we can consider the environmental cost of oil spills a negative externality, but how large would these external costs

be? Furthermore, are these costs “too high” when we measure them against any potential for economic benefit?

As this chapter indicates, in deciding whether pipeline construction is a good idea, an economist would want to

know not only about the marginal benefits resulting from the additional pipeline construction, but also the potential

marginal costs—and especially the pipeline's marginal external costs. Typically these come in the form of

environmental impact statements, which are usually required for such projects. For example, an impact statement,

released in March 2013 by the Nebraska Department of State, considered the possibility of fewer pipeline miles

going over the aquifer system and avoiding completely environmentally fragile areas. It indicated that pipeline

construction would not harm "most resources".
{"title": "Principles of Microeconomics 3e", "source": "downloads\\business\\economics\\Microeconomics3e.pdf", "file_name": "Microeconomics3e.pdf", "upload_timestamp": "2026-02-07T15:37:44.339247", "file_hash": "830b81f41611ac67a490444dbb5d6aed292224606965b06965b914443c93331a", "moddate": "2022-12-07T14:23:05-06:00", "uploaded_via": "batch_uploader", "producer": "Prince 14.2 (www.princexml.com)", "creator": "PDFMiner", "creationdate": "2022-12-07T14:15:44-06:00", "file_size_mb": 26.99, "total_pages": 597, "file_type": ".pdf", "batch_upload": true, "source_file": "downloads\\business\\economics\\Microeconomics3e.pdf"}