PowerPoint Presentation - Dr. Craig ZumBrunnen Co-Director Program on the Environment & Professor Department of Geography University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195 craigzb@u.washington.edu

Resource Use & Pollution Emission Charges -1

•Advantages:

–internalize external costs if charges are close to estimated marginal external costs

–costs passed along to ultimate consumer

–encourage reduction of resource and pollution to optimum levels

–collected changes may be used to generate tax revenues & pay for abatement/prevention facilities

–a positive, preventative, pro-active incentive approach rather than remedial, after the fact compensation strategy

–lower transaction costs

–allow fees to reflect increasingly scarce resources

–can cope with economic growth vs environment