ECON 3545 Cu boulder The Gross Dam Expansion Economic Analysis 2 pages minimum, 3 pages maximum in length, single spaced, Times New Roman or Calibri 12 poi

ECON 3545 Cu boulder The Gross Dam Expansion Economic Analysis 2 pages minimum, 3 pages maximum in length, single spaced, Times New Roman or Calibri 12 point. 1” margins

Need help completing a paper based off of this proposal and the attached rubric.

Proposal:

For my written assignment I am planning on assessing the Gross Reservoir Dam Expansion that has been proposed by Denver Water in Boulder County to increase the amount of water they believe they will need to sustain in the near future as Denver’s population explodes. The residents of the area, as well as environmental groups, have been pushing back against the expansion of the dam for several reasons. The main ones being that they believe more sustainable options can be utilized, outdoor recreation in the gross area will be damaged, the size of such a construction project will create large amounts of traffic, and toxic byproducts from the construction project will negatively affect both the wildlife and the residents themselves. Denver Water has been working to address these concerns by monitoring recreational use in the area as well as donating to non-profits such as trout unlimited and adjusting the flows of the dam to help improve the health of the streams below the dam. I believe that a cost benefit analysis would be helpful in this situation as well as a future discount rate to assess the when is the best time to build the dam or what other options may make more sense. Ideally, I will be able to come up with the costs that would be inflicted by not building the dam and suggesting Denver Water to invest that same amount or more into preventing the damages that the local residents and environmental groups are concerned about. This information can be found on Denver Water’s website https://www.denverwater.org/project-updates/gross-reservoir-expansion-project and save boulder county’s website https://www.savebouldercounty.org/

Rubric attached INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
Learning objectives
1. To analyze an environmental problem.
2. To become familiar with the sources and presentation of environmental data.
3. To practice writing brief policy reports.
Physical requirements
2 pages minimum, 3 pages maximum in length, single spaced, Times New Roman or Calibri 12 point. 1”
margins.
The proposal and the paper will be submitted through Canvas.
References and appendixes do not count in the length of the paper.
Academic requirements
The paper should relate to an environmental policy issue and must answer: How can economics inform
public policy related to this issue? Aim at a simple idea: a tax, a subsidy, a fee, the creation of a new
market, etc. Explain why this is a good idea. You will use economics tools discussed in this or other
Economic classes to thoroughly explore the underlying economic institutions, economic incentives of
people or groups involved, their benefits and costs, and the economic and political attractiveness of
alternative policy options. This is a document that could be handed to policymakers in order to educate
them about an issue and argue for a specific policy position.
Rubric for the paper
Requirements
Suggestions-tips
points
Groups of interest
Identify groups of
If you do this correctly, the rest of 20
interest and their
the paper will follow.
incentives.
You may revise once you identify
interests that you didn’t recognize
at first.
Use of economic tool
Literature review
You need to study the existing
30
Make sure your sources
literature on this topic, to see
are reliable. Academic
what different economists argue.
journals are the best, but This phase is known as the
you may also use policy
literature review. You must go
reports or briefings.
through the most important
books and papers written on this
topic and present the framework
that will form the skeleton of your
argument and introduce the
concepts that you would be using.
Economic theory
You must use an idea or
a principle in economics
(simple is better both in
the math and in words).
You might not need a different
section to show your Economic
theory, this might be embedded
in your literature review or in
your contribution.
30
1
Just make sure you know what it
is. Examples are: efficiency, a tax,
a subsidy, economic valuation,
certification mechanisms, fees,
tolls, or payments.
Policy options
Organization
Creativity
Timely proposal
Your contribution.
You may use some
statistics, run a
regression, do net
present value or suggest
a course of action that
uses economic principles
without any numbers.
You must present data that is
30
authoritative and must show that
the data points to the fact that
your suggestion is best.
Your argument may use data from
other published articles, from
official sources, from international
organizations. For example
economic valuation studies from
evri.ca, the World Bank, the UN.
Note that you cannot just simply
copy a problem/solution already
directly stated in the literature
without any additional effort! Also
if your contribution does not
directly use statistics, regression,
net present value etc but instead
uses general writing arguing from
economic principles that I will be
more rigorous in how I grade.
You are writing an
applied paper.
Provide a policy
alternative.
Explain why is this the
best alternative.
Your paper should be
easy to read.
Grammar and spelling
need to be checked.
2 pages minimum 3
pages maximum single
spaced.
Be creative in the use of
the tools you have
acquired as well as in the
topics that are important
to you.
This section is where you defend
your argument and conclude.
30
I suggest that If you are not
English native speaker use online
grammar review or use the
“writing center” at CU Boulder to
review your final draft.
20
Enjoy writing about a topic that is
close to your heart.
30
10
2
PROPOSAL
Your proposal is a one-page document that should be constructed as follows:
1. State issue.
2. Identify who the actors are
3. Explain the institutions or current rules
4. Provide some literature on the topic (at least 3 sources for the proposal)
5. Propose an alternative based on an economic approach
6. Conclude with a suggestion
EXAMPLE OF A PROPOSAL
1. The issue: The best approach to reduce CO2 emissions is a system of carbon emissions. This
paper tries to find the appropriate system of carbon emissions reduction in the US.
2. Who are the actors?
Many nations are currently participating in cap and trade systems. The main international actors
are Canada, Mexico, Europe and China. Domestically the main actors are California, the
Northeastern Market and the main emitters are oil and gas producers.
3. Explain the institutions or current rules
a. The China-US Climate Agreement
i.
In November 12th, 2014, the United States and China reached an agreement for
post 2020 actions on climate change. The US agreed to reduce its emissions by
26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. China will in turn attempt to reduce
greenhouse gases.
b. California Emissions trading scheme works well and it is expanding.
c. Clean Air Act SOX/NOX implement an equivalent system for CO2 emissions.
d. CO2 is a political card that Republicans are not willing to support. There is some
demonstration of public support of climate measures (Greta Thunberg in the USA).
4. Alternatives in reducing GHG emissions are:
a. An International Emissions Trading System
i.
Although the US is not currently included in the International Emission Trading
System coordinated by the United Nations created by the Kyoto Protocol, it
provides an example of how a cap and trade system might be applied.
b. Promote a global market where a cap and trade system enables countries to trade their
carbon emissions with other actors who have spare emissions credits.
i.
Consider aspects of poor -rich divide between developing and developed
countries (use the clean development mechanism).
c. Expand the existing California State Carbon Emissions trading scheme to nationwide
level.
d. Implement a carbon tax in the style of British Columbia.
e. Make a norm (legislation-prohibition) to reduce emissions.
5. Literature Review: Collect papers discussing problems with current agreement and discussing
cap and trade
3
6. Conclusion
a. I suggest that the Cap & Trade system will be the most efficient way the U.S. can reduce
their GHG emissions while maintaining economic growth.
7. References
Be consistent in the style (APA)
For examples on papers see the “Issue briefs” from Resources from the Future.
https://www.rff.org/publications/issue-briefs/
4

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