Course:ECON371/UBCO2024WT1/Reflections/Jordan Pohr

Reflection #1

Economics of the Environment has given me a new perspective on many economic concepts. While I have taken economics courses in the past, the ideas introduced in this course have changed how I think we should approach economics when evaluating environmental issues like climate change, forestry, and many other topics discussed in class. I believe Econ 371 has provided me with immense value, and I'm excited to continue learning about the interaction between economics and the environment.

One topic that has particularly captured my interest is the concept of willingness to pay, especially regarding the development of new infrastructure in our communities. This topic has made me reflect on how we should move forward with projects that may affect the environment, such as ski areas, biking trails, and community parks. It raises important questions about how much we, as taxpayers, are willing to pay for this new infrastructure and whether the long-term environmental costs might outweigh the benefits. Striking a balance between meeting community needs and protecting the environment is a complex issue that I find deeply interesting, as it impacts us daily.

Another topic I have found compelling in this course is externalities. Both positive and negative externalities have been significant points of discussion. This course has encouraged me to think more critically about how these externalities affect our daily lives and the environment. For example, negative externalities like factory air pollution impose costs not only on the environment but also on public health. Although we are aware of such issues, we often overlook them because addressing them can be expensive. As consumers, we might feel powerless in these situations, but as I have progressed through this course, I believe we need to take a stronger stand to protect both the environment and our health.

These are just a few of the topics that have resonated with me throughout this course. Overall, the course is well-structured, and the discussions are engaging and thought-provoking. The open environment allows for multiple opinions to be shared without fear of judgment, which is especially important given the current climate of our world. I'm looking forward to learning more in the coming weeks and hope to continue evolving my views on environmental issues.

Reflection #2

I came into this course with only a few economic courses under my belt but this course by far has been one of my favourite courses. It has taught me many environmental economic concepts as well as challenging my own beliefs which I believe is very important in a course like this. This course has made me feel safe enough to not feel like my ideas are wrong or bad but rather to provide me with the proper insight and knowledge to shape my views on how we treat the environment. There were many topics that stood out to me in this course and all of them provided me with lots of insight into not only how we should approach environmental economics but why it's important to take these concepts and ideas seriously.

One topic that really stood out to me later in the course was clean technologies. I have always been interested in clean technologies whether that's electric cars, solar power or hydrogen powered homes etc. As we have learned in this course, these technologies are the future of our world and learning how not only do they affect the environment but what are their impacts economically. As of right now, it's very challenging to adopt clean technologies especially in countries whose economies aren’t major players in the space. We also learned that for wide adoption to happen it must be cost-competitive with other technologies such as oil/gas with cars as well as providing a better service to those adopting it. For example, hydrogen powered cars must be as cheap to produce and as affordable for the consumer as gas powered cars while also providing the consumer a better overall experience compared to gas powered cars. This topic is complex and is something every country is having trouble navigating but as someone really interested in the topic I hope to see new ways we can make these clean technologies not only economically viable for the environment but for the consumer as well.

Toward the end of the course we took a look at poverty and its relationship with the environment. This topic is very personal to me as someone who grew up in a very low income household, it can be very hard to consider things like the environment when you are just trying to get by everyday. The problem I have noticed with the current implementation of environmental policy is most policy is done with middle-upper class people in mind as they can maybe afford to pay a few extra dollars here and there or an extra 20 cents on gas but for most lower class people this is something they simply can not afford. I hope to see changes to this in the future.

Before this course, I had a very closed mind when it came to environmental economics. I had few beliefs and I never really challenged them in any way. The topics taught in this course really challenged my thinking. That alongside the open discussion have really transformed my current views from something I would say is very close minded to something more open minded.

I have learned alot from this course and these two topics only scratch the surface of the overarching idea of environmental economics but these are the few that really hit home for me in the second half of the course. As a whole, the course was very well taught and I recommend anyone who is interested in environmental economics to take it as the course really challenges your current beliefs and provides the necessary safe space to actually express your beliefs which is something I value a lot. I am very happy I took this course and I hope to continue to expand my knowledge on environmental economics.

Prof: Thanks for the feedback, and sharing a bit of your personal story. Yes, so many policies seem to focus on the upper-middle class voter. To be able to benefit from a subsidy for an EV, one needs to have the money to buy a new car! To be able to benefit from a greener home loan, one needs to own a home. That is something I think we should care about. Politicians need to win over those that vote, and those who are upper-middle class, who own property, are those most likely to vote.