Exxon Valdez Case Study on Environmental Accounting

There are a couple of opportunities at UAA this week to hear Dr. Mark Brown from the University of Florida.

 TUESDAY, MARCH 4
7 p.m. Rasmuson Hall, Room 101

 

Energy & the Economy: Reflections on Sustainability
Using systems principles, the economy from a biophysical perspective is a hierarchical interconnected system of resource and monetary flows, driven by available energy and resources. The ability of the environment to support human society is limited, and we need to reconsider the ways we use, measure, and economically value the material resources we consume. We must understand the limits of sustainability as a solution to our energy needs, and develop guidelines for a “prosperous way down”.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5

Noon,
Eugene Short Hall 214

“Emergy” Values of the Marine Ecosystem:
Environmental Accounting for Recovery of Ecosystem Values after Disasters, Using the Exxon Valdez as a Case Study

“Emergy” is an environmental accounting methodology that evaluates goods and services based on the environmental and economic work needed to make them, not human preferences or utility. The Exxon Valdez oil spill will be used to demonstrate this methodology, and assess and discuss the costs of several mitigation strategies to avoid spills in the future.

DR. MARK BROWN is a professor of Environmental Engineering Sciences and director of the Center for Environmental Policy at the University of Florida. His research is focused on the interface of humanity and the environment including systems ecology, ecological engineering, ecological economics, and environmental policy. For six years Dr. Brown was a consulting ecologist to The Cousteau Society, working with research teams to develop solutions to a wide array of resource management problems that affect marine resources throughout the world.