5.1 - Tragedy of the Commons

Question 1

TOC

Answer 1

• Individuals will use shared/public resources* in their own self-interest, degrading** them.
• *Must be a public resource (not privately owned)
• **Must be degraded, overused, depleted, used-up
• Examples:
  overgrazing
  overfishing
  water and air pollution
  overuse of groundwater

Question 2

Why does TOC happen

Answer 2

• When no one owns the resource (land, water, air) no one directly suffers the negative consequences of depleting, degrading, or overusing it
• People assume others will overuse the resource if they don’t
• There is no penalty for overusing, degrading, polluting many public resources

Question 3

Whats the problem with TOC

Answer 3

• Overfishing can lead to fishery collapse (population crash) loss of income & starvation
• Air pollution from coal power plants can lead to bronchitis, asthma, increased healthcare costs
• Pesticide runoff from farms contaminates drinking water
• Externalities - negative costs associated with a human actions, that aren’t accounted for in the price (unintended side-effects)

Question 4

What is externalities

Answer 4

negative costs associated with a human actions, that aren’t accounted for in the price (unintended side-effects)

Question 5

How to solve TOC

Answer 5

• Private land ownership (individual or gov.)
• Fees or taxes for use
  Ex: permit system for grazing, logging
• Taxes, fines, criminal charges for pollution or shared air/soil/water resources
  Ex:
  Clean air act
  clean water act
  safe drinking act
  BLM (bureau of land management)