Environmental Justice: The Economics of Race, Place, and Pollution

Catalog description

Minorities, people of color, and low-income households bear a disproportionate burden from environmental pollution. Since the Clinton Administration, addressing environmental injustice has been among the policy objectives of the EPA. Course examines how environmental injustices may arise out of discriminatory behavior and/or market forces founded on individual, firm, and government incentives. We begin with the theoretical framework used to document and explain disproportionate exposures, then review existing empirical evidence through case studies and evaluate competing explanations for injustice using an economics framework. Prerequisite: Economics 201D and Economics 204D or 208D.