Week 3: Environmental instruments

Week 3 Blog

The government is always involved when it comes to enforcing environmental policy. There are five main types of tools that may be implemented: Markets (least government involvement), Law (medium level of government involvement), Regulation (direct and high government involvement), Government, and public participation. 

Here at the University of Cincinnati, there are a variety of environmental enterprises, in addition, the city of Cincinnati has an abundant amount of environmental policies.  Both the University of Cincinnati and the city of Cincinnati  both use environmental "tools" to implement policies.  

There are many market-based approaches when it comes to environmental and land policies.  Jerold Kayden states in his Market-Based Regulatory Approaches: A Comparative Discussion of Environmental and Land Use Techniques in the United States paper that, “Cincinnati, Ohio, granted incentives for historic preservation.”  These incentives are great because the historic preservations are more likely going to be kept in preservation for people to enjoy.  A disadvantage might be that a building/business could have built in that certain spot, which would have raised money for the city and more local jobs.

Laws are a way of life.  If you disobey the law you can get sued, jail time, or fined.  The University of Cincinnati has many “policies” that can be viewed at as laws for this journal blog.  Utilities cost for energy is very important at UC.  If the engineers don’t operate and maintain the facilities and equipment then they could potentially have a lawsuit filed against them or UC.  

An example of a regulation tool at the University of Cincinnati would be how it controls the dining halls.  Tray less dining, meatless Mondays, sustainable seafood and the type of cooking oil are a few types of regulations that UC has within the food services.  The university has a thing called sustainable seafood. 

 All seafood offered at UC is sourced sustainable in conjunction with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program.  This program focuses on creating a healthy, abundant ocean for everyone to enjoy. They hope to regulate the amount of fishing done in oceans. By contributing to this program, UC, too, helps regulate the oceans.  An advantage to this program is that the University of Cincinnati is against over consumption of fish.  A disadvantage would be by regulating the amount of fishing, means less jobs for fisherman. 

Many disadvantages and advantages lie within the University of Cincinnati, the city of Cincinnati, and all over the world.  Different types of tools can be used to enforce environmental laws.  Historic preservations in Cincinnati, energy being consumed on campus, and the food services at UC use these tools to apply environmental laws. 

Work Cited: 

Kayden, Jerold. "Market-Based Regulatory Approaches: A Comparative Discussion Environmental and Land Use Techniques in the United States." Law Journals at Digital 

Commons. 19.3 (1991): 565-579. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.

Tragedy of the Commons.

True Life: Tragedy of the Commons

            The basic idea of “Tragedy of the commons” is that if everyone holds a resource in general for use, then eventually that resource will be destroyed.  Tragedy of the commons is often thought of on a larger scale, such as over fishing or hunting a certain area.  We may not realize this, but tragedy of the commons is a frequent theme that people experience throughout a lifetime.  For this specific blog I decided to find examples in my daily life that would display tragedy of the commons. 

I live on campus with two roommates.  Living with roommates is extremely beneficial because the cost of utilities is reduced.  This brings me to my first two examples: electricity and water consumption.  Firstly, when someone leaves a light on throughout the coarse of the day, this will in turn be a deficient for us because the Duke energy bill will be higher causing us to fork over more money.  The second example is over consumption of water.  When we leave a faucet running or shower for too long our water bill will experience an increase causing us to have to pay more.  I know showering is beneficial for our hygiene, but cutting shower times by 2 minutes each day (for each of us) would mean that we could reduce the time the water is running by 42 minutes (3 total roommates, assuming we shower 7 days a week).  Little things like remembering to turn off the lights before walking out the door, unplugging electronic devices that aren’t being used or cutting back on water consumption can help to reduce the tragedy of the commons.

            Groceries are another example of tragedy of the commons.  Between the three of us we rotate on who buys the milk and eggs.  If one roommate decides to use all of the milk or eggs then the other two roommates suffer by not getting the chance to make an omelet and have a glass of milk for breakfast.  I view this as non-excludable because it’s not useful to exclude people who do not pay for a good from the benefit of receiving the good.  A great example of a non excludable good would be the beautiful architecture that can be found all around the University of Cincinnati.