Benefit Cost Analysis-A Necessary Part of Environmental Decisioning

Jerrold M. Peterson

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DOI: 10.2190/7TC7-PPJF-RC6W-YFQQ

Abstract

Society may use benefit cost analysis to set priorities in determining the level of environmental pollution they wish to tolerate. The benefits of pollution are derived from the production and consumption of goods and services necessary to life. The estimated social costs of this productive activity are the costs necessary to reduce or eliminate the wastes from the effluents discharged into the environment. Therefore, BCA is appropriate in environmental decisioning since its proper use ensures that society can reach the ecological stability level without violating the economic optimum. However, ecological stability may not always be a rational choice, particularly when dealing with ecological sub regions rather than the global ecosphere.

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