October 18, 2011
Workshop
2 Assignment
Question 1: As a society, how can we assess natural
resources?
Environmental and
ecological economists seek ways to assess the quantity and quality of natural
resources and services in order to help internalize costs and develop
strategies for achieving sustainability (p. 156). Although it is widely accepted that natural resource
assessment is important and necessary, it is difficult to come up with methods
for performing assessments of natural resources, particularly ecosystem
services. In its 2003 report (updated
in 2008) on natural resources assessment, the National Parks Conservation
Association stated, “To date, no rapid, affordable, comprehensive and
authoritative protocol for evaluating and rating natural resource conditions
and/or ecosystem health is in widespread, generally accepted use” (Natural
Resources, p. 2). This report
describes the National Park Service’s natural resources assessment methodology
to examine and rate natural resource conditions within the national park
system; however, it acknowledges that the collection, analysis and
interpretation of the relevant data for even a single ecosystem is “daunting”
(p. 3). Although acutely aware of
its constraints, the NPS natural resource assessment methodology gathers, evaluates
and reports current scientific information on major ecosystem attributes, environmental
conditions and biotic health measures for the purposes of park management,
planning, public education and policy recommendations (p. 4).
Other examples of
ways to assess natural resources include contingent valuation (uses of surveys
to determine how much people are willing to pay to protect or restore a
resource) and revealed data valuation (analyzes the amount of money, time and
effort people expend to visit, use or replace natural resources). A related approach using repair and
replacement costs was used by researchers for the Stern Review on the Economics
of Climate Change. They surveyed
the scientific literature on impacts of rising temperatures, changing precipitation
levels, and increasing major storms, then estimated the economic impacts to assess
the cost of global change (Withgott & Brennan, p. 152).
Question 2: As a society, how can we establish
environmental regulations that have an impact on our culture and lifestyle
(e.g., the BLM in the economic development of our society)?
Environmental
regulations impact our culture and lifestyle through limitations, fees, taxes,
reporting requirements, incentives, quotas, and many other approaches. The
overall objectives should be to establish effective policies to bring about
changes to enhance the wellbeing of human communities while achieving
environmental sustainability. Note
that the establishment of principles comes first in this definition of
“regulation”: the establishment of
principles, rules, or laws designed to control or govern conduct
(Freedictionary.com). Our society
has attempted to come to agreement and formally establish such principles on a
national level by passing legislation such as the National Environmental Policy
Act. We must recognize that effective
policy is based on input from science, ethics, and economics, including
cost-benefit analysis of direct and indirect factors. We must recognize the limitations of the tools and knowledge
we use even as we must apply them in the present but be prepared to
continuously seek improvement. Dynamic
and flexible approaches to regulation (perhaps modeled on the biotic systems we
seek to protect?) are more compatible with our culture than rigid, punitive and
arbitrary approaches. A primary
example of a well-received method of regulation is governing the activities of
individuals and businesses by providing “incentives for them to behave in ways
that minimize environmental impact or equalize costs and benefits among parties”
(Withgott & Brennan, p. 169).
Interestingly, one
of the biggest policy issues that has been identified is not the establishment
of sound policy but rather the implementation. In a report presented to the
European Institute of Public Administration, Demmke (2001) calls attention to
significant shortcomings in implementing environmental law:
In the field of
environmental law at present, ineffective application and enforcement remains a
major problem and ranks higher than in any other policy (with the exception of
the much bigger internal market sector). In the environmental sector hardly one
directive (be it in water, waste, soil or other sectors) has been implemented
and enforced by all Member States. (Demmke, 2001).
It appears our society needs to
recognize and take steps to confront the fact that its biggest challenge in
effective environmental regulation is in the implementation phase.
References
Demmke,
C. (2001). Towards effective environmental regulation: Innovative approaches in
implementing and enforcing European environmental law and policy. Academy of European Law Online. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from http://centers.law.nyu.edu/jeanmonnet/papers/01/010501.html
National
resources assessment and ratings methodology. ( August 2003, updated April
2008). National Parks Conservation Association. Fort Collins, Colorado. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from http://www.npca.org/stateoftheparks/methodology1.pdf
Withgott,
J. , & Brennan, S. (2010). Environment: The science behind the stories (4th
ed.). New York. Pearson Benjamin
Cummings.
