Hi all, and welcome back to one of our last podcast episodes! We only have a few more left to go, and in this episode we'll be covering environmental and energy policy. It seems to me that with both of these topics, we don't do too much until we run into big problems (aka externalities like pollution or extremely high bills for electricity or gasoline). Our policies in these arenas seem to come after we tend to experience disasters... and in those situations we often also encounter problems with coming up with an answer that everyone can work on together. In short, these topics face what are known as collective action problems. As you work through these chapters and slides, I'd like for you to consider how we can effectively address those problems and issues like free riders. How can we resolve that ever-present problem known as the group project?!?!