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For Immediate Release
Jan. 4, 2006
News Release
EPA Announces Environmental Economics Research Strategy to Support Policy Decisions
Contact: Ann Brown, 919-541-7818 or brown.ann@epa.gov
(Washington, D.C. - Jan. 4, 2006) EPA announced today the release of a long-term strategy to conduct research in environmental economics and decision sciences that will further the Agency's mission to protect public health and the environment. The Environmental Economics Research Strategy identifies and prioritizes research that will be conducted over the next five to 10 years to improve the scientific foundation for EPA's decision-making and policy initiatives.
Environmental economics and decision sciences study how people and firms make decisions about the environment; how they affect the environment; and, in turn, how the environment affects Americans’ quality of life. Using this strategic roadmap, EPA will conduct research to learn how people value changes in environmental quality; how incentives influence responses to effectively improve environmental quality; and how human behavior can be modified to encourage protection of the environment.
“Environmental policies based on sound economics and behavioral sciences can save society billions of dollars and effectively reduce risks to health and the environment,” said Dr. George Gray, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “This research is essential if we are to improve environmental quality at the lowest cost to businesses and governments,” he said.
The research strategy focuses on improving the economic science used to evaluate the costs and benefits of environmental policies, and to develop initiatives that will take advantage of predictable behavioral responses to efficiently achieve environmental quality goals. The research strategy requires the integration of economics and other environmental science disciplines at EPA.
The Environmental Economics Research Strategy is posted on EPA's Web pages at http://www.epa.gov/ord/htm/documents/econresearch.pdf (147 pp., 4.80MB, About PDF) or http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.nsf/Webpages/EEResearchStrategy.html. A limited number of print copies are available from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP). To obtain copies, please contact NSCEP at 1-800-490-9198 and reference EPA document number EPA/600/R-04/195.
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