Environmental Policy and Law Flashcards
6 cards from real Environmental Science practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Environmental Policy and Law flashcards as text
Cap-and-trade emissions trading systems work by:
Answer: Setting a ceiling on total emissions and allowing companies to buy and sell emission permits
Cap-and-trade sets a total emissions limit (cap), distributes or auctions permits, and allows trading so reductions occur where cheapest, meeting the cap at lowest overall cost.
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the U.S. protects listed species primarily by:
Answer: Prohibiting the take of listed species and requiring federal agencies to consult before actions that may jeopardize species
The ESA prohibits take (killing, harming, harassing) of listed species and requires federal agencies to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or NOAA before any action that could jeopardize listed species or their critical habitat.
The concept of natural capital in environmental economics refers to:
Answer: The stock of natural assets (soils, water, air, biodiversity) that provides ecosystem services to humans
Natural capital encompasses the Earth's natural assets - living and non-living - that provide services (clean water, climate regulation, pollination) essential to human welfare.
Which principle guides the management of international fisheries under UNCLOS and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs)?
Answer: Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) - harvesting at the level that produces the greatest yield indefinitely
MSY is the theoretical maximum harvest rate a population can sustain indefinitely without being depleted, and it guides most fisheries management frameworks.
The primary purpose of environmental bonding (performance bonds) in mining regulation is to:
Answer: Ensure that the mining company has resources to reclaim the land if it abandons the site
Companies must post a reclamation bond before mining begins; if they abandon the site or go bankrupt, the bond funds remediation so taxpayers do not bear the cost.
The concept of intergenerational equity in sustainable development, as articulated in the Brundtland Report (1987), holds that:
Answer: Each generation has an obligation to leave future generations at least as much natural and human capital as it inherited
The Brundtland definition of sustainable development - meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs - is the classic statement of intergenerational equity.