Environment

Question 1

What is the main challenge of protecting the environment

Answer 1

costs not evenly distributed. winners and losers like trade policy

Question 2

what are the three levels of distributional struggle

Answer 2

btwn consumers and businesses, btwn countries, btwn generations

Question 3

what is the science of climate change and what are some possible effects

Answer 3

industrialization releases large amts of greenhouse gas pushing ppm levels of CO2 to historical highs. consequences include increasing temp, extreme weather, drought, rising sea levels, rising ocean temps

Question 4

What is the Tragedy of Commons

Answer 4

There is no incentive for individuals to conserve a resource , so there it gets used up. Happens with public Property

Question 5

How do you solve the tragedy of commons

Answer 5

give sombody ownership of the public resource so that the market can figure it out

Question 6

What does the absence of property rights create?

Answer 6

externalities (costs or benefits of some transaction that are placed upon a third party) private and social costs diverge

Question 7

What is the Coase Theorem

Answer 7

absent transaction costs, private agents will bargain to an efficient outcome independent of distribution of property rights

Question 8

What is an application of the coase theorm

Answer 8

assign property rights to common resources and let the market determine the allocation(Cap and Trade)

Question 9

What are some problems with the Coase Solution

Answer 9

how do you assign the initial rights (hard to get initial deal) who monitors and enforces,

Question 10

What do some developing countries think about how to solve climate cahnge

Answer 10

get foreign aid from developed countries

Question 11

What are some problems with striking a climate deal in general

Answer 11

where do you set quotas (present or future economy size) talk of deal provides incentive to increase emissions for bargaining pwoer. some countries are better equipped to go green than others

Question 12

Who wins from climate deal

Answer 12

financial firms, gov revenues (if cap and trade shares sold) generations

Question 13

What are some ethical values in conflict

Answer 13

short v long term gains, tangible v intangible, individual v global needs (classic public good)

Question 14

do we have an obligation to the planet

Answer 14

if you think of the community or the environment as the fundamental moral unit then yes.

Question 15

How does te west view our obligation to the planet

Answer 15

we need it to stay alive

Question 16

What is the fundamental moral unit

Answer 16

in the west its the individual