Syllabus, Eco B9526, Spring 2010

Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources

                                      cross listed as Economics of Sustainability SUS C7400

Tuesday SUS 4:50-07:20PM; ECO 6:30-09:00PM

 

 

Course Description

 

How does the science of economics help to understand and moderate human effects on the environment?  Economics examines how people make choices when their unlimited wants meet scarce resources.  As human technology has developed far enough to bump up against the limits of the finite globe, we as policymakers and concerned citizens need to understand how to ensure that the finite resources of the globe can be distributed to current generations and preserved for the future.  Since economics provides the best tools for understanding and influencing human behaviors, this field also provides the most comprehensive analysis of proposed solutions.

 

Textbook

 

Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Management, 3rd ed., David A. Anderson, Routledge.

 

Professor

 

Kevin R. Foster, Department of Economics, The City College of New York, kfoster@ccny.cuny.edu, w: (212) 650-6201, m: (860) 593-7674, office hours Tuesday & Friday 2-3 pm or by appointment, http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/social_science/kfoster/

 

Course Requirements

 

This course requires students to complete regular homework assignments and write a midterm exam.  It also requires that students, working in a small team, complete a final project.  This final project is a substantial analysis of an environmental issue facing policymakers as well as a detailed exploration of the economics of proposed remedies.  During class times after the midterm exam we will have presentations from each group (graded as homework).

 

Course Cross-Listing

 

Each week the first part of the course, primarily intended for SUS students, will review the necessary economic analysis.  The middle part, for both SUS and ECO students, will concentrate on the application of this theory.  The final part, primarily intended for ECO students, will extend the analysis to more complicated topics.

 

Educational Outcomes

 

Students will integrate theory with public policy in areas of pollution regulation, emissions cap-and-trade, and tradable permits.  Students will evaluate particular theories about the effectiveness of such strategies against empirical findings documented in studies from a variety of disciplines not limited to economics.  Students will write a final project which exhibits their ability to compose excellent oral and written communications for diverse audiences.

 

Grading

 

Course grades are determined by three factors: your grade on the final project, your score on the midterm, and your scores on the homework assignments.  The final project gets 60% weight while the midterm has a 20% weight and homework also gets 20%.  There is no BS factor of effort or any other unobservable will-o-wisps – the weightings sum to 100.  Your grade is determined entirely on observed performance.

 

Course Material

 

Homework and basic course documents will be on the class page, publicly accessible from my web page (http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/social_science/kfoster/).  Readings and some other material will be available on the Blackboard course page (login required).  I will periodically send emails to the class via Blackboard so you must keep your CCNY email updated.

 

 

Weekly Topics

Environmental Economics, Eco B9526, Spring 2010

Kevin R Foster, CCNY

 

 

 

Week

Date

Topics

Chapter(s) in text

1

Feb 1

Basics

1, 2, 3

2

Feb 8

Role of Government, Tradeoffs

4, 5

3

Feb 15

Environment and Energy

6, 7

4

Feb 22

Sustainability & Biodiversity

8, 10

5

Mar 1

Optimal Choices

online

6

Mar 8

Global Pollution

11

7

Mar 15

Policies

12

8

Mar 22

Natural Resource Management

13, 14

9

Mar 29

Dispute Resolution

15

10

Apr 5

Exam

Ch 1-15 except 9 plus online

11

Apr 12

Presentations on Final Project

 

 

Apr 19

No class

 

 

Apr 26

No class

 

12

May 3

Presentations on Final Project

 

13

May 10

Presentations on Final Project

 

14

May 17

Presentations on Final Project

 

 

May 27

deadline for final project

 

Chapters refer to Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Management, 3rd ed., David A. Anderson, Routledge.

 

Deviations from the schedule will be announced in class.

 

The exam dates and project due dates are given above. You must take the exams at, and hand in the work by, the scheduled times. No excuses.

Academic Integrity

 

The CCNY Faculty Senate has recommended that every course syllabus include this notice:

CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity

As stated in the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity: 'Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person's ideas, research or writings as your own. The following are some examples of plagiarism:

  • 'Copying another person's actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source;
  • 'Presenting another person's ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source;
  • 'Using information that is not common knowledge without acknowledging the source;
  • 'Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory assignments.
  • 'Internet plagiarism includes submitting downloaded term papers or parts of term papers, paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source, and "cutting & pasting" from various sources without proper attribution.'
  • A student who plagiarizes may incur academic and disciplinary penalties, including failing grades, suspensions, and expulsion.
  • A complete copy of the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity may be downloaded from the College's home page.