question

What are ecosystem services?

answer

These are essential processes such as soil formation, nutrient cycles, the pollination of plants, etc.

question

How do economists assess (calculate) the economic health of a nation?

answer

Gross Domestic Product

question

What is the term that refers to the substances and forces that sustain our society and everyday lives?

answer

natural resources

question

What is meant by "market failure"?

answer

this occurs when markets do not take into account the environment's positive effects on economies (such as ecosystem services) or when they do not reflect the negative impacts of economic activity on people or the environment (external costs).

question

What costs are associated with transactions that can result in damage to the environment, human health, and property?

answer

external costs

question

Which of the following correctly illustrate the two ways that economic growth can occur?

answer

increased inputs to the economy and improvements in efficiency through technology

question

Find the nation on the graph whose citizens experience about 43 happy life years and have an ecological footprint of over 6 hectares per capita. Which region is this nation found in?

answer

Middle East

question

Which of these statements is supported by the graph? Select all that apply.

answer

The nations of the Middle East show the largest range in both happy life years and ecological footprint. Citizens of Sub-Saharan Africa tend to have few happy life years as well as a low ecological footprint. Citizens of the Western world tend to have many happy life years as well as a large ecological footprint.

question

Environmental damage from industry or land development has traditionally been labeled as ________ by economists.

answer

external costs

question

The economic principles in play with the fate of U.S. wetlands have been governed by ________.

answer

traditional neoclassical cost-benefit analysis, excluding environmental damage

question

Which of the following is NOT an external cost that affects people who are not involved in some environmentally damaging transaction?

answer

job security

question

A distinguishing feature of ecological economics is the concept of ________.

answer

steady-state economies that, like natural systems, neither grow nor shrink

question

Rising per capita consumption of goods and rising population growth lead to ________.

answer

more resource extraction, waste and pollution

question

In the United States, wetlands are primarily considered to be ________.

answer

important because they provide many valuable ecosystem services

question

There has been legislation designed to encourage protection of wetlands, but funding has been greatly reduced, because ________.

answer

the ecosystem services of wetlands has been ignored

question

What event is credited with leading to the passage of the Clean Water Act?

answer

the Cuyahoga River catching fire

question

During the second wave of U.S. environmental policy, in 1872, Congress designated Yellowstone as the world's first __________.

answer

national park

question

The environmental justice movement started because __________.

answer

people realized that environmental damage is not equally distributed among all classes and racial groups; minority and low-income communities tend to contain a much larger share of the environmental damage (such as landfills, incinerators, toxic waste sites, etc.)

question

Environmental policy aims to ________.

answer

promote fairness among people and groups in the use of resources

question

Regarding the issue of global warming, until the hurricane season of 2005, the federal government's official stance was that the information available from the scientific community was neither conclusive nor persuasive. This governmental position was probably due to ________.

answer

the private sector's reluctance to change manufacturing and land use strategies

question

A company that produces household cleaners decides to produce a "green" version of its products, even though the formulas are virtually unchanged compared to the original formulas. This is an example of __________.

answer

Greenwashing

question

An environmental impact statement is required ________.

answer

for any federal action that may affect U.S. environmental quality

question

The social changes in the United States in the 20th century gave rise to environmental laws concerned primarily with ________.

answer

reducing pollution caused by industry

question

Wetlands in the United States ________.

answer

have decreased due to human development

question

Part of the reason for the lack of good flood control in the United States is that ________.

answer

government spending priorities have shifted, and flood control funds have been cut

question

What is sustainable development?

answer

promoting a viable economy while maintaining a viable environment and meeting social needs

question

Lobbying, legal action, and campaign funding are all means used by ________ to influence governmental environmental policies.

answer

the public sector

question

The distinction of scientific study's input into governmental solution of environmental problems is that it ________.

answer

is independent of any other influences in its effect on forming government policy

question

Most of the environmental progress made over the past few decades has come about through __________ methods.

answer

command-and-control

question

The first national park in the world was ________.

answer

yellowstone

question

Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, published in the 1960s, ________.

answer

focused on chemical pollutants, including industrial chemicals

question

Which kind of development would be promoted if a government worked on finding a balance between economic security, environmental protection, and social equity?

answer

Sustainable

question

According to this new pact, which of the following will have to have a plan to combat climate change?

answer

all countries

question

Most scientists believe the key to keeping climate change manageable is to keep global temperature change below which of the following?

answer

3.6° F

question

Which of the following will be most impacted by President Obama's first climate change policy?

answer

coal-fired power plants

question

Which of the following is likely to benefit the most from this climate change pact?

answer

nuclear industry

question

Which of the following is true in the United States?

answer

Democrats are more likely to support this climate change pact than Republicans.

question

Which term is used to describe the conversion of natural resources into goods and services in addition to the ongoing trade of such goods and services?

answer

Economy

question

Which of the following groups advocates economies that neither grow nor shrink but remain stable?

answer

ecological economists

question

In which of the following ways did neoclassical economics contribute to environmental problems?

answer

by encouraging society to view the supply of resources as infinite

question

What type of economic discipline maintains that society, like natural populations, cannot surpass environmental limitations?

answer

Ecological economics

question

Which of the following is a type of ecosystem service in the United States?

answer

All of the listed choices are examples of ecosystem services in the United States

question

In Costa Rica, cutting down forests will almost immediately increase the cost of producing __________.

answer

fresh water

question

In Central and South America, people are more likely to protect the natural environment because they are learning that __________.

answer

the natural environment provides most of their basic needs

question

Today, the reasons conservationists have given for protecting natural environments are shifting from arguments based upon __________ to arguments based upon __________.

answer

ethics; economics

question

Which of the following best explain the "free rider" predicament?

answer

This allows one party to "get away" with an environmental impact while other parties continue to use best environmental practices.

question

According to the figure, the basis for government policy regarding environmental issues ________.

answer

comes from the sciences, with additional input from the public and private sectors

question

Which of the following is the main concern of neoclassical economics?

answer

Production

question

How does the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) differ from the GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator)?

answer

The GPI takes into account externalities (both good and bad) and other nonmarket values, while the GDP does not.

question

In 1962 environmental costs amounted to approximately 1 trillion dollars. By 2002 environmental costs had:

answer

Quadrupled.

question

Between 1972 and 1992, GDP increased by approximately 2 trillion dollars. In comparison, GPI:

answer

Increased only slightly.

question

If current manufacturing, consumption, and energy use trends continue, an increase in global population with time will likely result in:

answer

A higher GDP and higher environmental costs.

question

Assume that the GDP and benefits for 2012 are the same as GDP and benefits for 2002. If the 2012 environmental costs increase by 100% but the social and economic costs decrease by 50%, the new GPI for 2012 would be:

answer

Lower than the GPI in 2002.

question

Which of the following would lead to a GPI value closer to the GDP value for any given year?

answer

Adopting manufacturing processes with lower energy and resource use.

question

How much lead was emitted in 1970 from nontransportation sources?

answer

50,000 tons

question

At the point of peak consumption, how many barrels of MTBE were consumed in the United States?

answer

300,000 barrels per day

question

According to the graph's data for lead and MTBE use, from 1970 to 2000 lead emissions ________ and MTBE consumption _________.

answer

declined nearly 100%; increased nearly 200%

question

Due to many states' recent bans on MTBE, the use of ethanol in gasoline is increasing. What are some potential outcomes of the shift to ethanol?

answer

Increased water pollution from fertilizers and pesticides

question

The original Clean Air Act was designed to reduce lead emissions, and the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments were designed to reduce urban smog. As implied by the graph's data, one unintended consequence of the legislation and its amendments was _________.

answer

an increase in water pollution

question

To control pollution, industry has been given limits and been threatened with punishment if these limits are violated. This approach is called ________.

answer

command and control

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