PUBPOL 3670 - Economics and Environmental Policy

(crosslisted) ECON 3850  
(SBA-HE) (CU-SBY)     

 
Prerequisite: ECON 1110 . Recommended prerequisite: PUBPOL 2100  or equivalent. Enrollment limited to: undergraduate students. Co-meets with PUBPOL 5970 .

N. Sanders.

Introduction to the use of economics as a tool in forming and evaluating environmental policy, with a focus on how economists measure effects of environmental quality and regulation. Topics include: externalities in an environmental context; regulation methods such as command and control, Pigouvian taxation, and cap and trade; methods for measuring the costs and benefits of environmental policy; overview of current environmental legislation; environmental quality and health; regulation and environmental justice.

Outcome 1: Students will be able to explain the reasons for market failure in the presence of externalities in an environmental context.

Outcome 2: Students will be able to identify common methods of government intervention in environmental regulation, and explain relative strengths and weaknesses in the context of both social efficiency and equity.

Outcome 3: Students will be able to discuss and evaluate methods used to measure the economic effects of environmental quality and various environmental policies.

Outcome 4: Students will be able to address the common trade-offs between equity and efficiency in environmental policy, including environmental justice.