Vocab
The study of how resources are
converted into goods and services and
how the goods and services are
distributed and used
economics
The offering of cash or public
resources that is intended to encourage a
particular activity or lower the price of
a product
Subsidy
Passed in 1973; enforced by
USFWS; calls for protection of
species in all or part of their range
Endangered Species Act
1987; 197 countries ratified this
treaty; banned CFCs due to
depletion of the ozone layer
Montreal Protocol
What was the primary reason for the Cuyahoga river fire?
Unregulated waste disposal
A comparison of what will be
sacrificed and gained by a
specific action
Cost-benefit analysis
Prohibiting an action and offering
punishment for violation
Command and control
1980; established a fund called
Superfund to help clean up/remove
hazardous waste from active and inactive
sites
CERCLA/Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation & Liability Act
1970; established standards for both
stationary & mobile sources to protect
public health; set criteria pollutants
(NAAQS)
Clean Air Act
What year did Rachel Carson publish Silent Spring?
1962
Efforts to influence an elected official
into supporting a specific interest
Lobbying
Government sets the acceptable level of
pollution and issues permits to an industry
for a % of the limit; industries can sell or
trade excess permits
Cap and trade
1972; set wastewater standards
for industry; required a permit
for point/nonpoint source
pollution; nation’s waters to be
“fishable & swimmable” by 1983
Clean Water Act
1972; illegal to kill, harm, harass, or
take whales, dolphins, otters, polar bears,
etc. without a permit; USFWS enforces
Marine Mammal Protection Act/Ocean
Dumping Act
What is transboundary pollution?
Environmental pollutants that spread from one country to another.
The ability to meet current
demand for a resource without
depleting the future supply
Sustainability
Penalties placed on companies that are the polluters
Green taxes
1975; outlaws the trade of live animals
or any part of a specimen; ensures that
trade does not threaten the existence
of species
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna &
Flora
1970; requires an Environmental
Impact Statement prior to carrying
out any federally funding building projects
NEPA
Which act requires Environmental Impact Statements
NEPA
A description of the effects a proposed
project (new dam, highway) will have
on the environment
Environmental Impact Statement
Lowering taxes to encourage participation
in a particular activity
Tax Break
2016; International agreement to
address greenhouse gas emissions; goal
of no more than 2 degrees C rise in global
Temperatures; 195 nations ratified
Paris Accord
1997; international agreement to
cut greenhouse gas emissions;
37 nations ratified; the US did
not join in
Kyoto Protocol
What assumption do many traditional economists make about resources?
They are endless