Search: Environmental Economics and Policy

Study and Research Open to qualified upper division students wishing to pursue special study and directed research under the direction of a member of the staff

Group study of selected topic or topics in Environmental Economics and Policy.

Supervised experience in off-campus organizations relevant to specific aspects of environmental economics and policy. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor and written reports required.

Supervised independent honors research specific to aspects of environmental economics and policy, followed by a written report to the department

Writing of a thesis under the direction of member(s) of the faculty. Subject must be approved by faculty sponsor

The course will start with a brief introduction and evaluation of the scientific aspects behind climate change. Economic models will be developed to analyze the impacts of climate change and provide and critique existing and proposed policy tools. Specific topics studied are impacts on water resources and agriculture, economic evaluation of impacts, optimal control of greenhouse gases, benefit cost analysis, international treaty formation, discounting, uncertainty, irreversibility, and extreme events.

Economists through history have explored economic and environmental interactions, physical limits to growth, what constitutes the good life, and how economic justice can be assured. Yet economists continue to use measures and models that simplify these issues and promote bad outcomes. Ecological economics responds to this tension between the desire for simplicity and the multiple perspectives needed to understand complexity in order to move toward sustainable, fulfilling, just economies

Urban demand for water; water supply and economic growth; water utility economics; irrigation demand; large water projects; economic impacts of surface water law and institutions; economics of salinity and drainage; economics of groundwater management

The roots of environmental and resource economics. Theories of land and resource rent. Models of optimal use of renewable and nonrenewable resources with applications to energy and timber. Balancing environmental and extractive values. Resources, growth, and sustainability. Special topic: the problem of global climate change

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the complex interactions between population, environmental change, and economic development, including the leading theories for understanding these interactions. The origins and history of current debates are discussed as well as some of the major issues stemming from these debates, such as immigration, international trade, family planning policies and concerns over the global commons. Specific natural resources and services like fresh water, food supply, and forest cover are analyzed as case studies. Policy options for sustainable development are discussed.