Environmental Studies
Mock Exam
Course Introduction
Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the complex relationships between humans and their natural environment. This course examines ecological processes, the impact of human activities on ecosystems, and the ethical, social, and political dimensions of environmental issues. Students will learn about topics such as biodiversity, pollution, climate change, resource management, and sustainability, while also developing critical thinking skills to analyze environmental challenges and potential solutions at local and global scales. The course encourages active engagement and problem-solving in addressing current environmental problems through case studies, projects, and discussions.
Recommended Textbook
Environmental Economics 4th canadian Edition by Barry C Field
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20 Chapters
402 Verified Questions
402 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/2979
Page 2
Chapter 1: What Is Environmental Economics
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26 Verified Questions
26 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Assume the natural environment including air,water and land can be used to produce either good X,Y or Z (but not all).If the value of use is $700 for good X,$600 for good Y and $400 for good Z,which good should be produced if the decision is based on economic efficiency?
Answer: Based on the objective of achieving economic efficiency,good X should be our choice since it maximizes the value of the end use for which resources are being employed.
Q2) The ________ level of pollution can be negotiated privately based on property rights when only a few parties are involved and the source,amount and type of pollution is clearly identifiable.
A)cost-effective
B)zero-emissions
C)fair
D)socially efficient
Answer: D
Q3) Environmental resources generally have well defined property rights. A lack of property rights underlies many environmental problems.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: The Economy and the Environment
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16 Verified Questions
16 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) It is more difficult to develop and administer control policies for point source pollutants than it is for nonpoint source pollutants.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The residuals from production can be reduced by ________.
A)shifting the composition of output towards low-residual items
B)preventing pollution by reducing the energy inputs required to produce each unit of output
C)reducing the residuals intensity of production
D)all of the choices are correct
Answer: D
Q3) When a new production technology is invented that results in production of smaller amounts of residuals per unit of output produced,this is called reducing the ________.
A)damages from production
B)intensity of pollution
C)residuals from production
D)residuals intensity of production
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Benefits and Costs, Supply and Demand
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16 Verified Questions
16 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Total benefits are equal to total willingness to pay which is equal to the area under the demand curve for a given level of consumption.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) One criterion for evaluating environmental policies is whether or not they generate ________ for individuals,firms and industries to engage in ________.
A)disincentives;expansion activities
B)incentives;expansion activities
C)disincentives;abatement activities
D)incentives;R&D activities
Answer: D
Q3) The production function of the firm is its supply curve. The marginal cost curve of the firm represents its supply curve.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Economic Efficiency and Markets
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21 Verified Questions
21 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) External benefits can drive a wedge between the market demand curve and the social marginal WTP curve resulting in a market failure.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Suppose for a given market that the MWTP = 300 - 0.5Q<sup>D</sup> and MC = 50 + 2Q<sup>S</sup>.Assuming all market and non-market values are incorporated into these equations,the MWTP at the socially efficient level of output is equal to ________.
A)100 units
B)140 units
C)$230
D)$250
Q3) If social values are not reflected in the market values determined by the market demand and market supply curves,the competitive market equilibrium output will still be the socially efficient level of output.
A)True
B)False
Q4) List three causes of market failure and give an example of each.
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6
Chapter 5: The Economics of Environmental Quality
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31 Verified Questions
31 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the socially efficient level of abatement for this industry?
Q2) The height of the marginal damage curve at a particular level of emissions shows how much total damages change if there is a small change in the quantity of emissions.
A)True
B)False
Q3) For certain pollutants with a(n)_______,emissions or ambient quality up to a certain level cause _________ damages.
A)threshold;no
B)ambient concentration;no
C)threshold;severe
D)ambient concentration;severe
Q4) A(n)________ shows how damages are related to the concentration of a waste product contained in the ambient environment.
A)emission damage function
B)ambient damage function
C)marginal damage function
D)ambient concentration
Q5) What is the total social cost at the socially efficient level of emissions?
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Chapter 6: Frameworks of Analysis
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26 Verified Questions
26 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One limitation of cost-effectiveness analysis is that other techniques that could be more cost-effective are not considered because their costs are too difficult to measure. Cost-effectiveness analysis could omit lower cost possibilities if it does not include options with hard to measure costs.
A)True
B)False
Q2) If the MAC = 60 - 0.25E and MDC = 0.5E the socially efficient scale is equal to ________ units of emissions.
A)240
B)80
C)45
D)160
Q3) Compute the discount factors you would need to conduct a benefit-cost analysis of the three sewage treatment options to two decimal places assuming a discount rate of 5%.Then conduct the benefit-cost analysis to determine which option the municipality should choose to complete when the discount rate is 5%.What option do you recommend and why?
Q4) List three criticisms that have been made about benefit-cost analysis.
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Chapter 7: Benefit-Cost Analysis: Benefits
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21 Verified Questions
21 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When people are asked willingness-to-accept questions,their answers are usually higher than their willingness-to-pay responses for the same item.
A)True
B)False
Q2) It is possible to estimate ________ by considering information about reductions in worker productivity and medical expenditures.
A)demand for health care
B)health damages
C)output losses
D)willingness to pay for hospitals
Q3) In surveys and experimental work where people are asked to compare gains and losses relative to a reference point,they place a higher value on losses from this reference point than gains.
This explains why WTA measures tend to be higher than WTP.
A)True
B)False
Q4) List and very briefly explain three criticisms of the travel-cost method of imputing WTP for environmental amenities.
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Chapter 8: Benefit-Cost Analysis: Costs
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20 Verified Questions
20 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose an industry facing an inverse demand equation equal to P = 120 - 4Q faces a new pollution control law that shifts its constant marginal cost of production from C<sub>1</sub> = 50 to C<sub>2</sub> = 68.Compute the social costs of regulation in this industry.
Q2) If a firm goes out of business because an environmental regulation now requires them to incur pollution-control costs that they were previously getting for free (at society's expense),society will be better off to have the polluter exit the industry.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Suppose a manufacturing firm that is about to be regulated faces the following actual and potential production costs: 1)$2,500 before regulation;2)$2,925 in the future without the regulation;and 3)$3,240 in the future with the regulation.The before/after cost of the regulation is ________ and the with/without cost of the regulation is
A)$425;$740
B)$425;$315
C)$740;$315
D)$315;$425
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Chapter 9: Criteria for Evaluating Environmental Policies
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8 Verified Questions
8 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Enforcement costs are critical to the success of environmental programs and should be included in the overall social costs of the program when evaluating different policy options.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Policies that can be readily adapted to new information about damages,technological innovation and changing economic or social conditions are considered ________.
A)morally superior
B)politically expedient
C)fair
D)flexible
Q3) The ________ of a policy is not a criterion used to evaluate a pollution control policy.
A)political acceptability
B)fairness
C)cost-effectiveness
D)incentives to innovate
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11
Chapter 10: Decentralized Policies: Liability Laws, Property
Rights, Voluntary Action
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20 Verified Questions
20 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Net social gains are independent of who has the property rights to environmental resources.
The net gains to society differ depending upon who holds the property rights to pollute.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When a good is an open-access resource,the free-rider problem effectively defeats the chances that a socially efficient equilibrium can be achieved through property rights assignments and bargaining.
A)True
B)False
Q3) If the government puts in place a liability law that requires the chemical factory to compensate the fishery for the damages it causes,what level of emissions will take place and what are the total costs of compliance for the chemical company?
Q4) Define green goods and give two examples of green goods.
Q5) What level of emissions will occur if the chemical factory is not regulated? What would the total abatement costs for the chemical factory be if emissions are controlled and reduced to zero?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Command-And-Control Strategies: the Case of Standards
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24 Verified Questions
24 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ambient quality of the water at various points downstream of a source of pollution depends on the quantity of emissions only.
The ambient quality of the water depends on the quantity of emissions as well as the hydrology of the river (e.g. ,rate of flow,temperature,etc. ).
A)True
B)False
Q2) If the firm faced a standard of 40 units of emissions,what is the maximum amount of money it would be willing to spend on R&D to achieve the lower MAC?
A)$200
B)$400
C)$600
D)$800
Q3) Including the costs of enforcement decreases the socially efficient level of emissions.
Combining the marginal costs of enforcement with the MAC results in the socially efficient level of emissions increasing.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Incentive-Based Strategies: Emission Charges and Subsidies
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26 Verified Questions
26 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) If the regulatory authority charged an emission tax of $40 per unit of emissions what is the level of emissions and the total abatement cost of each source? Is the tax cost effective?
Q2) If the firm faced an emission tax of $80 per unit of emissions,what is the maximum amount of money it would be willing to spend on R&D to achieve the lower MAC? How does this amount compare to what the firm would be willing to spend under a standard of 40 units?
Q3) Briefly discuss the two key differences between incentives to innovate under taxes versus standards.
Q4) If a firm has MAC = 320 - 4E compare the level of abatement achieved as well as the costs to the firm and the government of an emission tax of $80 versus an abatement subsidy of $80.
Q5) For an industry with MAC = 500 - 2E and MDC = 3E,calculate the socially efficient tax rate.What is the total compliance cost to the industry if the socially efficient tax is charged?
Q6) If the regulatory authority charged an emission tax of $30 per unit of emissions what is the level of emissions and the total abatement cost of each source? Is the tax cost effective?
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Chapter 13: Incentive-Based Strategies: Transferable Discharge Permits
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15 Verified Questions
15 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Transferable emission permit programs work best if there is little competition among buyers and sellers of permits.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The EPA's TEP program for SO<sub>2</sub> gave producers an incentive to look for cheaper ways of lowering emissions because increasing scarcity of permits drove their price up.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ________ established an innovative permit-trading scheme for the control of airborne SO<sub>2</sub> emissions in ________.
A)1990 Clean Air Act Amendments;Canada
B)1990 Clean Air Act Amendments;the United States
C)Canadian Environmental Protection Act;Canada
D)Cross-State Air Pollution Rule;the United States
Q4) Briefly explain why firms have an incentive to monitor each other's permit usage under a transferable emission permit scheme.
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Chapter 14: Federal Water Pollution - Control Policy
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12 Verified Questions
12 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When there is uncertainty about the marginal abatement cost curve,the steeper the marginal damage cost curve,the closer a standard or transferable emissions program will be to the socially efficient equilibrium than a tax.
A)True
B)False
Q2) An emission tax scheme will always have a higher private compliance cost than a transferable emission permit scheme that achieves the same level of abatement. If the permits are initially allocated by auction,the private compliance cost of the TEP scheme will be identical to the private compliance cost of the tax.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Under a standard,the polluter has an incentive to reveal a MAC that is lower than its true MAC.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Federal Air Pollution - Control Policy
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19 Verified Questions
19 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are the two types of problems that originate from the Canadian Constitution and our federal/provincial system of government regarding the setting of environmental policy?
Q2) List the powers granted to the provinces under the Constitution Act.
Q3) In Canada,the degree of consultation undertaken by Environment Canada with stakeholder's groups regarding changes in environmental legislation has varied over time depending on the government.A recent example of little consultation is the federal government's omnibus budget bills of 2012.Critically discuss the environmental implications of Bills C-38 and C-45.
Q4) In the United States,the process for setting standards and designing regulations is far more informal,discretionary and closed than in Canada.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Which of the following is NOT a power granted by the Constitution to the provinces?
A)powers over local works
B)powers over provincially owned lands and resources
C)powers over property and civil rights within provinces
D)powers over interprovincial trade
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Chapter 16: Federal Policy on Toxic and Hazardous Substances
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16 Verified Questions
16 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is an example of an episodic emission.
A)Agricultural runoff of pesticides
B)Emissions of sulphur dioxide from a coal burning electrical plant
C)An oil spill such as the Exxon Valdez
D)The effluent released from a sewage treatment plant
Q2) What can we conclude from the results of the Delaware Estuary Water Quality Control Study about the use of technology-based standards (TBS)to achieve high versus low target levels of DO (dissolved oxygen)in the waters of the estuary?
Q3) In Ontario,the phasing in of technology-based standards to cover agricultural practices,focusing particularly on storage of waste and the use of manure on fields is a response to ________.
A)the discovery of Trichloroethylene in the water supply in Beckwith Township near Ottawa
B)a study commissioned by MISA
C)new federal drinking water guidelines issued by the CCME
D)E.coli contamination of the water supply in Walkerton
Q4) List the three roles the federal government plays in water-pollution regulation.
Q5) Define the term "persistent water pollutant" and give an example of such a pollutant.
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Chapter 17: State and Local Environmental Issues
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18 Verified Questions
18 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) List the four policy issues that arise from Canada's regulation of air contaminants.
Q2) Discuss how the shortcomings of using mandatory emission testing programs like Drive Clean to reduce emissions could be improved.
Q3) The federal government regulates emissions from new motor vehicles under the ________ using ________.
A)Clean Air Act;corporate average fuel standards
B)Clean Air Act;a carbon tax
C)Motor Vehicle Safety Act;corporate average fuel standards
D)Motor Vehicle Safety Act;a carbon tax
Q4) List the "Big Five" criteria air contaminants to which Canadians are exposed.
Q5) Which of the following does the Clean Air Act give the federal government authority to do?
A)conduct a national program of air-pollution surveillance
B)establish air-quality objectives
C)establish regulations and guidelines for air quality
D)all of the choices are correct
Q6) Explain how an incentive-based policy helped to phase out the use of leaded gasoline in Canada.
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Chapter 18: Comparative Environmental Policies
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22 Verified Questions
22 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Canada,the key federal legislation dealing with toxic substances is the ________.
A)Clean Air Act
B)Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
C)Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999
D)Fisheries Act of 1868
Q2) A lesson learned from the case of dioxans and furans is that because toxics decompose or dissipate very slowly,government policy should include ways of both intercepting toxics before they enter the waste stream and cleaning up existing toxic sites.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Levying a tax on the inputs used to manufacture chemicals could be a cost-effective approach to reducing emissions of hazardous wastes since the inputs are fewer in number and easier to measure than the various chemicals themselves.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is CERCLA and what are the main features of this program?
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Chapter 19: Economic Development and the Environment
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24 Verified Questions
24 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One potential problem with charging a fee per bag of waste is illegal dumping.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A tax on virgin materials would lead firms to increase their recycling ratios.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ________ content standards require that all materials-using products manufactured or sold contain some specified percentage of ________.
A)Maximum;recycled material
B)Minimum;recycled material
C)Maximum;virgin material
D)Minimum;virgin material
Q4) List three policy options that could be employed to incorporate ecological values into land use and give an example of each.
Q5) Many contemporary land-use issues are related to the human use of land that substantially reduces or destroys its environmental value.List four examples of Canadian natural capital threatened by land-use changes.
Q6) List the two ways that total materials can be reduced.
Q7) List three recycling policy options and discuss their effectiveness.
Page 21
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Chapter 20: The Global Environment
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21 Verified Questions
21 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Employing a global CO<sub>2</sub> price to contain mean projected warming to a specific target at least cost is an example of ________.
A)a fiscal dividend
B)a climate stabilization goal
C)a cap and trade system
D)an emission trading system
Q2) Carbon offsets result in either the same level of emission reduction at lower cost than in a system without them,or greater emissions reduction at the same cost because the offset works like a withdrawal of allowances from the market.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Biological diversity is a high priority for people who are struggling to get enough resources to achieve some degree of economic security.
A)True
B)False
Q4) List four design principles that economists recommend for setting up a cap-and-trade system.
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