brilliant.answer ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS

Econ 214G, Ecological Economics Paper 3 assignment: personal research on ecological economics issue Topic paragraph due: November 10, 11:00 p.m. in Blackboard The topic paragraph for this paper should describe your environmental issue and the people or groups involved in the controversy. Provide at least three of your final references and describe other possible sources of information. Also suggest names and positions of people for possible personal interviews. Paper assignment: Pick a current controversial environmental issue in New England to research. Topics could relate to air pollution, water pollution, solid waste and recycling, climate change, energy sources, fishing policy, forest management, mining, food systems, public parks and wilderness areas, etc., at the New England regional, state, or local level. This project will be mostly a literature review, where you review and analyze the relevant literature on your topic. Write a paper with at least five pages of text (double spaced, not including tables, figures, or references). Your paper should include: 1. A summary of the environmental problem and its physical nature. How does the issue interfere with environmental processes? What ecosystem services are affected? How is the environmental problem an economic problem? 2. The nature of this problem in a steady-state economy, i.e. would this problem be present in a non-growing economy? Would it be present but different? Does this problem affect sustainability in some way? 3. How this problem relates to individual consumption choices: would this problem be resolved if consumers made different choices for some good or service, or if overall consumption levels changed? 4. Who is affected by this environmental problem, both within and beyond New England? Do some people gain benefits while others bear costs? Does the problem systematically affect the poor more than the rich, or affect racial or ethnic minorities more than the majority? 5. The different positions of people or groups involved in the controversy. If possible, use personal interviews to document these positions. New England newspaper articles, letters to newspaper editors, etc., should also be helpful. For some issues there are advocacy organizations that state their positions on their websites. What assumptions, beliefs, or interests contribute to shaping the positions of the people involved? 6. A proposed solution that you believe would provide the greatest social welfare. Be sure to explain your understanding of social welfare and how you would measure this. Who would gain and who would lose under your proposal? What do you think are the political prospects for your proposal?

Include at least six references in your report. Use APA style for citations in the text and a complete list references at the end of the paper. Do not list any references that you have not actually read and cited in the paper. Grading criteria:

Scope: the extent to which the paper addresses a current controversial environmental problem in New England for which the necessary information is available, and the extent to which you consider all aspects of the problem. You will get comments on scope at the topic paragraph stage. Information Sources: the number and quality of sources related to the problem that you use. Personal interviews with people close to the problem are strongly recommended. Problem Analysis: the extent to which you apply information learned in the course to analyze the problem, answering each of the 6 the questions posed in the assignment, and propose a possible policy solution. Clarity: how easy it is to understand the points you are making. Style: spelling, grammar, organization, presentation, use of tables, charts, and pictures, as well as use of references. There are three installments for the final paper:

date assignment percent of final grade

Thursday, November 10, 11:00 p.m. topic paragraph 5%

Thursday, December 1, 11:00 p.m. paper due 10%

Thursday, December 15, 11:00 p.m. paper revisions due 5%

Total project percent of final grade: 20%

Late submissions will be accepted for up to 7 days after a deadline, with a grade reduction of 10 percent (one letter grade); no assignments will be accepted more than seven days after a deadline. The first submission should be a complete, finished product. Papers will be evaluated using the criteria above, assuming you have made your best effort on this submission (i.e. the first submission is not just a rough draft). Because everyone’s analysis and writing can be improved, the final submission will be graded on the extent to which you make improvements based on comments on the first submission as well as any additional ideas you may have. Grades for the two submissions are unrelated (e.g. it is possible to get an A for a first submission and a D for a resubmission, if few improvements are made).

Submit your original and revised papers as Microsoft Word documents in Blackboard. Do not copy and paste text from other sources into any class assignment, and do not submit any strings of words or any data that are not your own unless such material is properly identified and the author is cited. You may not have anyone else edit your paper. Plagiarism may result in failure of an assignment, failure of the course, and additional university-level action.