Economics, Politics, Worldviews and the Environment

1. Economics, Politics, Worldviews and the Environment Chapter 14 <<double brackets>> will be on chap quiz <<<Triple brackets>>> will be on mid-term

2. 14-1 How Are Economic Systems Related to the Biosphere? • Concept 14-1 Ecological economists and most sustainability experts regard human economic systems as subsystems of the biosphere and subject to its processes and limiting factors. <<<Economists NeoclassicalEcological Biosphere is the subset Human economy is the subset>>>

3. Economic Systems Are Supported by Three Types of Resources • Economic systems are supported by • <<Natural Resources>> • Human capital, <<human resources>> • Manufactured capital, <<manufactured resources>>

4. Natural Resources Manufactured Resources Human Resources Goods and Services Fig. 23-2, p. 613

5. Economists Disagree over Natural Capital, Sustainable Economic Growth • High-throughput economies • Resources flow through and end up in planetary sinks • Models of ecological economists • Strategies toward more sustainable eco-economies <<<Be able to identify high/low throughput economies from following two charts>>>

6. High-Throughput Economies Rely on Ever-Increasing Energy, Matter Flow

7. Inputs (from environment) System throughputs Outputs (into environment) Low-quality energy (heat) Energy conservation High-quality energy Low-waste economy Waste and pollution prevention Pollution control Waste and pollution High-quality matter Recycle and reuse Fig. 23-13, p. 629

8. Solar Capital Goods and services Economic Systems Heat Production Natural Capital Depletion of nonrenewable resources Natural resources such as air, land, soil, biodiversity, minerals, and energy, and natural services such as air and water purification, nutrient cycling, and climate control Degradation of renewable resources (used faster than replenished) Consumption Pollution and waste (overloading nature’s waste disposal and recycling systems) Recycling and reuse Fig. 23-5, p. 615

9. 14-2 Using Economic Tools to Promote Environmental Sustainability • Concept 14-2A Using resources more sustainably will require including the environmental and health costs of resource use in the market prices of goods and services (full-cost pricing). • Concept 14-2B Governments can help to improve and sustain environmental quality by subsidizing environmentally beneficial activities and taxing pollution and waste instead of wages and profits.

10. Active Figure: Two views of economics

11. Most Things Cost a Lot More Than You Think • Market price, direct price • Indirect, external, or hidden costs • Direct and indirect costs of a car • Should indirect costs be part of the price of goods? • Economists differ in their opinions

12. Using Environmental Economic Indicators Can Help Reduce Our Environmental Impact • Measurement and comparison of the economic output of nations • Gross domestic product (GDP) • Per capita GDP • Newer methods of comparison • Genuine progress indicator (GPI) • Happy Planet Index (HPI) • General National Happiness (GNH)

13. Poor Family Members Struggling to Live in Mumbai, India

14. We Can Include Harmful Environmental Costs in the Prices of Goods, Services • Environmentally honest market system • Why isn’t full-cost pricing more widely used? • Government action to phase in such a system

15. 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 1996 Dollars per person Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) 15,000 10,000 5,000 Per capita genuine progress indicator (GPI) 0 1980 1990 2000 1950 1970 1960 Year Fig. 23-8, p. 620

16. We Can Reward Environmentally Sustainable Businesses • Phase out environmentally harmful subsidies and tax breaks • Phase in environmentally beneficial subsidies and tax breaks for pollution prevention • Pros and cons • Subsidy shifts

17. We Can Tax Pollution and Wastes instead of Wages and Profits • Green taxes, ecotaxes • Steps for successful implementation of green taxes • Success stories in Europe • <<<Tax Shifting>>>

18. Environmental Laws and Regulations Can Discourage or Encourage Innovation • Regulation • Command and control approach • <<<Enforcement = fines/Law-suits>>> • Incentive-based regulations • Innovation-friendly regulations

19. We Can Use the Marketplace to Reduce Pollution and Resource Waste • Incentive-based regulation example • <<Cap-and-trade>> approach used to reduce SO2 emissions • Advantages • Disadvantages

20. Reduce Pollution and Resource Waste by Selling Services instead of Things • 1980s: Braungart and Stahl • New economic model • Service-flow economy, eco-lease (rent) services • Xerox • Carrier • Ray Anderson: lease carpets in the future  • <<Shifting from Material-flow to Service-flow economy means: _____________>>

21. Individual Matters: Ray Anderson • CEO of Interface, largest commercial manufacturer of carpet tiles • Goals • Zero waste • Greatly reduce energy use • Reduce fossil fuel use • Rely on solar energy • Copying nature • How’s it working?

22. 14-3 How Can Reducing Poverty Help Us to Deal with Environmental Problems? • Concept 14-3 Reducing poverty can help us to reduce population growth, resource use, and environmental degradation.

23. The Gap between the Rich and the Poor Is Getting Wider • Poverty • Trickle-down effect • Flooding up • Wealth gap

24. We Can Reduce Poverty • South Korea and Singapore reduced poverty by • Education • Hard work • Discipline • Attracted investment capital • Developed countries can help • Cancel debt of the poorest nations • What else can they do?

25. Case Study: Making Microloans to the Poor (1) • <<Micro-lending or microfinance>> • 1983: Muhammad Yunus • Grameen (Village) Bank in Bangladesh • Provides microloans; mostly to women • “Solidarity” groups • How does it work? • <<<Awarded 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for Economics>>> • [Good research paper topic]

26. Case Study: Making Microloans to the Poor (2) • 2006: Citibank and TIAA-Cref • Microloans • Dambisa Moyo • Dead Aid [Good research topic] • http://www.dambisamoyo.com/deadaid.html

27. We Can Achieve the World’s Millennium Development Goals • 2000: Millennium Development Goals • Sharply reduce hunger and poverty • Improve health care • Empower women • <<Environmental sustainability by 2015>> • Developed countries: spend 0.7% of national budget toward these goals • <<<How is it working? It’s not – spending on it is consistently less than 0.7% goal>>>

28. What Should Our Priorities Be?

29. 14-4 Making the Transition to More Environmentally Sustainable Economics • Concept 14-4 We can use the four scientific principles of sustainability and various economic and environmental strategies to develop more environmentally sustainable economies.

30. We Can Use Lessons from Nature to Shift to More Sustainable Economies • Matter recycling and reuse economies • Mimic nature • Best long-term solution is a shift to • Low-throughput, low-waste, economy

31. Inputs (from environment) System throughputs Outputs (into environment) Low-quality energy (heat) Energy conservation High-quality energy Low-waste economy Waste and pollution prevention Pollution control Waste and pollution High-quality matter Recycle and reuse <<Know the circled boxes are the most critical events of a low throughput economy.>> Fig. 23-13, p. 629

32. We Can Make Money and Create Jobs by Shifting to an Eco-Economy (1) • Hawken, Brown, and other environmental business leaders • Transition to environmentally sustainable economies • Some companies will disappear • New jobs will be created

33. <<<Name 2>>> Environmentally Sustainable Businesses and Careers Aquaculture Environmental law Biodiversity protection Environmental nanotechnology Fuel cell technology Biofuels Geographic information systems (GIS) Climate change research Conservation biology Geothermal geologist Hydrogen energy Eco-industrial design Marine science Ecotourism management Pollution prevention Reconciliation ecology Energy efficient product design Selling services in place of products Environmental chemistry Solar cell technology Environmental (green) design Sustainable agriculture Environmental economics Sustainable forestry Waste reduction Environmental education Watershed hydrologist Environmental engineering Water conservation Environmental health Wind energy Fig. 23-15, p. 630

34. We Can Make Money and Create Jobs by Shifting to an Eco-Economy (2) • General Electric: “ecoimagination plan” • Bainbridge Graduate Institute and Presidio graduates • Triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit

35. 14-5 The Role of Government in the Transition to More Sustainable Societies • Concept 14-5 A government can seek to protect environmental and public interests and encourage environmentally sustainable economic growth through its policies, which can be influenced by groups and individuals working together.

36. Democracy Does Not Always Allow for Quick Solutions (1) • Democracy • United States • Constitutional democracy • Three branches of government • Legislative • Executive • Judicial (CA Prop 8)

37. Democracy Does Not Always Allow for Quick Solutions (2) • Special-interest groups pressure the government • Profit-making organizations (Immigration?) • Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) • Ideological (Gay, etc.) • Politicians focus on problems with short-term effects, not long-term

38. Certain Principles Can Guide Us in Making Environmental Policy (1) <<<Describe 1>>> • The humility principle • The reversibility principle • The precautionary principle (Global Warming) • The net energy principle • The preventive principle

39. Certain Principles Can Guide Us in Making Environmental Policy (2) • The polluter-pays principle • The public access and participation principle • Internet/feedback • The human rights principle • Next generation • The environmental justice principle • How will these principles be implemented?

40. Developing Environmental Policy Is a Controversial Process • Funding needed • Regulations and rules needed to implement the law • Policy: important role in environmental regulatory agencies

41. Laws Courts Legislative branch Executive branch <<Label 3 circles>> Regulators Lobbyists Lobbyists Public hearing Civil suits Environmental organizations Corporations and small businesses Patronize or boycott Membership support Individuals Purchase recyclable, recycled, and environmentally safe products Use mass transit, walk, ride a bike, or carpool Recycle cans, bottles, paper, and plastic Plant a garden Donate clothes and used goods to charities Use water, energy, and other resources efficiently Fig. 24-3, p. 639

42. Major Environmental Laws and Amended Versions Enacted in the U.S. Since 1969 <<Name 2>> (Water – flouride)

43. Case Study: Managing Public Lands in the United States—Politics in Action (1) • <<<35% of the U.S. is public land>>>, ¾ in Alaska • Federal public land • National Forest System • National Resource Land • National Wildlife Refuges (biodiversity) • National Park System • National Wilderness Preservation System

44. National parks and preserves National forests (and Xs) National wildlife refuges Fig. 24-5, p. 641

45. Case Study: Managing Public Lands in the United States—Politics in Action (2) • Public land use • Views of conservation biologists and environmental economists • Views of developers, resource extractors, and many economists (Short-term temptation) • Since 2002: greater extraction of mineral, timber, and fossil fuel resources on public lands

46. Science Focus: Logging in U.S. National Forests Is Controversial • U.S. national forests managed by • Principle of sustainable yield • Principles of multiple use • Timber cutting loses money • Recreation, hunting, and fishing in the forests makes money and jobs (valid argument?)

47. Case Study: U.S. Environmental Laws and Regulations under Attack (1) • Who is opposing the U.S. environmental laws? • Some corporate leaders and other powerful people • Some citizens • Some state and local officials • Why are the opposition?

48. Case Study: U.S. Environmental Laws and Regulations under Attack (2) • Since 2000, environmental laws weakened by executive orders and congressional actions • Prevent further weakening by • Science-based education • Education about the current state of the environmental laws • Organized bottom-up political pressure from concerned citizens

49. Individuals Can Influence Environmental Policy • Individuals matter • 2007: Chinese citizens opposed construction of a chemical plant • Mobile phone text messaging spread the word • “Think globally; act locally”

50. Individuals Matter: Diane Wilson • 1989: Lavaca, Bay, TX, U.S. • Hg superfund site • Sued Formosa Plastics • Author and activist for environmental and social justice