ENVIRONMENTAL CULTURE, ETHICS AND JUSTICE

Environmental ethics
Ethics = the study of good and bad, right and wrong - Moral principles or values held by a person or society

- Promoting human welfare, maximizing freedom, minimizing pain and suffering

Ethics is a prescriptive pursuit: it tells us how we ought to behave Ethical standards = criteria that help differentiate right from wrong

Environmental ethics
Environmental ethics = application of ethical standards to relationships between human and nonhuman entities
Hard to resolve: it depends on the persons ethical standards and domain of ethical concern Should we save resources for future generations? When is it OK to destroy a forest to create jobs?

Should humans drive other species to extinction?

Is it OK for some communities to be exposed to more pollution?

Ethics and economics involve values

Both disciplines deal with what we value
Values affect our decisions and actions Solving environmental problems needs more than understanding how natural systems work Values shape human behavior Ethics and economics give us tools to pursue the triple bottom line of sustainability

Environmental, economic, social

Culture and worldview

Our relationship with the environment depends on assessments of costs and benefits - But culture and worldview also affect this relationship Culture = knowledge, beliefs, values, and learned ways of life shared by a group of people

Worldview = a persons or groups beliefs about the meaning, operation, and essence of the world
- How a person sees his or her place in the world

People draw dramatically different conclusions about a situation based on their worldviews

Many factors shape worldviews

Religious and spiritual beliefs shape our worldview and perception of the environment
Community experiences shape attitudes

Political ideology: governments role in protecting the environment

Economics Vested interest = the strong interest of an individual in the outcome of a decision - Results in gain or loss for that individual

We value things in two ways

Instrumental (utilitarian) value: valuing something for its benefits by using it - Animals are valuable because we can eat them Intrinsic (inherent) value: valuing something for its own sake because it has a right to exist - Animals are valuable because they live their own lives Things can have both instrumental and intrinsic value

- But different people emphasize different values

How we value something affects how we treat it

We have expanded our ethical consideration

People have granted intrinsic value and ethical consideration to more and more people and things
Including animals, communities, and nature

Animal rights activists voice concern for animals that are hunted, raised in pens, or used for testing
Rising economic prosperity broadens our ethical domain

Science shows people are part of nature

All organisms are interconnected Non-Western cultures often have broader ethical domains

Three ethical perspectives

Anthropocentrism = only humans have intrinsic value
Biocentrism = some nonhuman life has intrinsic value Ecocentrism = whole ecological systems have value

- A holistic perspective that preserves connections

History of environmental ethics

Christianitys attitude toward the environment: anthropocentric or stewardship?

The Industrial Revolution increased consumption and pollution

Transcendentalism = nature is a manifestation of the divine People need to experience nature Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreaus Walden

The preservation ethic

Unspoiled nature should be protected for its own intrinsic value

John Muir had an ecocentric viewpoint

He was a tireless advocate for wilderness preservation

The conservation ethic

Use natural resources wisely for the greatest good for the most people (the utilitarian standard) Gifford Pinchot had an anthropocentric viewpoint

The land ethic

Healthy ecological systems depend on protecting all parts Aldo Leopold believed the land ethic changes the role of people from conquerors of the land to citizens of it The land ethic can help guide decision making

 Environmental justice = the fair and equitable treatment of all people regarding environmental issues The poor and minorities have less information, power, and money

Environmental justice (EJ)

The poor and minorities are exposed to more pollution, hazards, and environmental degradation

North Carolina wanted to put a toxic waste site in the county with the highest percentage of African Americans

Significant inequities still remain

Significant inequities remain despite progress toward racial equality Economic gaps between rich and poor have widened Minorities and the poor still suffer substandard environmental conditions Poor Latino farm workers in California suffer from unregulated air pollution (dairy and pesticide emissions)

Organized groups convinced regulators to enforce the Clean Air Act and state legislatures to pass new laws

Environmental justice: an international issue

Wealthy nations impose pollution on poorer nations - Hazardous waste is expensive to dispose of

Companies pay poor nations to take the waste

- It is dumped illegally - It may be falsely labeled as harmless or beneficial - Workers are uninformed or unprotected The Basel Convention prohibits international export of waste - But illegal trade and dumping continue - The United States has not ratified this treaty

The environment vs. economics

Friction occurs between ethical and economic impulses

Is there a trade-off between economics and the environment?

People say protection costs too much money, interferes with progress, or causes job loses But environmental protection is good for the economy

Traditional economic thought ignores or underestimates contributions of the environment to the economy Human economies depend on the environment

Economics
Economics studies how people use resources to provide goods and services in the face of demand Most environmental and economic problems are linked Root oikos, meaning household, gave rise to both ecology and economics Economy = a social system that converts resources into: Goods: manufactured materials that are bought, and Services: work done for others as a form of business

People suffer external costs

External costs include water pollution, health problems, property damage, and harm to other organism

Valuing ecosystem goods and services

Our society mistreats the very systems that sustain it
- The market ignores/undervalues ecosystem values Nonmarket values = values not included in the price of a good or service (e.g., ecological, cultural, spiritual)

The global value of all ecosystem services

The global economic value of all ecosystem services equals $46 trillion - More than the GDP of all nations combined Protecting land gives 100 times more value than converting it to some other use