Deck 17: Environmental Economics, Politics, and Worldviews

Question 1

The category of economist that has taken the middle ground in the debate about economic growth, and believes in fine-tuning economic systems and tools, is the

A) ecological economist
B) environmental economist
C) neoclassical economist
D) neoconservative economist
E) high-throughput economist

Answer 1

environmental economist

Question 2

Between 1950 and 2004 we can say that:

A) The per capita GDP rose sharply while per capita GPI stayed flat.
B) The per capita GPI rose sharply while per capita GDP stayed flat.
C) Both the GDP and the GPI rose sharply.
D) Both the GDP and the GPI stayed relatively flat.
E) While GDP rose sharply, the GPI could not be measured.

Answer 2

The per capita GDP rose sharply while per capita GPI stayed flat.

Question 3

Excluding the external costs from the prices of goods and services

A) hides these costs from the consumer
B) hinders the development of green goods and services
C) promotes pollution and resource waste
D) all of these answers
E) both hide these costs from the consumer and promote pollution and resource waste is correct.

Answer 3

all of these answers

Question 4

If a company changes from selling a product to eco-leasing the product, we can say that:

A) They are supporting a service-flow economy.
B) They are supported a materials-flow economy.
C) They will increase the pollution they generate.
D) The amount of pollution they generate will stay the same.
E) They will be getting a huge tax break.

Question 5

Which type of economist views economic systems as subsystems of the biosphere that depend heavily on irreplaceable natural resources?

A) neoclassical
B) ecological
C) environmental
D) all of these answers
E) none of these answers

Question 6

Green taxes or ecotaxes

A) can be administered by existing tax agencies
B) help bring about full-cost pricing
C) encourage businesses to develop environmentally beneficial technologies
D) discourage pollution
E) all of these answers

Question 7

Which of the following is not an external cost of driving a domestic car?

A) air pollution and litter
B) cost of manufacture
C) highway accidents
D) health costs
E) hazardous wastes produced by car exhaust

Question 8

Goods and services are produced by

A) natural capital
B) human capital
C) manufactured capital
D) manufactured and human capital
E) natural, human, and manufactured capital

Question 9

From the environmental perspective, it will help to stabilize population growth in developing countries as soon as possible because

A) Poverty has numerous harmful health and environmental effects.
B) Poverty has been identified as one of the four major causes of the environmental problems we face.
C) Polluting activities and lifestyles are much more prevalent in developing countries.
D) All of these answers
E) Poverty has numerous harmful health and environmental effects and has been identified as one of the four major causes of the environmental problems we face.

Question 10

The cap-and-trade program for regulating air pollutants by the U.S. government is an example of

A) full-cost pricing
B) incentive-based regulation
C) command and control regulation
D) service-flow regulation
E) none of these answers

Question 11

Which of the following countries have not phased out all coal subsidies?

A) Belgium
B) Japan
C) Germany
D) France
E) all of these answers

Question 12

If a leased Xerox machine's lease expires, the company

A) allows the customer to purchase it at a very low cost
B) takes the machine and sends it to a landfill
C) takes the machine back for reuse or re-manufacture
D) asks the customer to dispose of it in an ecologically sound way
E) sends the plastic and metal shell to a developing country for disposal

Question 13

Full-cost pricing

A) would improve human health
B) reduces the final cost of goods
C) is very popular with manufacturers
D) would make the market price higher than the true cost of a product or service
E) all of these answers

Question 14

Chattanooga's environmental success story is an example of how

A) Ethics, economics, and politics can be used to solve environmental problems.
B) Top-down changes can solve environmental problems.
C) Environmental policies do not need the endorsement of common citizens.
D) Federal funding solves environmental problems.
E) None of these answers.

Question 15

The ecological economist believes that conventional economic growth will eventually

A) Pull us out of our dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
B) Lead us into a socialist economy.
C) Become unsustainable because it will deplete natural capital.
D) Lead us into a sustainable economy.
E) Collapse when oil runs out.

Question 16

The view that natural resources are important but not indispensable is held by

A) environmental economists
B) ecological economists
C) Eastern European economists
D) neoclassical economists
E) classical economists

Question 17

Proponents of a tax shift that transfers taxes from income and wealth to pollution and environmental degradation point out that:

A) It should be enacted immediately in order to do any good.
B) It should only apply to developed countries.
C) It should include tax breaks.
D) In some cases both pollution and income/wealth should be taxed.
E) It should be phased in over 10 to 20 years.

Question 18

Since 1989

A) The Tennessee River, which flows through Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been bubbling with toxic waste.
B) The U.S. government has rated the air in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as the dirtiest in the country.
C) The levels of the seven major air pollutants in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have been higher than allowed by federal standards.
D) The levels of the seven major air pollutants in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have been lower than those required by federal standards.
E) The city center has become a deserted, crime-infested area.

Question 19

Full-cost pricing

A) involves making the market price approach the true cost of economic goods
B) fails to include the cost of pollution
C) omits the costs of taxes
D) increases the chance for environmental degradation
E) all of these answers

Question 20

In a market-based economic system, economic decisions about prices are made by

A) supply and demand
B) the government
C) past customs and experience
D) the banks
E) none of these answers

Question 21

Poverty is usually defined as

A) not being able to buy health insurance
B) not being able to meet one's basic economic needs
C) earning less than 100 dollars per month
D) not being able to afford a healthy diet
E) all of these answers

Question 22

History shows that significant change

A) is cyclical
B) is exponentially decreasing
C) is from the bottom up
D) is from the top down
E) all of these answers

Question 23

A fellow student and friend of yours is a business major with an emphasis area in marketing. In discussions with your friend, you learn that she wishes to have a career in marketing because she believes the potential for economic growth is basically unlimited, and she will have a happy and prosperous life. Your friend espouses which environmental worldview?

A) environmental wisdom
B) stewardship
C) economic succession
D) planetary management
E) planetary intrinsic value

Question 24

Strategies to reduce poverty include

A) providing primary education
B) Combating malnutrition
C) Spending more on coal and oil to generate revenue
D) refocusing the national budget to environmental causes
E) Two of the above are correct

Question 25

Gradual rather than destabilizing change in constitutional democracies stems from

A) conflicting information from experts
B) distribution of power among federal, state, and local authorities
C) distribution of power among different branches of government
D) all of these answers
E) both distribution of power among federal, state, and local authorities and distribution of power among different branches of government

Question 26

The United States has ____ its goal of contributing .7% of its annual national income to the Millennium Development Goals.

A) fallen short of
B) Met
C) Exceeded
D) always met or exceeded
E) Changed

Question 27

A citizen-based global sustainability movement that is emerging is comprised of

A) a loosely connected worldwide network of grassroots NGOs
B) regulatory agencies within governments that oversee environmental laws
C) special interest groups that lobby for restriction of environmental laws
D) environmentalists that have won elections
E) a well-funded movement to change the way public lands are used in the U.S.

Question 28

You travel to Costa Rica during the winter holidays for an eco-tour vacation. Part of your tour includes a visit to a beach late at night to observe endangered turtles laying their eggs on the beach. When you arrive at the appointed place and hour, you are startled to see an armed guard at the entrance to the beach. You learn that the armed guard is there to assure that no one enters the turtle egg-laying area too early, or in too large a group, as these actions would prevent the turtles from laying their eggs. This is an example of

A) a militant environmental group
B) an Endangered Species Act misinterpreted
C) environmental security
D) eco-terrorism
E) both a militant environmental group and environmental security

Question 29

The belief that we are a part of, and totally dependent on, nature is one of the principles of the

A) planetary management worldview
B) stewardship worldview
C) environmental dictatorship worldview
D) environmental wisdom worldview
E) spaceship Earth worldview

Question 30

According to the stewardship worldview

A) The potential for economic growth is essentially unlimited.
B) We will probably not run out of resources, but they should not be wasted.
C) Our success depends on how well we manage the earth's life support systems for our own benefit.
D) Our success depends on learning how nature sustains itself.
E) All of these answers

Question 31

Which of the following beliefs does not characterize an environmental-wisdom worldview?

A) Human ingenuity can fix any problems we face.
B) Earth has limited resources.
C) We are part of, and totally dependent on, nature.
D) Our success depends on learning how nature sustains itself.
E) None of these answers.

Question 32

According to the planetary management environmental worldview

A) We have an ethical responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth.
B) Resources are limited and should not be wasted.
C) We should manage nature to meet our needs.
D) Resources are limited and should not be wasted
E) Our success depends on learning how nature sustains itself.

Question 33

Which one of the following list of federal agencies that manage U.S. public lands is responsible for land that is used primarily for grazing, mining, and oil and gas extraction in the western states?

A) U.S. Forest Service
B) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
C) National Wildlife Refuge System
D) National Park System
E) Bureau of Land Management

Question 34

Effective environmental leadership

A) leads by working within the system
B) leads by example
C) leads by working within the government or environmental arena
D) leads by working for better solutions to environmental problems
E) all of these answers

Question 35

All of the following are suggestions by Lester Brown and Paul Hawken for making a transition to more environmentally sustainable economies except

A) mimic nature
B) reduce poverty
C) sell more things instead of services
D) use full-cost pricing
E) use eco-labels on products

Question 36

Which of these ideas is an important component of environmental literacy?

A) Natural capital is expendable
B) Ecological footprints of the more- developed world are balanced by those of the less-developed world.
C) Ecological tipping points are irreversible and should not be crossed
D) Ecological tipping points can be balanced by reforestation and restoration efforts
E) gloom-and-doom pessimism in the critical evaluation of experts and leaders

Question 37

Economic succession is something that occurs when

A) Changing environmental conditions allow certain species to move into an area and replace other species that are no longer favored by the new conditions.
B) Investment opportunities change in the stock market.
C) Creative destruction causes companies to fail.
D) New and more innovative businesses replace older ones that can no longer thrive under changing economic conditions.
E) None of these answers.

Question 38

Militant environmental groups that use violence to achieve their ends

A) are considered valid by most environmentalists
B) are applauded by most NGOs
C) have never been active in the United States
D) are opposed by most environmentalists
E) all of these answers

Question 39

The process by which individuals and groups try to influence the decisions and policies of governments is

A) economics
B) resource management
C) politics
D) ethics
E) all of these answers

Question 40

Many free-market economists, among others, believe that all of these principles should govern use of public lands except:

A) Cut old-growth forests in national forests and replace them with tree plantations.
B) They should be used primarily for protecting biodiversity, wildlife habitats, and ecosystems.
C) The American people deserve fair compensation for use of their property.
D) All users or extractors of resources on public lands should be held responsible for damage they cause.
E) No one should receive tax breaks for extracting resources on public lands.

Question 41

The CEO of a large carpet company has switched to leasing rather than selling carpets. This action supports the idea of a service-flow economy.

Question 42

Which of the following is one of the human activities with the greatest harmful impact on the environment?

A) Food production
B) Transportation
C) Overall resource use
D) Home energy use
E) All of the above

Question 43

You have a lively discussion about environmental issues with a fellow student in your class. This student tells you that her family has purchased a bio-diesel fuel generator and uses it to produce fuel for the family vehicles. They collect used cooking oil from local fast-food restaurants to supply the raw materials for this process. This demonstrates an understanding of which key topics of environmental literacy?

A) Pollution prevention and waste reduction
B) Renewable energy resources
C) Environmentally sustainable economic systems
D) Environmental worldviews
E) All of these answers

Question 44

All of the following are elements of the Sustainability Eight except:

A) Reduce car use.
B) Buy or grow organic food.
C) Use a car for two years while it runs well, and then discard it for a newer model.
D) Reduce meat consumption.
E) Buy locally grown food.

Question 45

A potential budget for funding total earth restoration and solving social problems is less than half the annual U.S. military budget per year.

Question 46

Stewardship is based on an idea that nature exists for all species alike and our success depends on how well we manage the Earth and nature.

Question 47

Environmental economists take a middle of the road stance in the debate about economic growth being sustainable.

Question 48

One of the first goals for someone who seeks environmental literacy is to develop a respect or reverence for all life.

Question 49

The cap-and-trade approach to pollution reduction means a permit holder not using its entire allocation can save credits for future expansion.

Question 50

You would like to live more simply and lightly on the earth, and are keeping this in mind as you consider some additions to your wardrobe. What is the best choice of the following options?

A) You decide to purchase a sweater from an outdoor clothing company that is rather pricey, but donates a share of its profits to several environmental groups.
B) You decide to purchase a sweater from Macy's that is on sale, and is marked down $40. You will use the $40 for the cost of a membership in an environmental group.
C) You decide to purchase a sweater from a clothing company that uses sustainable methods in acquiring the materials for their clothing.
D) You decide to purchase a sweater from an internet-based company that employs women in developing countries to make the sweaters.
E) You decide to forego the new sweater, and try to make do with what you have for at least another year.

Question 51

Ecotaxes would tax pollution.

Question 52

Blind technological optimism could be a trait of someone with a planetary management worldview.

Question 53

The Sustainability Dozen is a list of the worst polluting compounds used on the planet today.

Question 54

Natural capital refers to the physical and mental talents of humans.

Question 55

Biosphere II would have been a successful and valuable experiment if the enclosure had not been invaded by an ant species.

Question 56

Technological advances can always be relied upon to provide solutions to our environmental problems.

Question 57

The concept of affluent people learning to live with less than what they are accustomed to is known as

A) demographic equilibrium
B) demographic sufficiency
C) voluntary simplicity
D) affluenza
E) affluent regression

Question 58

The majority of neoclassical economists adopt a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity.

Question 59

The genuine progress indicator, or GPI, takes into account the harmful environmental and social costs of all transactions.

Question 60

Exaggeration has been a problem for the con side of environmental arguments, but never the pro side.

Question 61

In 1969, the first law addressing environmental concerns was passed in the United States. This law is the ____________________.

Question 62

Machines, equipment, and factories are examples of ____________________ made from natural resources.

Question 63

The practice of including the estimated harmful environmental and health costs of resource use in the market price of goods and services is called ____________________.

Question 64

The humility principle advises us to be humble in the face of natural systems.

Question 65

In recent years, most major U.S. federal environmental laws and regulations have been ____________________.

Question 66

Understanding and evaluating our environmental worldviews should be a(n) ____________________ process.

Question 67

A(n)____________________ worldview assumes that humans are dominant over all other species and should therefore make environmental decisions based on that dominance.

Question 68

While improving environmental quality and striving for environmental sustainability is worthwhile and admirable, it is not viable in the job market or financial investment world.

Question 69

A guiding principle for environmental sustainability that advises us not to make decisions that cannot be reversed later if the decision turns out to be wrong is the ____________________.

Question 70

Sport hunting and mining are not allowed in national parks, but they are allowed in ____________________.

Question 71

Assume that you are an elected official and a decision-maker in your local community. You are responsible for allocating funding among several groups requesting funds from one particular account that contains $10 million. The groups requesting this money are a local food bank that feeds homeless people, the local parks department that wishes to create a greenbelt along a river that runs through downtown, a conservation group that wishes to restore a section of the river, an elementary school that wishes to start installing computers in some of its classrooms, a low-cost health clinic that provides family planning information, and the local public works department wishing to establish a "tool library" for home mechanics.
How will you allocate this $10 million, and in what way will your allocation plan help us to bring about a sustainability revolution?

Question 72

Using the forces of the marketplace to encourage businesses to reduce pollution and resource waste is called ____________________.

Question 73

Is your campus a green campus (yes or no)? If it is a green campus, explain how. If it is not, explain some things that could be done on your campus to convert it to being green.

Question 74

According to the environmental wisdom world view, humans are ____________________ the community of life, and not separate from it.

Question 75

By 2009, the five countries that had met their Millennium Development Goals were ____________________, ____________________, ____________________, ____________________, and ____________________.

Question 76

Taxes that discourage pollution are called ____________________.

Question 77

Since 1992, ____________________ company has been leasing most of its copying machines as part of its mission to provide document services rather than to sell photocopiers.

Question 78

Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the use of ____________________ to assist millions of people in lifting themselves out of poverty.

Question 79

Ecological and climate change ____________________ are irreversible and should never be crossed.

Question 80

The goods and services produced by the Earth's natural processes that support all life are called ____________________.