Environmental Ethics
"Climate change is happening, humans are causing it and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us."
--- Bill Nye
Environmental ethics is a branch of ethics that is defined as the moral relationship between humans and the natural environment and how ethic plays a role in this relation. It is withal a credence that humans are a component of society as well as other living creatures.
As stated in Introduction to Engineering Ethics Engineers by Martin and Schinzinger, sustainability, a common reference to sustainable development, has two terms: a positive and a negative term. Negatively, it refers to the “current patterns of economic activity and magnification that cannot be sustained as populations
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(4) Based on this information, researchers try to utilize green energy, specifically solar energy as an alternative to fossil fuels in powering the planet. This is a step towards sustainability as they are using what’s already available (100,000 TW energy from the Sun) and trying to improve upon solar panels (make them cheaper). While the Earth’s current population require 17 TW energy on average each year, solar panels are costly. Suntech Power founder Shi Zhengrong is focusing on cutting the cost of solar by making them more efficient rather than perfecting solar panels. Moreover, Steven Chu, former U.S Secretary of Energy has increased spending on developing clean energy such as solar power, wind power and carbon capturing by US $40 billion. He wants to supply the world with such technology as other parts of the world (China, India and Western Europe) are already in the lead. (4)
The video determines that efficiency is the key to technology saving the planet from climate change. Such is determined by the Climate Stabilization Wedges approach produced by Princeton University researchers, Stephen Pacala and Robert H. Socolow to demonstrate that global warming is a problem that could be solved by reducing CO2 emissions through current available technologies. (5) The Wedges game proves that there are many solutions to climate change; it all depends on
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Human-centered ethics, also commonly known as anthropocentrism, is states that “humans are the sole bearers of intrinsic value and all other living things are there to sustain humanity’s existence.” (1) In the video, Daniel Kamman refers to the carbon footprint as a result of human’s gluttony that led to climate change. Also, Jay Keasling, a researcher at Joint BioEnergy Institute, talks about how carbon emissions from transportation represents one-third of the world’s carbon emissions, and that he is developing an alternative fuel that should be able to capture carbon instead of releasing it. He is fermenting switchgrass and combining it with yeast to produce an advanced biofuel, a fuel that is nearly identical to the fuel used
The word “Ethics” has its root in the Greek word ‘ethos’, which means character, spirit and attitude of a group of people or culture. Ethics is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as: a system of moral principles, by which human actions may be judged good or bad or right or wrong, and the rules of conduct recognized in respect of a particular class of human actions.
Cases have been widely used in medical ethics and law. In both fields, numerous books and articles about cases have appeared, including book-length catalogs of cases. I argue that pluralistic casuistry provides an adequate approach to environmental ethics. It retains the strengths while avoiding the weaknesses of the other approaches. Importantly, it resolves some broader theoretical issues and provides a clear, explicit methodology for education and praxis.
9. Smith’s report defines sustainable development as, “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Smith’s definition is important to consider, because it illustrates that that we do not have to destroy the natural environment to have economic progress.
One pivotal point regarding the debate on environmental ethics and the course humans should take is regarding future generations. How do the actions we take today impact those who inherit this planet after us? Some people argue that we do not inherit this world from our parents, but rather borrow it from our future children. Regarding the text Sustainability and Responsibility to the Future, several different viewpoints are offered regarding both sides of the ethics of environmentalism.
At the beginning of the semester, I thought that environmental justice was justice for the environment, which is true to a point, but I now know that it is justice for the people. Only when there is a people that have been wronged, usually using the environment as the the method of delivery, does it become an environmental justice case. Environmental justice ensures that all people, regardless of income level or race, have a say in the development and enforcement of environmental laws. It acts on the philosophy that anyone living on and in the land should have a say on how it is treated and used. Sometimes when developing legislature, the populations in mind are not all affected equally, and if said population
Other ethical questions such as “How should we- all living today evaluate the well-being of the future generations” (Brome). Scientific data shows that Global climate change will have some lasting effects on the planet, ecosystems and humans. There are many “risks associated with climate change such as the risk of pathogen, and disease” this will affect future generations, and animals this is why we should reduce our emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere (Crank and Jacoby). “The consequences of heightening greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere appear after a time lag, often decades or more” (Somerville). Even though the current generations are “benefiting from cheap use of burning fossil fuels, and using the atmosphere as a free dump for our waste products” all humans are obligated to find a cleaner way to live so we don’t set future humans up for failure (Somerville). Somerville also explains that within us burning these fossil fuels, and ignoring the consequences “we sentence our children and grandchildren to cope with the resulting climate change” (Somerville). Also we need to take action to prevent further damage of Earth’s climate not only for the future children of the world but other species that we share the planet with. In the article “The Ethics of Climate Change” by John Broome he states that the answer to this ethical question can be easy one without the need of a sophisticated philosopher (Broome). He say that the answer to ethical climate change questions can be answered by simple common sense thinking (Broome). “You should not do something for your own benefit that will harm another’s” (Broome). He asks the question which is worse the death of a child in 2108 or the death of a child currently living?” (Broome). John Broome argues that we have a responsibility to
Environmental Ethics N. Scott Momaday, "Native American Attitudes toward the Environment" 1.) Using the XML file format. How does Mr. Momaday use stories to develop his ideas? Would you draw the same conclusions from his stories that Mr. Momaday does? Mr. Momaday uses stories to develop his ideas by constantly using imagery and imagination.
Discuss the concept of sustainability. What ethical principles are parts of a sustainable lifestyle? Why should we consider sustainability as a guiding principle of our environmental philosophy?
Ethics is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. The term ethics derives from the Ancient Greek word ἠθικός ethikos, which is derived from the word ἦθος ethos . The branch of philosophy axiology comprises the sub-branches of Ethics and aesthetics, each concerned with concepts of value.
The most obvious reason that the environment has moral significance is that damage to it affects humans. Supporters of a completely human-centered ethic claim that we should be concerned for the environment only as far as our actions would have a negative effect on other people. Nature has no intrinsic value; it is not good and desirable apart from its interaction with human beings. Destruction and pollution of the environment cannot be wrong unless it results in harm to other humans. This view has its roots in Western tradition, which declares that “human beings are the only morally important members of this world” (Singer p.268).
“Sustainable Development: At its heart, sustainable development is the simple idea of ensuring a good quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It is about living within the carrying capacity of the environment so that how we live, work and enjoy leisure activities, which do not harm or put undue pressures on the environment. It is about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to have a decent education, a quality environment that they take pride in, good health and a decent job (n.p, 2014)”
Regarding solar power, Mistry claims that although the solar power does not generate pollution, it has a lot of costs. Building solar panels with photovoltaic equipment has high costs. For instance, a photovoltaic system for a home can cost around $35,000 (Kumar, 2012). However, if our goal for the future is to create a healthy environment, switching fossil fuels for solar power might be the best choice to achieve that goal. According to Kumar (2012), Solar power is a clean and renewable energy so, it decreases the dependency on fossil fuel and also reduces the air pollution.
Ecologists formulate their scientific theories influenced by ethical values, and in turn, environmental ethicists value nature based on scientific theories. Darwinian evolutionary theory provides clear examples of these complex links, illustrating how these reciprocal relationships do not constitute a closed system, but are undetermined and open to the influences of two broader worlds: the sociocultural and the natural environment. On the one hand, the Darwinian conception of a common evolutionary origin and ecological connectedness has promoted a respect for all forms of life. On the other hand, the metaphors of struggle for existence and natural selection appear as problematic because they foist onto nature the Hobbesian model of a liberal state, a Malthusian model of the economy, and the productive practice of artificial selection, all of which reaffirm modern individualism and the profit motive that are at the roots of our current environmental crisis. These metaphors were included in the original definitions of ecology and environmental ethics by Haeckel and Leopold respectively, and are still pervasive among both ecologists and ethicists. To suppose that these Darwinian notions, derived from a modern-liberal worldview, are a fact of nature constitutes a misleading interpretation. Such supposition represents a serious impediment to our aim of transforming our relationship with the natural world in order to overcome the environmental crisis. To achieve a radical transformation in environmental ethics, we need a new vision of nature.
Environmental philosophy tries to make sense of the unexamined values, assumptions and ideologies behind humanities treatment of the environment and, in doing so, aims at helping to elicit an effective human response to related issues (Curry, 2011). Environmental philosophy, has gone beyond being merely an academic pursuit, now requiring the world’s population take moral responsibility for the damages caused by their industrial advances on natural systems.
Ethics is a system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is acceptable for both individuals and society. It is a philosophy that covers a whole range of things that have an importance in everyday situations. Ethics are vital in everyones lives, it includes human values, and how to have a good life, our rights and responsibilities, moral decisions what is right and wrong, good and bad. Moral principles affect how people make decisions and lead their lives (BBC, 2013). There are many different beliefs about were ethics come from. These consist of; God and Religion, human conscience, the example of good human beings and a huge desire for the best for people in each unique situation, and political power (BBC, 2013).