Do people respond to market incentives? Consider the following policies. How do you expect people to respond to them? What environmental impacts might arise?
(a) Many places require that "brownfields"-places that previously received contamination, usually from industrial use-be cleaned up before they can be put to new uses. Brownfields are commonly in urban areas. Suburban and rural areas are sometimes known as "greenfields," since they lack contamination concerns. Where would new businesses want to locate?
(b) In the western United States, a great deal of land is owned by the federal government, which does not pay local property taxes. The federal government does, though, give a share of the proceeds of sales of wood products from its lands to support local government purposes, such as schools. How might the local governments view wilderness protections that reduced wood harvests?
(c) Many developing countries seek to develop export markets, because people in wealthier countries have more ability to buy products than people in their own countries. They can produce goods more cheaply due to lower labor costs, and often, fewer environmental restrictions on production. What factors would a company consider in deciding where to locate its production? What factors would a developing country consider in deciding whether to increase environmental protections?
(d) When gasoline prices hit record levels in the summer of 2008, some U.S. presidential candidates proposed a "gas tax holiday"-reducing the federal gasoline tax-to ease the cost increase. These same presidential candidates expressed concern over the consequences of climate change, to which burning fossil fuels such as gasoline is a contributor. What effects, if any, would a "gas tax holiday" have on climate change?