Vocabulary
Economics Basics
Policy Approaches
U.S. Environmental Policy History
Global Organizations
100

the study of how resources are converted into products and services and how those products are services are distributed and used

what is Economics 

100

The point on a supply and demand graph where the quantity demanded matches the quantity supplied.

What is equilibrium?

100

An environmental policy strategy where a government sets rules and threatens punishment or fines for violations.  

What is the command-and-control approach?

100

The main focus of U.S. environmental policy during the first period (1780s to late-1800s).

What was managing public lands / westward expansion?

100

Founded in 1945 in New York City with 197 member nations, this organization promotes global peace, economic, and environmental cooperation.

What is the United Nations (UN)?

200

the amount of a product or service people will buy at a given price if free to do so.

what is Demand

200

A corporate response to consumer demand for sustainable goods, such as placing a symbol on organic food packages.

What is ecolabeling?

200

Financial assistance, grants, or tax breaks given by governments to encourage environmentally friendly practices.

What are subsidies (or tax breaks)?

200

The core belief about natural resources held by Americans during the first period of environmental policy.

What is that resources and land were in endless (unlimited) supply?

200

A regional organization of 27 member nations formed after WWII to promote economic and social progress, known for strict environmental rules.

What is the European Union (EU)?

300

the amount of a product or service offered for sale at a given price.

 what is Supply

300

State and local environmental policies in the U.S. cannot violate this fundamental document.

What is the U.S. Constitution?

300

A policy system where the government sets an acceptable limit on pollution, issues permits, and allows companies to buy or sell unused permit units.

What is cap-and-trade?

300

This federal agency, created following the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), is responsible for monitoring, researching, and enforcing water, air, and waste regulations

What is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?

300

Established in 1995, this body regulates international trade and enforces fair trade practices among its member nations.

What is the World Trade Organization (WTO)?

400

 a situation in which a free economy, operating on its own, does not distribute resources fairly.

what is Market failure

400

The branch of government responsible for interpreting laws and determining whether environmental policies violate constitutional rights or statutes.  

What is the Judicial Branch?

400

The first step in the 6-step environmental policy process

What is "Identify the problem"?

400

The rapid westward expansion promoted during the first period of U.S. environmental policy came at a devastating human cost to this group of people, who were displaced from their long-inhabited lands.

Who are Native Americans?

400

Established in 1944, this financial body provides low-interest loans, grants, and credits to developing nations to improve living standards.

What is the World Bank?

500

 a tax levied on companies that participate in activities or products that are harmful to the environment.

what is Green tax

500

The specific branch of economics that recognizes and studies the direct relationship between natural ecosystems and human economic systems

What is ecological economics?

500

 A decision-making tool where policy makers compare what will be sacrificed (costs) against what will be gained (benefits) before taking a specific action.

What is a cost-benefit analysis?

500

 Passed during the second period of environmental policy in 1891, this law allowed the U.S. President to set aside public land covered with trees as national forest reserves.  

What is the Forest Reserve Act?

500

Non-profit groups that are not affiliated with any government but exert significant influence over international environmental policy through funding and research

What are Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)?