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ECON
275 – ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
All readings should be completed
prior to lecture)
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Syllabus
(PDF) Grading Scale Websites
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DATES
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TOPICS
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READINGS AND
ASSIGNMENTS
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May
22
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Visions for
the Future
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Text:
(TL)Reading: Chapters 1 and 2
Chapter 1 Lecture
- Chapter 1 Lecture - Visions of the Future (PPT)
Chapter
2 Lecture - The Economic Approach: Property Rights, Externalities, and
Environmental Problems (PPT)
Required Readings: A
Great Civilization Brought Low by Climate Change (and, no, it’s not us) How Do
Economists Really Think About the Environment 6
ways climate change and disease helped topple the Roman Empire
Websites: EcoMENA Qatar Ministry of
Municipality and Environment Environmental
Defense Fund UN Environmental Programme
Videos: Gaia Hypothesis
(Theory) Malthus, Population Growth
and the Resource Base
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May
23
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The Economic Approach: Property Rights, Externalities,
and Environmental Problems
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 2
Chapter
2 Lecture - The Economic Approach: Property Rights, Externalities, and
Environmental Problems (PPT)
Required Readings: External
Costs: Research Results on Socio-environmental Damages Due to Electricity and
Transport Should We Tax People
for Being Annoying?
Additional Reading: Notes
on Externalities
Websites:
Environmental Performance Index OECD
Environmental Data and Indicators Resources for
the Future
Videos: Environmental
Econ: Crash Course Economics The Coase Theorem
Explained The Tragedy of the
Commons
Class Discussion: Chapters
1 and 2 A Simple Question
Assignment 1 (Due June 1) – Looking at your home country, a country you most associate
with, or a country in which you really have an interest, write a 750-word
paper describing what you (and others for that matter) perceive to be the
country’s most serious environmental concern (other than climate change). Be
sure to describe the issue in detail and provide a summary how the problem is
currently being addressed (if it is at all). Be sure to cite at least five
(5) references.
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May
24, 25
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Evaluating Trade-Offs: Benefit-Cost Analysis and Other
Decision-Making Metrics
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 3
Chapter
3 Lecture - Evaluating Trade-Offs: Benefit-Cost Analysis and Other
Decision-Making Metrics (PPT)
Handout-The
Equimarginal Principle of Cost Effectiveness
Required Readings: Cost
Benefit Analysis of a Net-Zero Energy Housing in Qatar Environmental
Impacts of Food Production
Additional Reading: How
to Perform a Cost Benefit Analysis The Economics of
Regulatory Repeal and Six Case Studies
Websites:
Resources for
the Future-Topics/Environmental Economics
Videos:
Intro
to Cost-Benefit Analysis (Conservation Strategy Fund Series)
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May 26
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Valuing the Environment: Methods
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 4
Chapter
4 Lecture - Valuing the Environment: Methods (PPT)
Required Readings: Hedonic
Pricing Method The
Cost of a Human Life, Statistically Speaking Ford
Pinto Case
Videos: Economics: How to
Calculate the Value of Life Valuation of Ecosystem
Services: Intro to Valuation Valuation of Ecosystem
Services: Contingent Valuation Valuation of Ecosystem
Services: Travel Cost Method
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May
29, 30
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Dynamic
Efficiency and Sustainable Development
Depletable
Resource Allocation: The Role of Longer Time Horizons, Substitutes, and
Extraction Cost
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapters 5 and 6
Chapter
5 Lecture - Dynamic Efficiency and Sustainable Development (PPT)
Chapter
6 Lecture - Depletable Resource Allocation: The Role of Longer Time Horizons,
Substitutes, and Extraction Cost
(PPT)
Websites: Dynamic
Efficiency Illustration Our World in Data
Videos:
Economics of
Sustainability What is Sustainable
Development?
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May 31
June 1
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Energy: The
Transition from Depletable to Renewable Resources
Recyclable
Resources: Minerals, Paper, Bottles, and E-waste
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapters 7 and 8
Chapter
7 Lecture - Energy: The Transition from Depletable to Renewable Resources
(PPT)
Chapter 8 Lecture - Recyclable Resources:
Minerals, Paper, Bottles, and E-waste (PPT)
Required Readings: When
Fossil Fuels Run Out, What Then? What is Fracking and Why is it
Controversial? How
Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled
Videos: Animation of Hydraulic
Fracturing – One View Fracking 101: Why Fracked
Gas is Dirty and Dangerous (Another View) The War on Plastic
isn’t Working – Recycling Myths Exposed Cement
and Concrete: The Environmental Impact
Assignment 2 - Cancelled
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June 2
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Review and
Catching-up
Time
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Review and
Catching-up Time
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Take-Home Exam 1
(PDF) - (Exam Due June 15)
Links
to Articles:
10 Reasons Why Recycling
Alone Won’t Save Us
Plastic Recycling Doesn’t
Work and Will Never Work
Towards
a Circular Economy: Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition (PDF)
The
Circular Economy In Detail
Environmental
Impacts of Food Solar
Farm Hit
Hard by High Energy Costs, Hawaii Looks to the Sun
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June
5, 6
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Class Discussion of Assignment
Water: A Confluence of Renewable and Depletable
Resources
A Locationally Fixed, Multipurpose
Resource: Land
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapters 9 and 10
Chapter
9 Lecture - Water: A
Confluence of Renewable and Depletable Resources (PPT)
Chapter
10 Lecture - A Locationally
Fixed, Multipurpose Resource: Land (PPT)
Additional Reading: High
and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy (Read Executive Summary) 10
things to Know About the Impacts of Urbanisation
Websites: UN-Water Water.org
Videos:
Are Future Water Wars
Inevitable? Countries Are Building
Economic Empires by Controlling Water Supply Journey 2050: Land Use Journey 2050: Water
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June
7, 8
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Common-Pool Resources: Commercially Valuable Fisheries
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 12
Chapter
12 Lecture - Common-Pool Resources: Commercially Valuable Fisheries (PPT)
This chapter will rely heavily on the following videos. Please
make sure to watch outside of class too!
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June
9
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Ecosystem
Goods and Services: Nature’s Threatened Bounty
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 13
Chapter
13 Lecture - Ecosystem Goods and Services: Nature’s Threatened Bounty
(PPT)
Required Reading: MDG
Monitor Role
of Tourism in Sustainable Development
Additional Reading: The Economics of Ecosystems
and Biodiversity Report
Videos:
Can Eco-tourism Help
Save the Ocean?
Valuation of Ecosystem
Services: Classes of Values
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June
12
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Economics of Pollution Control:
An Overview
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 14
Chapter
14 Lecture - Economics of Pollution Control: An Overview
(PPT)
Videos: Carbon Offsets What is Carbon Trading? The Love Canal
Disaster: Toxic Waste in the Neighborhood The Japanese Town
That Was Poisoned
Assignment 3 (Due June 21) – Write a 750-word paper proposing a policy
initiative you would recommend be implemented to address an air pollution
problem that you perceive to be extremely harmful to society. Be sure to
describe the problem and use economic tools in your policy proposal. Be sure
to cite at least three (3) references.
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June
13, 14
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Stationary-Source Local and Regional Air Pollution
Mobile-Source Air Pollution
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapters 15, 16 and 17
Chapter
15 Lecture - Stationary-Source Local and Regional Air Pollution
(PPT)
Chapter 16
Lecture - Mobile-Source Air Pollution (PPT)
Required Reading: Volkswagen: The Scandal
Explained
Websites:
Advantages
And Disadvantages Of Ethanol
The
Case for Electronic Road Pricing
Gas Prices
Around the World Transport and Environment
Videos: Are Electric Cars Really More Environmentally Friendly? The Contradictions of Battery Operated
Vehicles
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June
15
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Climate Change
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 17
Chapter 17 Lecture -
Climate Change (PPT)
Required Readings: Climate
Change 2007:Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers Is Human Activity Primarily
Responsible for Global Climate Change?
Additional Readings: Ten
Facts About the Economics of Climate Change and Climate Policy
Websites: The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Videos: Science Works: Protecting The Ozone Layer What in the World? A Climate Change Game
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June
16, 20
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Climate Change
Water Pollution
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapters 17 and 18
Chapter 17 Lecture - Climate Change (PPT)
Chapter 18 Lecture –
Water Pollution (PPT)
Websites: The
Balance - Water Pollution
Effects, Causes, and Solutions
Videos: The Plastic Problem - A
PBS NewsHour Documentary
What is
WATER POLLUTION?
Interesting Article: Replacing
A Coal Plant Takes An Infinite Number Of Wind Turbines
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Take-Home
Final Exam (PDF) - (Exam Due June 26)
Links:
Health
and Climate Change Country Profiles
List of
Developing Countries
Infographic:
Which countries have the safest drinking water?
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June
21, 22
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Environmental Justice
The Quest for Sustainable
Development
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapters 19, 20, 21
Chapters
20-21 Lecture - The Quest for Sustainable Development (PPT)
Required Reading:
The
Delusion of Infinite Economic Growth
Black
people over 65 far more likely to die from pollution-related disease than
white seniors
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June 23
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Work on Take-Home
Final Exam
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Take-Home Final Exam Due June 26
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