NewYorkUniversity:DepartmentofEconomics EconUA.0326EconomicsofEnergyandtheEnvironment Fall2011 Dr.DermotGately Phone:(212)9988955email:Dermot.Gately@NYU.edu Office:NYUEcon.Dept.(room519),19W.4St.,NYNY10012 OfficeHours:byappointment;arrangebyemailorarrangebefore/afterclass Class:Monday&Wednesday9:3010:45am, location:Silver101(1stfloor,NWcorner,accessviaSilversteinLounge,entrynearNorthelevators) EveryMonday&Wednesday,fromWednesdaySept.7throughMondayDec.14exceptMondayOct.10 Prerequisite:IntermediateMicroeconomicsorpermissionoftheprofessor. Classwebsite,viaBlackboardsoftware,accessibleviaNYUhome:home.nyu.edu Textbook:none.Readingswillbedistributedinclassand/ormadeavailableontheclasswebsite(PDFarticles forwhichyouwillneedAdobeReadertoaccess).IfyouneedacopyofAdobeReader,youcandownloadthe freesoftwareat:http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.

adstep2.html Studentresponseclickerswillbeusedbyallstudentsineverylecture,atnocosttostudents. Gradesforthecoursewillbebasedonmidtermexam(20%),finalexam(40%),classparticipation(20%), andanoptionalInternetresearchpaper(20%,describedbelow).IfnoInternetresearchpaperissubmitted(orif itsgradewouldloweryouraverage)thengradesforthecoursewillbebaseduponmidtermexam(27.5%),final exam(52.5%),andclassparticipation(20%).Classparticipationincludesthefollowing:classattendanceand participationinquestionsandanswers,BlackboardDiscussionBoardparticipationinquestionsandanswers aboutlecturesandreadings,aswellasusefulpostingsofinternetlinksandfollowupdiscussiononthe DiscussionBoard.GradedistributionforcoursewillbebaseduponEconomicsDepartmentguidelines: Deviationofplusorminusfivepercentagepointsisconsideredwithinthenormalboundsforthefollowing targets:A29%;B40%;C22%;D5%;F5% Asignificantcomponentofclassexaminationswillbebaseduponmaterialthatwasdiscussedinclass; studentsareresponsibleforclassmaterial,evenifitdoesnotlaterappearonBlackboardasaPowerpoint presentation. Tobeexcusedfromanyscheduledexam,youmustprovideamedicalnotethatjustifiesyourabsence (notmerelythatyouwereseenbythedoctor)oryoumustprovideawrittenexplanationwithdocumentation assoonaspossibleaftertheexam.Youshouldalsotelephoneoremailme,inadvanceifpossible.Therewill benomakeupexamforthemidtermexam.IfyoumisstheFinalExam,youmustapplyforthemakeupexam, whichwillbegiveninthe4thweekofSpringsemester;downloadtheapplicationfromthewebsite,under CourseInformation. MidtermExam:WednesdayOct.26 FinalExam:MondayDec.198am9:50amforallstudents;noearlierorlatersubstitutedateswillbeprovided forindividualstudentforanyreason.

 OutlineofCourse,withselectedreadings(seeBlackboardfortheseandadditionalreadings) 1) Reviewofrelevantmicroeconomics Elasticitiesofsupplyanddemand RelationbetweenTotalBenefits/Costs/WelfareandMarginalBenefits/Costs/Welfare AssumptionsaboutPerfectlyCompetitiveMarkets MarketFailures:ExternalitiesonDemandand/orSupplySide;taxesorsubsidiestocompensate MarketFailure:Monopoly MarketFailure:NaturalMonopoly OtherMarketFailures:PublicGoods,ImperfectInformation 2) Energy:EconomicsandGovernmentPolicies PDFreading:USEnergyDept.,AnnualEnergyReview2010especiallyBookmarkpages PDFreading:ExxonMobil_2010,TheOutlookforEnergy PDFreading:Gately,OPECat50:LookingBackandLookingAhead PDFreading:Gately,OPEC'sIncentivesforFasterOutputGrowth.pdf(especiallypp.28) PDFreading:Gately,WhatoilexportlevelsshouldweexpectfromOPEC? PDFarticle:DargayGately,Worldoildemandsshifttowardfastergrowingandlesspriceresponsive productsandregions PDFarticle:DargayGatelySommers,VehicleOwnership&IncomeGrowth 3) EnvironmentalEconomics:introduction PDFarticle:Fullerton&Stavins,HowEconomistsSeetheEnvironment; PDFreading:Lomborg,TheSkepticalEnvironmentalist,Ch.1&reviews PDFarticle:Hahn,EconomicPrescriptionsforEnvironmentalProblems:HowthePatientFollowedthe DoctorsOrders 4) AcidRain:TradableEmissionsPermits(CapandTrade) PDFarticle:Schmalenseeetal.,InterimEvaluationofSulfurDioxideEmissionsTrading PDFarticle:Stavins,WhatCanWeLearnfromtheGrandPolicyExperiment? LessonsfromSO2AllowanceTrading 5) CarbonEmissionsandGlobalWarming PDFarticle:Schelling,SomeEconomicsofGlobalWarming PDFarticle:Weyant,JohnP.,andJenniferHill.1999.TheCostsoftheKyotoProtocol Levitt&Dubner,Superfreakonomics,Ch.5:WhatdoAlGore&Mt.Pinatubohaveincommon? Goresdocumentary:AnInconvenientTruth Lomborgsdocumentary:CoolIt! 6) WaterandWaterPollution 7) RecyclingandManagingWaste: PDFarticle:Kinnaman,ExaminingtheJustificationforResidentialRecycling 8) Transportation Congestionpricing Taxandsubsidyissues Otherarticleswillbeadded.

 EconUA.0326EconomicsofEnergyandtheEnvironment Fall2011 OptionalInternetResearchProject ThepurposeofthisprojectistodevelopyourskillsofsearchingtheInternetforusefulinformation,and organizingitinawaythatwouldbeusefultoothers. Chooseatopicoranissuethatinterestsyou,onewhichrelatestothecoursebutonwhichtheclasswillnot spendmuch(ifany)time.Examplesofmanypossibletopicsincludethefollowing: Carbonsequestrationtoreducethebuildupofgreenhousegasintheatmosphere Timeofdaymetersforelectricitypricing Improvedenergyefficiencywithsuperwindows Forissuesonwhichtherearedifferentviews,Iexpectabalancedpresentationofopposingviews.Feelfreeto addyourowncommentsandevaluationofthestrengthsandweaknessesofparticularreferences.Besureto incorporatetheeconomicaspectsofthetopic,notjustthetechnologicaldetails. Useasearchenginesuchaswww.google.comtofindinformationonwebpages,andkeeptrackofwhatsitesare mostuseful.Ifyourenotsureofwhattopicsmightinterestyou,Idsuggestthatyoubrowsearoundtheweb sitesofvariousenergyorenvironmentalgroups.Otherpossibilitiesincludethefollowing: www.energy.govwww.eia.doe.govhttp://www.epa.gov/epahome/topics.htmlwww.rff.orgwww.rmi.org www.sierraclub.org www.worldwatch.org/topics www.wri.org www.greenpeace.org/campaigns www.cato.org/researchwww.natsource.com/enviroaction/index.htm Manyofthesesitesalsolistjobopportunities,suchassummerinternships,ifyoureinterestedinsuchwork. Deadlines: 1.NolaterthanFriday,October7(5pm).Iflateortheproposalisofpoorquality,youwillnotbeallowedto submitapaper.Iwanttoreceiveanemailthatcontainsabriefstatementofwhattopicinterestsyouandwhy, togetherwithanannotatedlistofwebsites(includingexactaddressesmorespecificthanoneslistedabove) thatyoubelievetobeuseful,includingabriefstatementofwhateachsiteoffers. 2.NolaterthanFriday,Nov.11(5pm).Iflate,substantialpenaltieswillbeimposed.Reportdue,preferablyas aWordfilewithclickablewebaddresses.Itshouldbesenttomyemailaddressasanemailattachment.No morethan5printedpagesarepermitted(notcountinganyAppendixpagesyoucaretoinclude).Thinkofthisas anExecutiveSummarythatyourewriting,inwhichyoudescribethetopic,andsummarizethewebsitesthat providethebestinformation(andPDFarticlesifappropriate).Ifyourtopicwarrantsapolicyrecommendation, youmayindicateyourrecommendedpolicyforsociety. Additionalrequirements.Attopoffirstpage,putyourname,date,andashortdescriptivetitle.The.docfile thatyousendmeasanemailattachmentshouldhavefilenameinthefollowingformat: LastName_DescriptiveTitle Embedyourhyperlinkswithinthetextofthe.docfile,NOTasfootnotesorasreferencesattheend.Hyperlinks areintendedtotakethereaderdirectlytotheexactlocationnotageneralsitesuchaswww.epa.gov Includepagenumbers:Insert|PageNumbers Usethespellcheckerandthegrammarandstylechecker:Tools|Options|Spelling&Grammar UseLeftAlignment,notJustifiedAlignment(onFormat|Paragraphmenu).UsestandardPaperSize(Letter), withdoublespacing,12pt.font. Theclasswebsitehassomegoodexamplesofprojectsthatweresubmittedbypreviousstudentsintheclass. PaperssubmittedwillbepostedontheBlackboardsite,sothateachstudentcanviewwhattheothershave done.