Economists, Environmental Policies and Federalism

With global warming, Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of effective environmental policies. In his paper Anthony Scott, a pioneer in the areas of resource and environmental economics in this country, provides a comprehensive discussion of the role economists can and should play in the development of more effective environmental policies. A key theme of his paper is that environmental policy, particularly in crucial areas like global air pollution, is still in its infancy and effective national institutions to respond to policy challenges are still in the developmental stage. Scott first reviews the history of environmental policy in England, the United States and Canada. He then examines the approaches of economists to environmental issues, including the market failure and ideal output approach, benefit-cost analysis of pollution, and environmental impact assessment, and identifies topics that environmental economists teach and research. The paper then compares what economists do in Canada in the environmental area compared to that in the United States, finding that academic environmental economists in Canada specialize more in theory and show little knowledge or interest in issues directly related to the environmental policy debate in their country of residence.