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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
23
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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 Qatar:
Nature and development at a crossroads
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May
24
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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
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
25, 26
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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
27, 30
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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
Websites:
Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory
(EVRI) (easy to register an account)
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 31
June 1
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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: Our World in Data
Videos:
Economics of
Sustainability What
is Sustainable Development?
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June
2, 3
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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)
Assignment 2 (Due June 13) – Although Qatar’s gas reserves are considered quite
substantial, several other countries face the situation of no longer being
able to rely on the export of their once substantial natural resource to
contribute to economic growth. Choose a country (we exclude Qatar) in such a
situation and write a 750-word paper describing 1) current and future
projection of the supplies of the natural recourse; 2) the contribution of
that resource to the economy; and 3) what, if any, plans the country (or the
industry) has made to address the situation (diversification, substitution,
etc.). Be sure to cite at least five (5) references.
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Sunday, June 6 – Exam
1
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June
7, 8
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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)
Required Readings: Environmental
Problems of Modern Cities Experts
Name the Top 19 Solutions to the Global Freshwater Crisis Water Statistics in the
State of Qatar 2015
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 Sad,
but True
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June
9
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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!
Videos:
Fishing
(Sustainable Yield) Fisheries Economics &
Policy: Maximum Economic Yield The Simple Economics of an
Open-Access Fishery
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June
10
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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 Crop
Production in the USA is Frequently Limited by a Lack of Pollinators
Videos:
Can
Eco-tourism Help Save the Ocean? Valuation of Ecosystem
Services: Classes of Values
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June
13
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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)
Required Reading: Carbon
Tax - Pros and Cons What
is Carbon Offsetting? Qatar
Airways Launches Voluntary Carbon Offset Programme
for Passengers
Videos: Carbon Offsets The Story of Cap &
Trade The Love Canal Disaster:
Toxic Waste in the Neighborhood
The Japanese
Town That Was Poisoned
Assignment 3 (Due June 20) – Write a 500-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
14, 15
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Stationary-Source
Local and Regional Air Pollution
Mobile-Source
Air Pollution
Climate
Change
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In class Presentations of Assignment 2
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)
Chapter 17 Lecture -
Climate Change (PPT)
Required Reading: The
Facts on Fuel Economy Standards
Volkswagen: The Scandal
Explained
Websites:
Transport
and Environment
Videos: Are
Electric Cars Really More Environmentally Friendly? What's Behind Extreme Air
Pollution in India
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June
16
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Climate Change Cont’d
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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 Healing the Ozone Layer Is Human Activity Primarily
Responsible for Global Climate Change?
Additional
Readings: An Earth System
Model Shows Self-Sustained Melting of Permafrost Even if All Man-Made GHG
Emissions Stop in 2020 Rolls-Royce
plans 16 mini-nuclear plants for UK 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
20, 21
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Water Pollution
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Text:
(TL) Reading: Chapter 18
Chapter
18 Lecture – Water Pollution (PPT)
Required Reading: Maps
and Statistics Ocean Pollution
Marine
and Ocean Pollution Statistics and Facts 2020 Water
Pollution: Everything You Need to Know
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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June
22
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The Quest for Sustainable
Development
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Chapter
20 Lecture - The Quest for Sustainable Development (PPT)
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June 23
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Topics of Interest
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June 24
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Final Exam
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Final Exam
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