Human and Nature 1: Governing Nature

Question 1

Resource types

Answer 1

1. Renewable (replenish themselves over our life time)
2. Non renewable (don’t replenish themselves over our life time)
3. Subtractable (being able to use something up, ex. fish)
4. Non- subtractable (not being able to use the item up, ex. the sun, clean air, etc.)
5. Excludable (Something you are able to exclude someone else from using, ex. the gym, your phone, car, etc)
6. Non- excludable (something you aren’t able to exclude from another person, ex. rain water, sun, etc.)
   *some resources are only valuable if other people are using them as well, ex. concerts, vaccines, Wikipedia, education

Question 2

Draw the resource table

Question 3

What are private goods

Answer 3

A private good is thus any item that can only be used or consumed by one party at a time. (Ex. firewood, bottled water)

Question 4

What are club goods

Answer 4

Only some people can access it, non subtractable (Ex. Netflix, Toll roads, libraries)

Question 5

What are common pool resources

Answer 5

Everyone can use them however they are susceptible to depletion (Non-excludable, and subtractable), ex. fisheries, forests, water resources

Question 6

What are public goods

Answer 6

Everyone can use them and non subtractable (public parks, clean air, street lighting)

Question 7

Challenges with resources types

Answer 7

1. Tragedy of the commons:
   - everyone using a resource because they don not have the incentive to not do so
   (Ex. Cow example, fishermen benefiting and everyone else losing)
2. Free riders:
   - Reaping the benefits of a program without paying the costs that others have paid.
   (Ex. going to a potluck without food)
3. Externalities:
   (Ex. river in fire in Ohio, companies dumping in the river were benefiting)

Question 8

Policy tools

Answer 8

1. Financial incentives
   - Rebates (ex. Nova Scotia solar pannel rebates)
   - Taxes (Ex. carbon tax, alcohol and cigarettes)
   - Subsidies (government pays for specific things, production end, making business useable by consumers by lowering the price for consumers)
2. Education
   - Billboards
   - Ads
   - Schools
3. Third party certification
   - Fair trade certification
   (ex. rainforest organization)
4. Plans and policies
   - Educational camps
   - bike paths
   - raising the dykes
   (ex. adaptation and mitigation plans)
5. Laws and regulations
   - laws: larger laws
   - Regulations: smaller details, ex. building code (specific laws included)

Question 9

What is environmental policy

Answer 9

• “policy that governs behaviour toward the environment”
• a general plan, set of guiding principles
• the umbrella under which many other policy tools fall
• not enforceable

Question 10

What is a law

Answer 10

• A body of rules that govern the behaviour of whatever or whoever is subject to it
• Not permanent
• No laws violate the constitution
• product of the government, courts, and indirectly, society
• applied to all citizens
• The basis for dispute resolution
• Framework for regulation

Question 11

Policy actors

Answer 11

1. government
2. political parties
3. Interest groups (a group advocating for the same thing)
4. Private companies
5. The media
6. Citizen experts
7. Citizens