ECO 3620. Environmental Economics

Introduction

A Taxonomy

1. Natural resources - nonrenewable (e.g., oil), renewable (e.g., forests, fish); divisible (i.e., can be measured in terms of quantity)
2. Resource flows - renewable resources that do not have regenerative capabilities (e.g., solar energy, wind power, outdoor recreation)
3. Environmental resources - indivisible resources (i.e., can be measured in terms of quality; e.g., air quality, water quality)

The Economy and the Environment

1. Circular flow model of the economy - product markets, factor markets, financial markets
2. Environmental and natural resources, resource flows - extraction and pollution
3. Scarcity, opportunity cost and production possibilities

Conservation Reconsidered

1. Resource scarcity
2. Technological improvement
3. Amenity values, uniqueness and irreversibilities