Week 3: Chapters 10 & 11

Question 1

Ecosystem

Answer 1

A single, unified natural system

Question 2

Sustainable Development

Answer 2

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Question 3

Ecological Footprint

Answer 3

The amount of land and water a human population needs to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste, given prevailing technology.

Question 4

Commons

Answer 4

A shared resource, such as land air or water that aa group of people use collectively.

Question 5

Ozone

Answer 5

Bluish gas, composed of 3 bonded oxygen atoms, that floats in a thin layer in the stratosphere between 9 and 28 miles above the planet.

Question 6

Montreal Protocol

Answer 6

Deal that included cutting CFC production; the agreement was later amended to ban CFCs, along with several other ozone-depleting chemicals.

Question 7

Kyoto Protocol

Answer 7

Deal with the purpose to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.

Question 8

Biodiversity

Answer 8

Refers to the number and variety of species and the range of their genetic makeup.

Question 9

Life-cycle analysis

Answer 9

Involves collecting information on the lifelong environmental impact of a product, from extraction of materials, design, manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal.

Question 10

Industrial ecology

Answer 10

Designing factories and distribution systems as if they were self-contained ecosystems.

Question 11

Extended product responsibility

Answer 11

Refers to the idea that companies have a continuing responsibility for the environmental impact of their products and services, ever after they are sold.

Question 12

Carbon Neutrality

Answer 12

When an organization or individual produces net 0 emissions of greenhouse gases.

Question 13

Carbon offsets

Answer 13

Investments in projects that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Question 14

Environmental Protection Agency

Answer 14

Coordinates most of the government’s efforts to protect the environment.

Question 15

Acid Rain

Answer 15

Is formed when emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, by-products of the burning of fossil fuels by utilities, manufacturers, and motor vehicles, combine with water vapor.

Question 16

Environmental Justice

Answer 16

Effort to prevent inequitable exposure to risk, such as from hazardous waste.

Question 17

Source Reduction

Answer 17

Aims to reduce pollution at the source, rather than treat and dispose of waste at the end of the pipe.

Question 18

Environmental Standards

Answer 18

Standard allowable levels of various pollutants are established by legislation or regulatory action.

Question 19

Command and Control Regulation

Answer 19

The government commands business firms to comply with certain standards and often directly controls their choice of technology.

Question 20

Market-based Mechanisms

Answer 20

This approach is based on the idea that the market is a better control than extensive standards that specify precisely what companies must do.

Question 21

Cap-and-Trade

Answer 21

Approach that allows businesses to buy and sell the right to pollute.

Question 22

Clean Economy

Answer 22

Sectors of the economy that produce goods and services with an environmental benefit.

Question 23

Greening of Management

Answer 23

The process of moving toward more proactive environmental management.

Question 24

Ecologically Sustainable Organization

Answer 24

A business that operates in a way that is consistent with the principle of sustainable development.

Question 25

Environmental Partnerships

Answer 25

Voluntary, collaborative partnerships with environmental organizations and regulators to achieve specific objectives.

Question 26

Chief Sustainability Officer

Answer 26

Supervise extensive staffs of specialists and coordinated the work of managers in many areas, including research and development, marketing, and operations, whose work is related to a firm’s sustainability mission.

Question 27

Green Marketing

Answer 27

Creating “green” products and services and pitching them to environmentally aware customers.

Question 28

Greenwashing

Answer 28

Misleading consumers regarding the environmental benefits of a product or service.

Question 29

CERCLA (Superfund)

Answer 29

Law that established a fund, supported primarily by a tax on petroleum and chemical companies that were presumed to have created a disproportionate share of toxic wastes.