Questions and Answers of Environmental Economics

If people ordinarily will invest in items that save money in the long run, why is the CAFE program necessary at all?
Handlers of hazardous wastes, that is, firms that accept hazardous materials and transport them for disposal, sometimes dispose of the materials illegally or in unapproved landfills. How might a
“The EPA has estimated that the chemical residues on a certain food most likely contribute to 14 excess deaths in the U.S. population each year. Thus, if use of the chemical is banned we can expect
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the doctrine of strict, joint, and several liability for Superfund sites?
What are the two primary alternative explanations for the demographic patterns found in the vicinity of many hazardous-waste dump sites?
In conducting a “balancing” analysis for a particular chemical or pesticide, what role is played by people’s attitudes toward risk?
In what way does TSCA put the burden of proof for a chemical’s safety on the EPA?
What are the implications for cost-effective recycling programs of regulations that establish the same recycling ratios for all sectors of the economy?
Another way of increasing the use of recycled material by industry is to subsidize its purchase of materials taken from the waste stream. How would you analyze this in terms of Figure 17.2?
How might a system of transferable permits be designed to achieve an aggregate recycling target cost-effectively?
What are the factors, both economic and environmental, that make a problem more properly a local issue rather than a state issue?
Investigate the rules for recycling and solid waste disposal for a local community with which you are familiar. What are the incentives that increase the rate of reuse (r)?
Many countries are adopting a “wait-and-see” strategy toward CO2 emissions and atmospheric warming. What would a rational “wait-and-see” strategy look like?
In the absence of a worldwide agreement to reduce CO2 through a carbon tax, how effective might it be if just one country, or a small number of countries, instituted a tax unilaterally?
Following are illustrative numbers indicating benefits and costs to Country A of taking specific actions on an international treaty to reduce CO2 emissions. The choice is either to adhere to the CO2
Rather than placing a tax on fuels or the carbon content of fuels, taxes might be put on fuel-using items, such as “gas-guzzling” cars, less efficient appliances, or houses with poor insulation.
Global warming is predicted to affect countries differently, which is one reason it is difficult to get all countries to agree on a global CO2 treaty. Do you think it will be easier to get agreement
We talked about “side payments” given to countries to lower the costs to them of joining international environmental agreements. What types of side payments might be effective?
What is free-riding in the context of international agreements and what might be some ways of overcoming it?
“International environmental agreements are very much shaped by the fact that enforcement on the international level is difficult, if not impossible.” Discuss.
When CFCs were first introduced 50 years ago, their benefits were obvious, and nobody appreciated the long-run impacts they might have. How do we guard ourselves against unforeseen long-run effects
Suppose Country A imports a product from Country B, and that Country B lacks environmental laws governing the production of the item. Under what conditions might Country A be justified in putting a
If all countries adopted the same emission standards in similar industries, would this tend to equalize production costs and put each country on the same footing with respect to environmental matters?
Which of the many aspects of globalization do you think will have the greatest long-run impact on environmental quality around the world?
In the early 1990s, the United States attempted to put restrictions on the importation of tuna from Mexico because Mexican fishers used methods that destroyed relatively large numbers of dolphin when
How might globalization and the growth of multinational corporations in the envirotech industry be a positive force for environmental protection in the countries of the world?
Why has trade policy been effective in protecting some endangered species and not others?
What do we mean by “race to the bottom” in environmental regulation? As countries discuss climate change mitigation options, how does race-to the- bottom relate to establishing CO2 emissions
What is the relationship between economic growth, population growth, and environmental quality in developing countries?
Environmental pollution is, for the most part, reversible, in the sense that it can be decreased if the appropriate steps are taken. What are the pros and cons, therefore, of using sustainability as
When a multinational business firm from the developed world opens operations in a developing nation, should it be held to the environmental standards of its country of origin or to those of the
Suppose we introduce a new criterion, “administrative feasibility,” for evaluating environmental policies in developing countries. How might this affect choices among different types of policies?
Refer to Figure 21.1. How would a technology transfer from country A to country B alter the PPC? Marketed output C₁ A B e₂ A: Developed country B: Less-developed country e₁ Environmental quality

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