Deck 13: The Global Environment

Question 1

Which of the following is an example of a common-pool resource?

A)Restoration of the ozone layer
B)The Grand Banks fishery off the coast of North America
C)A beehive that pollinates plants located on other properties
D)Acid rain created by coal plants in the United States falling in Canada

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of a good whose consumption is rival?

A)Knowledge
B)Clean air
C)National defense
D)Fishing in a lake

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What is an externality?

A)A good that is nonexcludable but rival in consumption
B)A cost or benefit for stakeholders other than the actor undertaking an action
C)An effect created by the interaction between two states
D)A good that is nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption
E)An international agency that monitors compliance with regulations

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of a public good?

A)An aquaculture oyster farm
B)A movie theater
C)The ozone layer protecting humans from ultraviolet radiation
D)The level of pollution from a pulp mill in Uruguay that affects Argentina

Question 5

Which country is currently the largest source of carbon emissions?

A)The United States
B)China
C)India
D)Russia

Question 6

The tragedy of the commons refers to a situation where:

A)commoners lack understanding about resource use.
B)individual incentives and collective incentives are at odds.
C)technology degrades the commons.
D)there are no externalities.

Question 7

Which of the following is an example of an externality?

A)Bees kept to make honey pollinate plants belonging to a nearby farmer.
B)Smoke from a chimney backs up into a house.
C)A landowner fishes from her pond.
D)A company adopts technology that reduces the possibility of toxic waste spills.

Question 8

Among those who know that their activates are environmentally harmful,why do so many still choose not to undertake more efforts to protect the environment?

A)They do not know that their activities are environmentally harmful.
B)They do not respond rationally to their incentives.
C)They prefer to defect rather than cooperate.
D)They believe it's fairer for others to undertake the costs of change.

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of free riding with regard to environmental issues?

A)China does not reduce carbon emissions but expects developed countries to reduce theirs.
B)Japan pushes to remove the ban on commercial whaling.
C)TNAs pay developing countries' dues to the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
D)Greenpeace uses its own ships to monitor Norwegian whaling vessels.

Question 10

How did Europe's Emissions Trading Scheme work?

A)European countries banned trade with firms that polluted in excess of their allowances.
B)European countries traded new antipollution technology to firms in developing countries that committed to reducing carbon emissions.
C)Firms were initially given allowances for greenhouse gas emissions that they could sell or buy depending on their own efficiency.
D)European governments gave tax credits to firms that reduced their carbon emissions.

Question 11

How did the Emissions Trading Scheme in Europe privatize a public good?

A)The system sold off government-owned firms to more efficient private owners.
B)European governments became less involved in offsetting goals for pollution reduction,allowing private citizens and firms to determine the appropriate levels of pollution.
C)European governments gave away environmentally friendly technology that had been developed using public funds.
D)The system divided up and distributed a pollution allowance to individual firms that were contaminating clean air.

Question 12

What is a public good?

A)A good that is nonexcludable but rival in consumption.
B)A cost or benefit for stakeholders other than the actor undertaking an action.
C)An effect created by the interaction between two states.
D)A good that is nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption.

Question 13

Why is preservation of the environment sometimes like a Prisoner's Dilemma?

A)The world's population is "imprisoned" and cannot escape the effects of environmental degradation and global warming.
B)Transnational advocacy networks can free the world's population from the effects of environmental degradation and global warming.
C)Individuals have no interest in cooperating and would rather "defect" by continuing to pollute,if it suits their needs.
D)Individuals have a shared interest in cooperating but would rather "defect" since their own efforts would have little effect on overall pollution levels.

Question 14

Which of the following environmental problems has seen the least progress made by international communities?

A)Global climate change
B)Hazardous waste shipment across borders
C)Ozone layer protection
D)Harmful fishing practices

Question 15

Which of the following greenhouse gases is primarily responsible for our current concerns about global warming?

A)Methane
B)Water vapor
C)Carbon dioxide
D)Ozone

Question 16

Which of the following products is nonexcludable?

A)National security
B)Food
C)Clothing
D)Access to a store

Question 17

Which of the following is an example of a collective action problem?

A)You and your brother fight over who gets to use the car.
B)You struggle to keep your desk clean in your dorm room.
C)You and your classmates get a "C" on a group project because one member did not help.
D)You and your teammates are outscored by the opposing intramural soccer team.

Question 18

What is a common-pool resource?

A)A good that is nonexcludable but rival in consumption
B)A cost or benefit for stakeholders other than the actor undertaking an action
C)An effect created by the interaction between two states
D)A good that is nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of a negative externality?

A)Your roommate does not study and fails his exam.
B)A power plant purchases water for its cooling towers.
C)A neighbor landscapes his front lawn,raising property values.
D)An airport directs inbound jets over a residential neighborhood to an adjacent runway.

Question 20

The case of ozone depletion indicates that:

A)special interests can push environmental regulation when it is seen as profitable.
B)special interests are rarely successful in blocking environmental regulations.
C)special interests always win out over the collective interest for a cleaner environment.
D)special interests can successfully mobilize citizens to take on their governments.

Question 21

Why was a ban on commercial whaling enacted?

A)Public protest caused countries to voluntarily ban the hunting of whales.
B)The whale population was declining rapidly,and states were unable to reduce their catches sufficiently.
C)There was no longer a demand for products made from whales.
D)At an environmental conference,the United States brokered an agreement that banned whaling.

Question 22

Why is the problem of ozone depletion different from the problem of global warming?

A)Stopping ozone depletion involves easily manipulated developing countries,whereas global warming involves more powerful developed countries.
B)Ozone depletion is not a collective action problem,but stopping global warming is a collective action problem.
C)There are few CFC-producing countries,but nearly all industrialized and industrializing countries emit greenhouse gases.
D)Ozone depletion is a much more serious threat than global warming.

Question 23

What explains the United States' position on reducing carbon emissions?

A)The United States has always had an environmentally friendly foreign policy.
B)Citizens in the United States have pushed their government to support environmentally friendly policies.
C)The United States does not feel the terms of current agreements are sufficiently favorable.
D)Firms in the United States have realized they could make more profits by allowing the government to share their technological advances with developed countries.

Question 24

How are polluting industries similar to protectionist industries?

A)Both are large groups that are less motivated because the costs of unfavorable policies will be spread across a large number of members.
B)Both usually support their governments' involvement in international agreements.
C)Both are small in number and can get concentrated benefits from government policies,while the costs of those policies are spread across many individuals.
D)Both are large groups that can use their numbers to get favorable government policies passed.

Question 25

What are joint products?

A)Effects created by the interaction between two states.
B)Goods that are nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption.
C)Goods that are nonexcludable but rival in consumption.
D)When public goods are bundled with private goods.

Question 26

Which of the following is a reason that those who would be negatively affected by tighter environmental restrictions so often defeat these policies?

A)Those negatively affected by regulations vastly outnumber those who benefit from them.
B)Groups who would benefit from environmental protection are directly compensated for its absence through bargaining.
C)Existing industries have more supporters that they can mobilize compared to industries that are developing more environmentally friendly technologies.
D)The majority of citizens sympathize with the affected industries and pressure governments to avoid environmental regulations.

Question 27

The Kyoto Protocol attempts to:

A)exclude a nonrival good.
B)overexploit a common resource pool.
C)privatize a public good.
D)end a positive externality.

Question 28

Which is the region with the best record for protecting the environment?

A)Europe
B)Asia
C)North America
D)South America

Question 29

Why has the U.S.auto industry opposed efforts to reduce emissions?

A)The required new technologies would raise the price of cars,and this would reduce manufacturers' profits.
B)They do not believe that auto emissions are harmful.
C)They believe that more reductions on emissions are unnecessary because auto manufacturers in other countries have already reduced emissions enough to prevent global warming.
D)Consumers do not buy low-emission automobiles.

Question 30

Which country is the greatest source of new pollutants?

A)The United States
B)Russia
C)Japan
D)China

Question 31

Cap-and-trade systems to control pollution work better when:

A)pollution is easily observable.
B)governments are not involved.
C)pollution rights markets are not linked internationally.
D)there is no limit on the amount of pollution permits created.

Question 32

Which of the following is an example of a privileged group with respect to resolving environmental problems?

A)The United States has an advantage with regard to global warming because it has few low-lying areas.
B)Only a few countries wanted to continue killing whales for commercial purposes.
C)The International Whaling Commission enacted a ban on commercial whaling due to net benefits for each of its members.
D)The United States saw sufficient benefits to justify banning CFCs unilaterally.

Question 33

What role did environmental groups play in getting a ban on commercial whaling enacted?

A)They had only a small role because states were going to support the ban for other reasons.
B)They pushed the United Nations to hold an environmental conference on the issue.
C)They created an international code of conduct for whalers that convinced them to stop hunting whales.
D)They encouraged nonwhaling states to join the International Whaling Commission (IWC)and to vote for the ban.

Question 34

Which of the following is an example of a joint product?

A)The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil created standards for reducing oil discharges in the ocean.
B)The Danube River flows through many European countries.
C)Fishing vessels from the United States and Canada can profit from the Grand Banks fishery.
D)DuPont could earn profits from a ban on CFCs that would also reduce ozone depletion.

Question 35

Why was the problem of acid rain more easily resolved than other issues?

A)The pollution affected relatively few states,making cooperation easier.
B)The pollution affected a large number of states,which led to widespread concern.
C)It was inexpensive to reduce the emission of the pollutants that caused acid rain.
D)The major polluters were developing countries that were easily pressured by more powerful states to reduce pollution levels.

Question 36

How has globalization affected environmental issues?

A)The spread of global media has increased awareness of global warming and has led to the reduction of carbon emissions in developing countries.
B)Poor countries have more access to environmentally friendly technologies because of the spread of the Internet.
C)Transit costs have declined,which has decreased the environmental impact of trade.
D)The increased competition resulting from economic globalization makes firms more likely to reduce costs by evading environmental regulations.

Question 37

Which of the following statements best describes the United States' approach to global warming?

A)The United States was an early leader in the campaign to reduce global warming.
B)The United States has boycotted goods produced in countries that have signed international agreements to which it opposes.
C)The United States has been unwilling to take a significant role in reducing carbon emissions.
D)The United States has shared new environmental technology with developing countries in the hopes that these countries will reduce their carbon emissions.

Question 38

Why do "greener" industries have less political influence than polluting industries?

A)Polluting industries usually involve many firms,and they can use their superior numbers to pressure the government for support.
B)Since greener industries are usually new industries,there are too few people currently dependent upon their success to rally support for them.
C)Most people do not believe that environmentally friendly technologies actually work.
D)The majority of people do not support environmentally friendly technologies.

Question 39

Which of the following illustrates the effects of linkage on environmental problems?

A)Greenpeace monitored Japanese whaling vessels while providing information to governments about weather trends.
B)The United States and Canada are each other's largest trading partners,and together they stopped the problem of acid rain.
C)Mexico blames pollution from the United States for birth defects in Tijuana.
D)Southern European and northern African countries share responsibility for pollution levels in the Mediterranean Sea.

Question 40

The depletion of the whale population due to hunting is an example of:

A)the difficulty of managing common-pool resources.
B)the ineffectiveness of TANs.
C)the relative effectiveness of numerical limits rather than complete bans.
D)the importance of scientific whaling.

Question 41

The Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol are related to which issue?

A)Whaling
B)Ozone depletion
C)Climate change
D)Oil dumping in open waters

Question 42

Why were the European Emissions Trading Scheme credits given to existing companies,rather than auctioned off?

A)It was more efficient to give away the credits than to stage an auction.
B)The Europeans found out that firms could not afford to purchase the credits and pay for the technology to reduce emissions.
C)Consumers successfully lobbied to have the credits given out for free so that firms would not have to raise the prices of their products.
D)Firms successfully lobbied to have the credits given out for free so that they would not have to pay for them.

Question 43

Which of the following is an accurate portrayal of the history of environmental conventions against oil dumping by oil tankers?

A)Oil tanker standards have been successful because compliance is easily verified.
B)Oil tanker operators clean oil tankers at present by flooding them with ocean water; environmental action has not been successful.
C)Oil tanker operators independently changed their policies after oil dumping was exposed in the media.
D)Oil tanker operators adopted technology that both reduced their costs and reduced the dumping of oil into the sea.

Question 44

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change aids cooperation over reduction of greenhouse gases by:

A)ensuring iterated interactions between states.
B)exercising central authority over member states.
C)reducing the complexity of climate change issues.
D)minimizing the size of the cooperating group.

Question 45

International environmental institutions can affect cooperation on environmental issues by:

A)forcing states to fulfill their treaty obligations through economic sanctions.
B)reducing decision-making costs for states negotiating agreements about international environmental issues.
C)eliminating disputes over environmental issues.
D)creating standards of behavior that members find unacceptable.

Question 46

Which of the following is an example of a transnational advocacy network acting as a "fire alarm"?

A)Greenpeace distributing video clips to the media about whaling.
B)Greenpeace notifying the IWC of any whaling violations that they witness.
C)Greenpeace hanging banners on the Golden Gate Bridge condemning commercial whaling.
D)Greenpeace positioning themselves between Japanese whaling vessels and the whales they are trying to hunt.

Question 47

Why is it cheaper and easier to prevent environmental damage in developing countries?

A)Developing countries have less invested in infrastructure and thus are better able to adopt new,greener technologies.
B)Labor costs are lower in developing countries,which means that it is cheaper to hire workers to refurbish firms with new technologies.
C)Labor costs are lower in developing countries,which means firms in developing countries can profit from using workers instead of highly polluting machinery.
D)Wealthy countries can afford to sell new technologies at lower prices in developing countries because of favorable exchange rates.

Question 48

International environmental agreements tend not to have independent procedures for dispute resolution because:

A)international organizations have the authority to compel compliance.
B)such agreements involve few distributional issues.
C)the use of carrots and sticks by member states has been proven successful.
D)states rarely disagree about compliance for treaties.

Question 49

Which of the following describes the role environmental TANs play in ongoing negotiations on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)?

A)They provide scientific information to participants.
B)They attend formal sessions as observers.
C)They are subject to a quota,limiting the number who can attend.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 50

Why is representing the interests of future generations in political bargaining over the environment difficult?

A)Levels of income in the future are likely to be substantially similar to current levels.
B)It is uncertain whether future generations will care about the environment.
C)Current political actors do not care at all about future generations.
D)There is no real mechanism for representing the interests of future generations in today's bargaining.

Question 51

The use of a nationally determined contribution standard to curb carbon emissions helps countries that:

A)are developing renewable energy technologies.
B)hold large forest resources.
C)link their cap-and-trade systems with those of other countries.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 52

The relationship effect of development (as measured in per capita income)on environmental protection is:

A)linear and positive.
B)linear and negative.
C)initially negative,then positive.
D)initially positive,then negative.

Question 53

Why did the requirement that tankers purchase new discharge equipment reduce oil pollution?

A)The newly required equipment was cheaper than the old equipment,so more tanker companies purchased it.
B)The new equipment made it easier for transnational advocacy networks to monitor tankers at sea.
C)Although the new equipment was more expensive than the previous measures,verification of compliance was easier than before.
D)Many tanker companies could not afford the new equipment and went out of business; fewer tankers resulted in fewer oil discharges.

Question 54

Why are there ethical concerns about pressuring poor countries to industrialize in an environmentally friendly way?

A)Wealthy countries are sacrificing their own environmental welfare in order to improve the environmental welfare of poor countries.
B)Poor countries will not benefit from improving the environment as much as wealthy countries will.
C)Wealthy countries caused the pollution problem while industrializing nations are now asking poor countries not to do the same.
D)Some new environmentally friendly technologies may be more dangerous for workers than older technologies.

Question 55

How does China's economic development affect its pollution levels?

A)China has already been emitting more CO2 per capita than the United States.
B)The Chinese government has responded to environmental concerns by increasing regulations.
C)China is expected to comply with the greenhouse gas emissions set by the Kyoto Protocol.
D)After a rapid increase associated with industrialization,CO2 emissions have stabilized.

Question 56

Why did the United States refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol?

A)The United States did not think the agreement went far enough in reducing greenhouse gases.
B)The United States would have to reduce its carbon emissions while developing countries would not.
C)The United States was boycotting the host country,Japan,because of its whaling practices.
D)The United States preferred an alternative agreement proposed by several European countries.

Question 57

Why has cooperation on stopping ozone depletion been easier than cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

A)Ozone depletion is not subject to collective action problems.
B)Compared to the costs,the return on stopping ozone depletion is greater and more certain than stopping climate change.
C)States have had less time to address climate change.
D)There were no special interests that wanted to protect CFC production.

Question 58

The solution to the tragedy of the commons in England at the end of the Middle Ages primarily involved:

A)laws regulating grazing.
B)intervention by the church.
C)norms adopted by herders.
D)privatizing common lands.

Question 59

The Paris Agreement:

A)dictates specific targets for each state's emission levels.
B)has benefited from active promotion by the United States as a privileged actor.
C)does not include developing countries.
D)relies on nationally determined contributions.

Question 60

The implementation of which of the following environmental agreements led to a cap-and-trade system?

A)Vienna Convention
B)International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil
C)Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
D)Kyoto Protocol

Question 61

How can international institutions help implement international environmental agreements?

Question 62

Why do environmental agreements typically use soft law rather than hard law?

Question 63

What is the conflict between economic development and environmental well-being? Is there a compromise between these competing interests? Should the way this compromise is addressed vary between developed and developing countries?

Question 64

Why is cooperation to improve the environment sometimes like a Prisoner's Dilemma?

Question 65

Why does the potential of new technologies to ameliorate environmental problems not immediately lead to regulations requiring their adoption?

Question 66

When is cooperation on international environmental problems most likely to occur?

Question 67

How can privatizing public goods encourage better protection of the environment? Consider the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)as an example.

Question 68

Explain how transnational advocacy networks help implement international environmental agreements.

Question 69

Discuss a collective action problem that you have personally encountered?

Question 70

Why has cooperation in restoring the ozone been more successful than efforts to address climate change?

Question 71

Why was the adoption of expensive new technologies more effective in limiting oil discharges by tankers as opposed to the cheaper alternatives that failed to change the behavior of tanker operators?

Question 72

Why is iteration an important contribution of institutions to environmental cooperation?

Question 73

Why are complete bans often more effective that numerical restrictions on pollution?

Question 74

Explain how interests and interactions make international environmental cooperation difficult to achieve,even when major actors have a shared interest in preserving the environment.

Question 75

Why has the United States withdrawn from the Paris Agreement? What does this tell us about the nature and challenges of international bargaining on environmental issues?