Overview
University Fellow Wallace Oates has brought together much of RFF's best work in a new volume that provides teachers and students, the public policy community, and informed citizens with a broader and deeper perspective on natural resources and the environment. While ideal for course use, this treasure trove of balanced and authoritative policy analysis has value well beyond the classroom. It belongs on the bookshelf of any individual or institution concerned about effective environmental and resource management.
Much of the material in The RFF Reader comes from Resources, the quarterly publication. Oates has supplemented that with other important RFF work in climate change and sustainability. He has assembled many of the most requested articles to emerge from RFF. The pieces are succinct and readable and not overly technical. The book includes sections on key environmental topics such as benefit-cost analysis, environmental regulation, and environmental justice. There is a section devoted to environmental problems in developing nations and transitional economies. Natural-resource topics include resource management, biodiversity, and sustainable development. The articles address many of today's most difficult public policy questions, such as "Does Environmental Policy Conflict with Economic Growth?"and "When is a Life Too Costly to Save?"Among the many other issues addressed are emissions trading, environmental damage assessment, Superfund, biodiversity, forest management, waste-facility siting, and sustainable agriculture.