2nd Edition

Environmental Economics The Essentials

By Tom Tietenberg, Lynne Lewis Copyright 2025
    428 Pages 35 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    428 Pages 35 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Environmental Economics: The Essentials offers a policy-oriented approach to the increasingly influential field of environmental economics that is based upon a solid foundation of economic theory and empirical research. Students will not only leave the course with a firm understanding of environmental economics, but they will also be exposed to a number of case studies showing how underlying economic principles provided the foundation for specific environmental and resource policies. This key text highlights what insights can be derived from the actual experience.

    Key features include:

    • extensive coverage of the major issues, including climate change, air and water pollution, sustainable development, and environmental justice
    • introductions to the theory and method of environmental economics, including externalities, experimental and behavioral economics, benefit-cost analysis, and methods for valuing the services provided by the environment
    • boxed ‘Examples’ and ‘Debates’ throughout the text, which highlight global cases and major talking points.

    This second edition provides updated data, new studies, and more international examples. There is a considerable amount of new material, with a deeper focus on climate change. The text is fully supported with end-of-chapter summaries, discussion questions, and self-test exercises in the book, as well as a suite of supplementary digital resources, including multiple-choice questions, simulations, references, slides, and an instructor’s manual. It is adapted from the 12th edition of the best-selling Environmental and Natural Resource Economics textbook by the same authors.

    Preface. An Overview of the Book. Acknowledgements. PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS 1. Visions of the Future 2. The Economic Approach: Property Rights, Externalities, and Environmental Problems 3. Evaluating Trade-Offs: Benefit-Cost Analysis and Other Decision-Making Metrics 4. Valuing the Environment: Methods 5. Economics of Pollution Control: An Overview 6. Stationary-Source Local and Regional Air Pollution PART II: CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 7. Climate Change: The Nature of the Challenge 8. Climate Change: Carbon Pricing 9. Transportation: Managing Congestion and Pollution 10. Climate Change: Adaptation: Floods, Wildfires, and Water Scarcity 11. Water Pollution: Managing Water Quality for Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans 12. Toxic Substances and Environmental Justice 13. Sustainable Development: Meeting the Challenge. Answers to Self-Test Exercises. Glossary. Index

    Biography

    Tom Tietenberg is the Mitchell Family Professor of Economics, Emeritus at Colby College, Maine, USA.

    Lynne Lewis is Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, Colorado USA and Elmer W. Campbell Professor of Economics Emeritus at Bates College, Maine, USA.