. Hardin observed that individuals will use the commons more than if they had to pay to use them, leading to overuse and possibly to increased degradation. There are three general schools of thought associated with reducing or eliminating environmental externalities. Most welfare economists believe that the existence of externalities is sufficient justification for government intervention, typically involving taxes and often referred to as Pigovian taxes after economist Arthur Pigou (1877-1959) who developed the concept of economic externalities. Market economists tend to advocate the use of incentives to reduce environmental externalities, rather than command-and- control approaches, because incentives allow flexibility in responding to problems rather than forcing a singular approach on all individuals. Free- market economists focus on eliminating obstacles that prevent the market from functioning freely, which they believe would lead to an optimal level of environmental protection and resource use. The key objective of environmental © NOAA Coastal Services Center 8 economics is to identify those particular tools or policy alternatives that will move the market toward the most efficient allocation of natural resources. Recommended Resources Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy www.steadystate.org The Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy is a nonprofit organization that educates citizens and policy makers on the fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection, economic sustainability, national security, and international stability through its promotion of a steady state economy as a sustainable alternative to economic growth. Political Economy Research Center www.perc.org The Political Economy Research Center is dedicated to original research that brings market principles to resolving environmental problems. The site has an extensive publications list and an environmental education section that touches on a variety of subject areas that relate to both economics and the environment. Protecting Ecosystem Services: Science, Economics, and Law eprints.law.duke.edu/archive/00001071/01/20_Stan._Envtl._L._J._309_(2001).p df This paper is the result of a workshop that took place in December 2000 when a group of 30 scientists, conservationists, economists, lawyers, and policymakers came together at Stanford University to discuss ways to market ecosystem services. 9 Chapter 2: The Law of Diminishing Returns The “law of diminishing returns” is one of the best-known principles outside the field of economics. It was first developed in 1767 by the French economist Turgot in relation to agricultural production, but it is most often associated with Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo. They believed that human population would eventually outpace the production of food since land was an integral factor in limited supply. In order to increase production to feed the population, farmers would have to use less fertile land and/or increase production intensity on land currently under production. In both cases, there would be diminishing returns. The law of diminishing returns – which is related to the concept of marginal return or marginal benefit – states that if one factor of production is increased while the others remain constant, the marginal benefits will decline and, after a certain point, overall production will also decline. While initially there may be an increase in production as more of the variable factor is used, eventually it will suffer diminishing returns as more and more of the variable factor is applied to the same level of fixed factors, increasing the costs in order to get the same output. Diminishing returns reflect the point in which the marginal benefit begins to decline for a given production process. For example, the table below sets the following conditions on a farm producing corn: Number of Workers Corn Produced Marginal Benefit 1 10 10 2 25 15 3 45 20 4 60 15 5 70 10 6 60 -10 It is with three workers that the farm production is most efficient because the marginal benefit is at its highest. Beyond this point, the farm begins to experience diminishing returns and, at the level of 6 workers, the farm actually begins to see decreasing returns as production levels decline, even though costs continue to increase. In this example, the number of workers changed, while the land used, seeds planted, water consumed, and any other inputs remained the same. If more than one input were to change, the production results would vary and the law of diminishing returns may not apply if all of the inputs could be 10 increased. If this case were to lead to increased production at lower average costs, economies of scale would be realized. The concept of diminishing returns is as important for individuals and society as it is for businesses because it can have far-reaching effects on a wide variety of things, including the environment. This principle – although first thought to apply only to agriculture – is now widely accepted as an economic law that underlies all productive endeavors, including resource use and the cleanup of pollution. The theory was effectively applied by Garrett Hardin in his 1968 article on the tragedy of the commons in which he looked at many common property resources, such as air, water, and forests, and described their use as being subject to diminishing returns. It is in this case that individuals acting in their own self-interest may “overuse” a resource because they do not take into consideration the impact it will have on a larger, societal scale. It can also be expanded to include limitations on our common resources. The services that fixed natural resources are able to provide – for example, in acting as natural filtration systems – will begin to diminish as contaminants and pollutants in the environment continue to increase. It is externalities such as these that can lead to the depletion of our resources and/or create other environmental problems. However, the point at which diminishing returns can be illustrated is often very difficult to pinpoint because it varies with improved production techniques and other factors. In agriculture, for example, the debate about adequate supply remains unclear due to the uneven distribution of population and agricultural production around the globe and improvement in agricultural technology over time. The challenge – whether it be local, regional, national, or global – is how best to manage the problem of declining resource-to-people ratios that could lead to a reduced standard of living. Widely used solutions for internalizing potential externalities include taxes, subsidies, and quotas. Often, there are attempts to find “bigger picture” solutions that focus on what many see as the primary causes, namely population growth and resource scarcity. Reducing population growth, along with increased technological innovation, may slow the growth in resource use and possibly offset the impact of diminishing returns. These potential benefits are a key reason why population growth and technological innovation are most often used in analyzing sustainable development possibilities. 11 Recommended Resources The Origin of the Law of Diminishing Returns socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/cannan/cannan003.html This article, by early 20th century economist Edwin Cannan, is part of an archive collection of significant texts in the history of economic thought. Diminishing Returns william-king.www.drexel.edu/top/Prin/txt/MPCh/firm6.html Dr. Roger A. McCain, professor of economics at Drexel University, explains diminishing returns on his website and provides an in-depth look at related key concepts. Law of Diminishing Returns www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/diminishing_returns_law_of Dr. Paul M. Johnson of Auburn University, provides a thorough definition of the law of diminishing returns, using garden and factory examples to illustrate his point. VIEWPOINTS Diminishing Returns: World Fisheries Under Pressure pubs.wri.org/pubs_content_text.cfm?ContentID=1390 This article, by the World Resources Institute, shows the problems fisheries have been experiencing over the past fifty years as catch rates decline. Thoughts on Long-Term Energy Supplies: Scientists and the Silent Lie fire.pppl.gov/energy_population_pt_0704.pdf Retired physics professor Albert Bartlett, a modern-day Malthusian, frequently lectures on "Arithmetic, Population and Energy." This article was published in Physics Today, July 2004. Long-Term Energy Solutions: The Truth Behind the Silent Lie www.physicstoday.org/vol-57/iss-11/p12.html These letters to the editor in the November 2004 edition of Physics Today are in response to Albert Bartlett's July 2004 article. 12 Chapter 3: Carrying Capacity Changes in population can have a variety of economic, ecological, and social implications. One population issue is that of carrying capacity – the number of individuals an ecosystem can support without having any negative effects. It also includes a limit of resources and pollution levels that can be maintained without experiencing high levels of change. If carrying capacity is exceeded, living organisms must adapt to new levels of consumption or find alternative resources. Carrying capacity can be affected by the size of the human population, consumption of resources, and the level of pollution and environmental degradation that results. Carrying capacity, however, need not be fixed and can be expanded through good management and the development of new resource-saving technologies. The relationship between carrying capacity and population growth has long been controversial. One of the original arguments appeared in 1798 by English economist Thomas Malthus who stated that continued population growth would cause over-consumption of resources. Malthus further argued that population was likely to grow at an exponential rate while food supplies would increase at an arithmetic rate, not keeping up with the exponential population growth. Malthus believed that an ever increasing population would continually strain society's ability to provide for itself and, as a result, mankind would be doomed to forever live in poverty. Over a century later, American economist Julian Simon countered Malthus' arguments, asserting that an increase in population would improve the environment rather than degrade it. He believed human intellect to be the most valuable renewable natural resource that would continue to find innovative solutions to any problems that might arise – environmental, economical, or otherwise. Simon was also one of the founders of free- market environmentalism, finding that a free market, together with appropriate property rights, was the best tool in order to preserve both the health and sustainability of the environment. Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, the controversy over the effect that an increasing population has on the Earth's 13 limited resources reemerged. Garrett Hardin and Paul Ehrlich, both authors on overpopulation, believed that human population had already exceeded the carrying capacity. Hardin is best known for his paper The Tragedy of the Commons, in which he argues that overpopulation of any species will deplete shared natural resources. Ehrlich, who wrote The Population Bomb in 1968, predicted a population explosion accompanied by increasing famine and starvation. Although his prediction did not come true – in fact, in 1970 there was a slight decline in the population growth rate – he was correct in pointing out that, with the exception of solar energy, the Earth is a closed system with limited natural resources. The standard of living in a region can help to alter an area's carrying capacity. Areas with a higher standard of living tend to have a reduced carrying capacity compared to areas with a lower standard of living due to the access to and demand for more resources. Nevertheless, the environmental Kuznets Curve – an observed phenomenon – suggests that beyond some point, increased income and environmental improvement often goes hand-in-hand. While population growth rates have stabilized and, in fact, are declining in many developed nations, consumption of resources and the generation of pollution and waste continue to grow. The effect this has on an ecosystem is called an “ecological footprint,” which can be used to measure and manage the use of resources throughout an economy. It is also widely used as an indicator of environmental sustainability. Carrying capacity often serves as the basis for sustainable development policies that attempt to balance the needs of today against the resources that will be needed in the future. The 1995 World Summit on Social Development defined sustainability as ‘the framework to achieve a higher quality of life for all people in which economic development, social development, and environmental protection are interdependent and mutually beneficial components'. The 2002 World Summit furthered the process by identifying three key objectives of sustainable development: eradicating poverty, protecting natural resources, and changing unsustainable production and consumption patterns. While the exact value of the human carrying capacity is uncertain and continues to be under debate, there has been evidence of the strain that both overpopulation and over-consumption has placed on some societies and the environment. Economists, ecologists, and policy analysts continue to study global consumption patterns to determine what the human carrying capacity is and what steps can be taken to ensure it is not exceeded. In the meantime, actions to reduce the strain and ensure natural resource recovery for the future will depend on an increase of sustainable development policies worldwide. 14 Recommended Resources Linking Population and Development www.unfpa.org/pds/index.htm The United Nations Population Fund explores the links between population, poverty, and development. Their website includes information on population trends, urbanization, and environmental sustainability. Human Carrying Capacity of Earth www.ilea.org/leaf/richard2002.html The Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment explains carrying capacity and its related components. The distinction between social and biophysical carrying capacity, as well as the roles that land area, food production, and energy play, are also discussed. VIEWPOINTS Tragedy of the Commons www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243 Full text of Garrett Hardin's famous 1968 Science magazine essay. Ethical Implications of Carrying Capacity dieoff.org/page96.htm Garrett Hardin's 1977 essay on the importance of carrying capacity is closely related to his famous concept of the tragedy of the commons. Population, Sustainability, and Earth's Carrying Capacity dieoff.org/page112.htm In 1992, Paul Ehrlich and Gretchen Daily published this article addressing population patterns at the time and what could be done to create more sustainable patterns. 15 Chapter 4: Sustainable Development Over the past few decades, many definitions of sustainable development have been suggested and debated, resulting in a concept that has become broad and somewhat vague. In recognition of the need for a clearer understanding of sustainable development, the United Nation's World Commission on Environment and Development commissioned a study on the subject by what is now known as the Brundtland Commission. The resulting report, Our Common Future (1987), defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs," which has become the accepted standard definition. The report also identified three components to sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity, and suggested that all three can be achieved by gradually changing the ways in which we develop and use technologies. Although sustainable development is a widely accepted goal by many governmental and non-governmental agencies, concerns about what it means in practice have often been raised. One point of contention is over the role of economic development in fostering sustainable development. Some argue that economic growth is the best way to help developing countries conserve their natural resources, while others argue that any economic growth is unsustainable because we already consume too much. The United Nations attempted to reconcile these views in 1992 by convening the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It was here that the international community first agreed on a comprehensive strategy to address development and environmental challenges through a global partnership. The framework for this partnership was Agenda 21, which covered the key aspects of sustainability – economic development, environmental protection, social justice, and democratic and effective governance. The second Earth Summit, held in Johannesburg in 2002, was an attempt by the UN to review the progress of the expectations raised in Rio and to reaffirm the commitment of world leaders in continuing to pursue actions towards sustainable development. The Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development outlined the challenges to, and commitments of, the international community in attaining these goals. The summit leaders also developed a plan of implementation, which included means of eradicating poverty, changing unsustainable patterns of consumption, and protecting biodiversity and natural resources. 16 Since sustainable development goes well beyond economic issues, linking the economy, environment, and society, no comprehensive economic theory related to sustainable development exists. However, progress toward sustainable development is often measured by a variety of indicators, which can be used at the local, regional, national or international level. The primary components are economic performance, social equity, environmental measures, and institutional capacity. Examples of indicators within each component are located in the box to the left. Within the economic performance component, the indicators selected under economic structure are well-known and commonly used measures at the national and international levels. They reflect important issues of economic performance, trade, and financial status. Consumption and production patterns are also represented within the economic performance component, providing additional coverage of material consumption, energy use, waste generation and management, and transportation. For many nations, the ability of the economy to meet basic needs allows them to focus more on environmental issues. Historically, the general public is not willing to place a high priority on protecting the environment when there is concern about achieving a certain level of welfare or economic goals. For example, when the economy was doing well in the United States in the late 1980s, there was an increased awareness about the environment. However, as the economic conditions began to decline in the early 1990s, people became more concerned about their own well-being and less concerned with the environment. The study of economics has always emphasized the relative scarcity of resources, whether they are natural, capital, or human, thereby placing constraints on what we can have and affecting the choices and decisions made by individuals or by society. Sustainable development encompasses the view that a healthy environment is essential to support a thriving economy. Therefore, decisions should be made taking into account both the present and future value of our resources in order to achieve continued economic development without a decline of the environment. 17 Recommended Resources Agenda 21 www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/english/agenda21toc.htm The U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division of Sustainable Development offers the complete text of Agenda 21. Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development www.world-tourism.org/sustainable/wssd/final-report.pdf The full text of the official report from the second Earth Summit, held in Johannesburg in 2002. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: Education for Sustainable Development portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php- URL_ID=27234&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html In 2002, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the “Decade for Sustainable Development (2005-2014)” with UNESCO acting as the lead agency. This site features information on a variety of themes related to sustainable development and provides a clearinghouse for information briefs, news, and demonstration projects. International Institute for Sustainable Development www.iisd.org The International Institute for Sustainable Development is a research organization that contributes to sustainable development – the integration of environmental stewardship, economic development and the well-being of all people, not just for today but for generations to come – by advancing policy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, and natural resources management. 18 Chapter 5: How Markets Work – Supply and Demand Two basic terms that are used most often by economists are supply and demand. How much of something that is available - the supply - and how much of something people want - the demand - are what makes a working market. Markets have existed since early in history when people bartered and made exchanges for food, trinkets, and other goods. The market is the way in which an economic activity is organized between buyers and sellers through their behavior and interaction with one another. Buyers, as a group, determine the overall demand for a particular product at various prices while sellers, as a group, determine the supply of a particular product at various prices. The interaction of buyers and sellers in the market helps to determine the market price, thereby allocating scarce goods and services efficiently. The price is taken into account when deciding how much of something to consume, and also how much to produce. The relationship between price and quantity demanded is so universal that it is called the law of demand. This law states that with all else equal, when the price of a good rises, the quantity demanded falls - and when the price falls, the quantity demanded rises. The law of supply is just the opposite: the higher the price, the higher the quantity supplied - and the lower the price, less quantity is supplied. A key function of the market is to find the equilibrium price when supply and demand are in balance. At this price, the goods supplied are equal to what is being demanded thereby bringing about the most efficient allocation of the goods. An efficient allocation of goods in a market is one in which no one can be made better off unless someone else is made worse off. There are influences other than price, however, that often play a role in keeping the market from being truly efficient and at equilibrium. On the demand side, income can clearly play a significant role. As income rises, people will buy more of some goods or even begin to purchase higher quality - or more expensive - goods. The price of related goods can also alter demand. If the price of one cereal increases, for example, demand will likely switch to a similar cereal - which would be considered a substitute good. If the goods are considered to be complimentary - or are typically used together - a decrease in the price of one of the goods will increase the demand for another. An example of complimentary goods would be cars and gasoline where the price of gasoline 19 depends partly on the number of cars. Personal tastes and expectations of the future also influence individual demands as does the number of buyers (an increase in buyers vying for a specific number of goods will increase the demand and likely increase the overall purchase price). Variables that Influence Buyers (Demand) Variables that Influence Sellers (Supply) • Price • Income • Prices of related goods • Tastes • Expectations • Number of Buyers • Price • Input prices • Technology • Expectations • Number of sellers On the supply side, both expectations and the number of sellers can influence the number of goods produced. In addition, the cost of producing the good - or the input prices - as well as the level of technology used to turn the inputs into goods greatly influence the final price and quantity supplied. Although most economic analyses focus on finding the market equilibrium, there exist a number of other market forms. When it comes to the utilization of natural resources or other environmental quality amenities, it is often difficult to find the equilibrium through mere market pricing since they are not true market goods. Efficiency would require maximizing current costs and benefits of using or extracting natural resources while also taking into consideration future costs and benefits, as well as the intrinsic and existence value of the resources. When the market fails to allocate the resources efficiently, market failure can occur. One example of this is the creation of externalities. Often, this occurs when clear property rights are absent, as with air and some water resources. Sometimes the government intervenes in an attempt to promote efficiency and bring the market back into equilibrium. Market options can include economic incentives and disincentives, or the establishment of property rights. Recommended Resources Price Theory, Lecture 2: Supply and Demand www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/PTlect2y.pdf Glen Whitman, an Associate Professor of Economics at California State 20 University, Northridge, shares his lecture notes on principles of supply and demand, constructing the market, and various types of competition. Supply and Demand en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand An excellent summary hosted by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Microeconomic Laws of Supply and Demand mason.gmu.edu/~tlidderd/104/ch3Lect.html Tancred Lidderdale’s microeconomic resource hosted by George Mason University. [...]... are equal In the graph below, this is at point Q The surplus is illustrated by the shaded area in the graph At the equilibrium, the surplus is greatest, making it the best possible solution If the quantity were to increase to point 1, the marginal costs would exceed the marginal benefits, meaning it would not economically efficient If the quantity were to decrease to point -1, some of the surplus would... lifetime of the project The formula for NPV requires knowing the likely amount of time (t, usually in years) that cash will be invested in the project, the total length of time of the project (N, in the same unit of time as t), the interest rate (i), and the cash flow at that specific point in time (cash inflow – cash outflow, C) For example, take a business that is considering changing their lighting... “Q”, the total cost of the cleanup is P*Q the white and light gray areas on the graph below Marginal benefit is similar to marginal cost in that it is a measurement of the change in benefits over the change in quantity While marginal cost is measured on the producer’s end, marginal benefit is looked at from the consumer’s 33 34 perspective – in this sense it can be thought of as the demand curve for environmental. .. The various sources are then given emissions allowances which can be traded, bought or sold, or banked for future use, but - over the course of the specified period of time - overall emissions will not exceed the amount of the cap and may even decline Therefore, individual sources, or facilities, can determine their level of production and/or the application of pollution reduction technologies or the. .. Quality within the Executive Office of the President to ensure that federal agencies would meet their obligations under the Act One provision of the law requires that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be written for major federal actions and made available to all, including to the general public An EIS must include: the environmental impacts of a proposed action; unavoidable adverse environmental. .. polluters have very little choice about how to meet the standard since some standards are strictly dictated by the regulators Therefore, there is no incentive for the sources to research new and creative ways to further reduce their own pollution emissions However, in the case of emission standards, sources are often able to decide how they can best meet the standard Finally, since command-and-control... from EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics examine the interest and use of economic incentive mechanisms for environmental management over the past 20 years in both the U.S and abroad Incentives have several advantages, including allowing the source to play a role in determining the most cost-effective way to reduce their emissions and, thereby, in meeting their marginal costs All three... regulation VIEWPOINTS Rescuing Environmentalism www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3888006 This article appeared in the April 2005 Economist in response to the publication of The Death of Environmentalism, a book which criticizes the current state of the “green” movement and encourages environmentalists to become more politically viable The article agrees with the book's prognosis and offers... calculating and weighing the benefits against the costs, once all factors have been given a common unit of measurement When policymakers have to choose among various alternatives, they require a tool that will allow them to distinguish between the options Decision makers can then choose the policy with the largest surplus, or overall net benefits In recent years, for example, the U.S government is increasingly... in order to balance the budgets While the overall concept of CBA is simple, the steps taken to evaluate each benefit and cost can become quite complicated The most important component of a CBA is the base situation – or what would happen if no changes were made All other decisions are compared to this base situation The first step is to identify the relevant time period: when would the costs and benefits . external to the market price of the product. If these full costs were included, the cost of the good may be higher than the value placed on it by the consumer opposite: the higher the price, the higher the quantity supplied - and the lower the price, less quantity is supplied. A key function of the market