58 Economic dimensions and socio-cultural patterns
Costanzaet al.1997b,Patterson2002,Permanet al.2003,Rogerset al.2006). The
heat, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, pesticides, nitrogen and phosphorus, noise,
CO 2 ,and much more resulting from both production and consumption are often
lumped as pollutants. Some call these (economic) resources out of place, which
underlies, for example, recycling programs and industrial ecology that do oper-
ate within markets. Indeed wastes are an important and normal part of the
production process and of society (Berger 2006). Such wastes are ‘‘everywhere,”
especially across the urban region, a huge challenge offering rich economic and
design opportunities.
Nevertheless, most pollutants are unwanted and degrade environmental con-
ditions. Widespread environmental impact analyses evaluate the levels of pollu-
tant effects on natural resources and their value to people. Prevention, avoid-
ance, and conservation efforts to reduce pollution effects on natural systems are
common, and may or may not be costly. However, efforts to mediate, mitigate,
and compensate pollutant effects are also made, often at considerable cost.
The giant in environmental economics is thedegradationeffect by these pol-
lutants on natural and human resources. Aquifers, lakes, streams, estuaries, and
seas suffer. Soil, diverse natural communities, wildlife, and rare species suffer.
Recreation and aesthetics suffer. Human health suffers. The economic losses due
tothese production by-products and the wastes from human consumption are
staggering and growing. With the failure of market and regulatory approaches,
ecological economics has evolved to address them.
While pollutants are the core of environmental problems, a small but increas-
ing degradation of resources is occurring from the presence of humans them-
selves. Population growth, urban sprawl, transportation, and technology are plac-
ing more people in more remote areas. The direct and indirect effects of this
pattern are threatening and degrading more wildlife populations, rare species,
natural communities, aquatic ecosystems, and fish populations. Ecological rather
than market or regulatory economics is the key again here.
As mentioned in the preceding section, the degradation of resources by pol-
lution and human overuse is a form of resource loss (Dasgupta and Heal 1974 ).
Urbanization and associated pollution of the only good aquifer in an urban
region is an obvious loss. Its short-term valuation based on costly substitu-
tion is readily calculated, whereas its long-term role as water supply, chang-
ing forest products source, soil-erosion protector, biodiversity protector, and
changing recreation resource is difficult to estimate. In contrast, the diverse
ramifications of increased urban heat and increased stormwater runoff, due to
extensively replacing greenspace with impermeable paved areas cannot be esti-
mated with any confidence. Consider the lost functions and the new costs for
air-conditioning, industry, domestic water use, changed precipitation patterns,