The Chesapeake Bay is one of the largest and most useful renewable resources not only in the United States, but in the world. The Chesapeake can be replenished naturally and has been used for hundreds of years. There are many use and non-use values of the Chesapeake. Use value implies that attributes of nature are being utilized in some sense. In the case of the Chesapeake this can refer to the crabbing, fishing, ecotourism and scenic values of the bay. Ecotourism is when people visit a natural or environmental resource to engage in outdoor recreation of some sort. Non-use values are values expressed by humans simply for the existence of natural resources. Two more specific non-use values to the Chesapeake would be option value and bequest value. The option value for the Chesapeake is the fact that people want the continued existence of the bay for prospects for future use. The bequest value for the Chesapeake is that people have a desire to leave a healthy and abundant bay for future generations. For the people of the Chesapeake watershed, the continued use and love for the bay will never cease. The Chesapeake is a national treasure, valued over one trillion dollars, and should be treated as such. However, recently the Chesapeake has been placed on the Clean Water Act’s impaired waters list. The water is heavily polluted, which is ruining the economic value of the Chesapeake’s watershed. A healthy and clean watershed is essential to have a booming economy.
One of the reasons why the Chesapeake is in this depleted state is because it is an open-access resource, meaning that it is open to unrestricted use by anyone with a desire to utilize it. It is both a rival good and a non-exclusive good. Anyone can use the Che...
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...using the method of discounting, which involves applying a discount factor to future values to convert them into present values. The net present value has decreased because of the continued pollution of the bay without a plan for the future to increase future values. However, this can change if the user costs change. User costs are the changes in discounted value of future net benefits. A positive change in the discounted value of future net benefits would cause the net present value to increase for the Chesapeake.
The Chesapeake Bay is much bigger than just a natural resource. The continued restoration of the bay will not only be beneficial to the wildlife that calls this huge watershed home. The improvement and maintenance of a healthy Chesapeake Bay not only will result in tremendous economic benefits for our society, but for future generations.
The amazing part about the steps being taken to try to save the Chesapeake Bay is how much scientists and people who carry out legislation in the local and state governments are working together to try and create policies on businesses and people to
The Chesapeake Bay is a large estuary located on the east coast of the United States. The bay is over 200 miles long and goes through Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The bay has much to offer the locals. Many locals have made a career out of harvesting the bay's sea food. The bay's harvest and many of its other attractions bring tourists and in turn revenue for the area. Oysters and blue crab are a big part of the culture in the bay area. However, these organisms are in danger and need help.
Concern On The Coast, Classical Conflict Again Unfolds: Energy vs. Environment." Hartford Courant 16 Oct. 2005, 3 Stars/Final ed., sec. A. Bigchalk Database. 8 Nov. 2005. Tedesco, Mark A. "This Fine Piece of Water:
The Chesapeake Bay is a large bay that stretches from Maryland to Virginia, fed by many rivers and streams that run from as far north as New York to Virginia and West Virginia.5 It is home to a plethora of plants and fish species, many of which the people of the area fish for food and supplies. The pollution present in the Chesapeake Bay is affecting the livelihood of both the fishermen and the fish – the less the fishermen haul due to the death of the species they catch, the less they get paid – and as consumers of these fish, we are consuming the toxins as well.
Kenneth Schiff wrote an editorial for the Marine Pollution Bulletin in 2014 where he asked environmental scientist about the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act. Three topics were discussed to support their approval; The Cuyahoga River, Platform A and declines in marine life. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio had hit a point 1969 where there was so much oil on the surface of that it caught on fire and now it has been deemed as fishable by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to the Clean Water Act. Platform A was located in Southern California. In 1969, an explosion occurred, causing 100,000 barrels of oil to devastate beaches along the Pacific Ocean and kill thousands of animals located in this region. Also discussed was the effects of hazardous substances, in this example DDT, on marine life. The use of this pesticide caused brown pelicans and California sea lions to experience intense decline in population- thanks to the Clean Water Act being followed by much research, restrictions and bans were able to be placed on these chemicals, allowing these populations to flourish once more. Within this editorial, there is also many who state that this Act has not been effective enough. One big argument is that the EPA has a list of pollutants that has not changed since the 1970’s yet in the last 40 years, there has
... the residual effects of pollution left behind by both mining in the Chesapeake Bay area around rivers, such as the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Lutz also had quoted John Dawes, now the executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, on the damage done to streams and to the aquatic life in the streams. Dawes told Lutz "'we're looking at 4,600 miles of dead streams in Pennsylvania'" in reference to the vitality in polluted regions. This can occur in several ways but the two generally accepted causes are the toxicity levels in the water are too high to support life and the contaminated water is slowly killing off members of the food chains for the aquatic life. In either theory, the death of fish and their food chain caused by AMD is impacting the billion dollar fishing industry that calls Chesapeake Bay home.
Discounted Cash Flow Method takes the forecast free cash flows during forecasted horizon. Then we estimate the cost of capital (weighted average cost of capital) and estimate continuing value (value after forecast horizon). The future value is discounted to the present value. We than add back cash ($13 Million) and non-current assets and deduct total debt. With the information provided several assumptions had to be made to obtain reasonable values (life period of 30-years, Capital expenditures not to exceed $1 million dollars, depreciation to stay constant at $1.15 Million and a discounted rate of 10%). Based on our analysis, the company has a stand-alone value of $51 Million at the end of fiscal year end 1990 with a net present value of cash flows of $33 million that does not include the cash and non-current assets a cash of and non-current assets.
Growing up near the Chesapeake Bay, I was bombarded with guest speakers since elementary school about protecting the environment. I knew what an ecosystem was by fifth grade, and in seventh grade our class went on a class trip to Smith Island and Port Isabel in the Chesapeake Bay for more intensive education about how humans are connected to ecosystems. Water and ecosystems are important to public health all over the globe, as water touches all of our lives. And when this water is contaminated by oil, many global health issues are caused, but these problems to health may be worth the profits gained from oil.
The cash flows discounted by the risk-free rate of 9% allows us to compare the present values. This comparison illustrates a net advantage to buying the truck:
The Chesapeake Bay is polluted with agricultural waste. We see things like 1.5 billion pounds of chicken waste that no one wants to take responsibility for. Ignoring standards, a waterway was tested for E. coli; the standard is 125 FCU/100ml of water. Yet this waterway’s level was at 48392 FCU/100ml. An industry that will go to great lengths to make sure that Congress doesn’t impose sanction against them.
Species such as the blue crab, oyster, and atlantic menhaden are three main commercial fishing outputs in the Chesapeake bay, but the recent algae blooms are devastating the harvest numbers of several different species. According to the oyster company of Virginia, over 20 million bushels of oysters were harvested every year during the peak of the oyster rush of the mid 1880’s. These numbers
In the case of making a TCO model, also opportunity costs and present value are taken into account. Taking present value into account means; making a difference between future and past cash outlays. This way the time value of money can be considered when comparing the different alternatives. Opportunity costs finally can be described as:
Water pollution has had devastating effects on the environment, which include irreversible effects on the oceans ecosystem. People often underestimate the importance of the ocean. They don’t realize how much damage pollution has caused to the ocean and the thousands of creatures that inhabit it. Earth is a huge place, but resources are actually very limited and will not last forever unless there is a balance. We must protect the resources we have in order for them to last into the next generation.
Pollution comes in many forms. In the ocean we dump a variety of substances, including human wastes, chemicals from fertilizers, oil, and trash such as plastic which all contribute to the growing issue of our ocean pollution. In addition to, our usable waters are finite. More than 97.5 percent of the water on this planet is undrinkable salt water; the remaining 2.5 percent has two-thirds of the usable fresh water locked up in glaciers, snow, and permafrost. Of the one-third of freshwater that is available for human use, 20 percent is used for industrial use. (“Water Pollution”) “In effect, water pollution reduces the volume of water available for use by human and other populations.” (Robin Clarke, Jannet King) Knowing that there are approximately 7.2 billion people and growing on this planet with only 0.83 percent of available for our use wouldn’t you want to do everything possible to help put an end to water pollution? (worldometers)
The oceans need to be protected because it is where life began and if not taken care of, life as we know it will end. When dangerous substances go into the ocean, ecosystems are suffer and become endangered along with lives of people and of marine life. Surfrider Foundation recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving the quality and biodiversity of the world's coasts because they are truly irreplaceable. There is also historical evidence of ocean pollution being present in the past, but the problem still lingers today. Heal the Bay discovered that,“Did you know there is a DDT and PCB hot spot off the coast of Palos Verdes? This superfund site (which indicates it's one of the most polluted places in the United States), is left over from a 1930's era chemical plant. Because DDT takes so long to break down in the marine environment, it persists to this day, contaminating certain species of fish. There are also highly polluted sediments in the Long Beach area, a sign of the heavy shipping in the port. Heal the Bay works on developing effective capping and removal plans to keep those toxins from spreading” (Heal the Bay). DDT is still highly concentrated in the South Bay area and still contaminating different species of fish. Even after more than 80 years DDT, a toxic insecticide, is still very concentrated and during upwellings, DDT particles come back up and continue to harm marine life. If humans are careless about what is thrown on the floor or sprayed on lawns, it can lead to disastrous affects when it comes to the condition of the ocean's ecosystems, and can endanger life itself leading to a problem that only we can mend.