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There is a consistent belief in American society that the government should protect the environment. Our expectation that government should play this role is shaped by the reality that many environmental protection challenges involve collective goods (e.g., clean air) and common pool resources (e.g., fisheries resources). Only government is thought capable of managing these types of resources because it is the mechanism through which we can best achieve outcomes that serve the public, not private or individual, interest. Perhaps the landmark expression of the need for collective action is “The Tragedy of Commons.” The support for government action, however, is often linked to the costs involved. How much, for example, are we willing to pay to protect the environment? Environmental protection often produces a distribution of costs and benefits that runs counter to that found in most policy sectors. This generally makes environmental protection a more challenging political goal.

Objectives

After completing this week’s web-lectures, assignment, readings, and participating in the on-line discussions you will have a better appreciation of how environment protection policies tend to generate a set of political considerations that prove at best problematic and at worst insurmountable.