Environmental Economics and Sustainability Flashcards
6 cards from real Environmental Science practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Environmental Economics and Sustainability flashcards as text
The circular economy model differs from the traditional linear economy in that:
Answer: A circular economy designs out waste by keeping materials in productive use through reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling
The circular economy moves from the take-make-dispose linear model to closed loops: products and materials are designed for longevity, repair, remanufacture, and ultimately recycling, minimizing waste and virgin resource extraction.
The concept of green GDP or genuine savings attempts to correct traditional GDP accounting by:
Answer: Subtracting the depletion of natural capital and costs of pollution from conventional national income accounts
Green GDP (and the World Bank's Genuine Savings indicator) adjusts national accounts to deduct the depreciation of natural capital (forest loss, soil erosion, mineral depletion, pollution damage) that conventional GDP treats as income.
Which of the following best defines ecological footprint?
Answer: The biologically productive land and water area required to produce the resources a population consumes and absorb its wastes
The ecological footprint (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996) measures human demand on the biosphere in global hectares, comparing it to Earth's biological capacity (biocapacity) to regenerate resources and absorb wastes.
Industrial ecology is best described as a field that:
Answer: Analyzes material and energy flows through industrial systems to optimize resource use and minimize waste by mimicking natural ecosystems
Industrial ecology uses the biological ecosystem as a model for industrial systems: one firm's waste becomes another's input (industrial symbiosis), closing material loops and reducing virgin resource demand and waste generation.
The concept of weak sustainability versus strong sustainability concerns:
Answer: Whether manufactured capital can substitute for natural capital (weak) or whether natural capital is irreplaceable (strong)
Weak sustainability allows trade-offs: natural capital can be depleted if equivalent manufactured or human capital is created. Strong sustainability holds that critical natural capital (biodiversity, ozone layer, climate stability) cannot be substituted and must be maintained.
Which of the following is an example of a Pigouvian tax?
Answer: A carbon tax set equal to the social cost of carbon to internalize the external cost of greenhouse gas emissions
A Pigouvian tax (named for economist A.C. Pigou) is set equal to the marginal external cost of an activity, correcting the market failure by making the polluter pay the full social cost.