Environmental Economics uses the basic tools of economic analysis to focus on issues that pertain to the natural environment and its resources. The central theme is that there are competing demands for our limited natural resources necessitating that difficult choices be made regarding how those resources are used. Topics include global warming, Hawai‘i’s environment and other current environmental issues as time permits.
Recommended Preparation
Credit for Economics 130 or 131 and a course in Environmental Science, or instructor consent.
Course Outcomes
- Explain how prices allocate resources in a free market economy, especially as related to the environment.
- Evaluate the benefits and costs of environmental clean-up
- Contrast free market solutions to environmental clean-up vs. competing views.
- Evaluate outcomes and government policy responses in markets with negative externalities.