Never Thought I'd See the Day...

…when I would admit that environmental economics would ever be relevant in my life. The class has been the bane of my existence all semester, and I cannot wait to kiss it goodbye forever. It has caused me extreme amounts of stress this semester and the final exam coming up scares the crap out of me. I had myself convinced that I’m an environmentalists, but will never ever be an economist. for the most part this is true. I don’t think in economic terms. However, some concepts can be useful, and I may end up using them more enjoyably outside of Econ 234.

For example, I must remember the huge difference between public goods and open access/common pool resources. Public goods being goods that cause market failures through nonexclusivity and indivisibility. Once the resource is provided, even those who do not pay for it cannon be excluded from enjoying the benefits. Also, one person’s consumption of a good does not diminish the amount available to others. Therefore, the public demand curve generated by the market for a public good will be stacked vertically and the good will only be valued at the level of the individual who values it the most. Open access resources, or common pool resources are characterized by nonexclusivity and divisibility. They can be exploited by anyone, but once they are used by an individual they are no longer available for anyone else.

I could quite possibly expand on the idea of biodiversity as a public good in my Cities/Environmental Studies thesis on land conservation in the public/private sectors. Biodiversity, and in some cases open space, is a public good with intrinsic and instrumental value in the form of use value.

I have actually covered open access/common pool resources multiple times in other classes without the underlying economic principles spelled out in so many words. If you take environmental classes, you will read Garret Hardin’s “The Tragedy of the Commons” for every single one! After a while the class’ reaction = “Oh god, it’s the damned cows again!” Although, as much as we grumble about it, we know how important this text is conceptually in a turning point of environmental history. However, for me, cows are fine now. The econ example includes bison…and there were GRAPHS (I’m not a visual learner by any means, so this is a daunting task)! I welcome the cows back. However, the graphical representation and economic perspective do complicate the issue and give it more weight.

I should try and refocus on ideas about renewable energy and resources through an economic lens. It will take a lot of studying, but I will be able to do it at some point. Who would have thought the recycling industry would be so flawed. Is it time to reconceptualize? Now I hated the class, but i have comfortingly come to terms with the subject matter and recognize it’s value. I will have to work extra hard, because I am still not an economics person, and will admit that there are still things that I do not understand. Thesis research and structuring begins this summer, after all.