Transcript Day 23

GEOG 101: Day 21
Environmental Ethics and Economics: Values and
Choices (read Chapter 21 – very important!)
Housekeeping Items
 “This Changes Everything” film tonight at 7 in
Malaspina Theatre. $8.00 for students; best to get
tickets in advance:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/this-changeseverything-film-screening-tickets-19534972629.
Also a film of possible interest on Wednesday
night.
 We’re going to have to go light on environmental
policy this week in order to cover environmental
ethics and social change adequately, but read both
Chapters 21 and 22. Last week we will do final
synthesis and review
 Correction to due dates: media analysis due next
Tuesday (the 1st), and the environmental ed.
reflections next Thursday (the 3rd).
• Environmental Policy Examples
 What industries or sectors receive subsidies
 What kinds of laws and regulations apply to pollution
and waste generation
 Policies to protect water quantity and quality and
promote conservation
 Mechanisms used to tackle greenhouse gases, from
carbon taxes, cap and trade systems to systematic
efforts to shift to a post-fossil fuel economy/ society.
 Policies to protect endangered species and maintain
biodiversity, include through habitat protection
 Allocation of fishing quotas to different groups
 Bans on the trade in parts of endangered species, or
even of non-endangered species, such as the killing of
black bears for their paws and gall bladders
 Laws against cruelty against animals
Culture, World View, And The Environment
21-4
Culture, world view, and the
environment
• Environmental issues often highlight trade-offs
between conflicting economic benefits and
social or ethical concerns
• Both disciplines – ecology and economics –
deal with what we value
• Our values affect our environmental decisions
and actions
• In our culture, economic objectives usually
trump ecological or social objectives. Any
examples or counter-examples? First Nations?
Africa?
Gibson’s Landing?
21-5
Culture and world view influence our
perception of the environment
Our relationship with the environment depends on
assessments of costs and benefits, some of which
in turn can be influenced by denial, resistance,
discounting, fear, and cognitive dissonance.
Culture and worldview also affects this relationship
 Culture = knowledge, beliefs, values, and
learned ways of life shared by a group of people
(examples?)
 World view = a person’s or group’s beliefs about
the meaning, purpose, operation, and essence of
the world
Culture and worldview affect our perception of the
environment and environmental problems. Examples?
21-6
Many factors shape our world views and
perception of the environment
(examples?)
 Religion
 Communities
 Political ideology
 Economics
 Individual interests
 Vested interest = an individual with strong
interests in the outcome of a decision that
results in gain or loss for that individual
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What examples come out in your media
analyses and what conflicting values are
at play?
 I did a paper with a friend of mine who has been
active in securing protection for Echo Heights in
Chemainus (91% has now been protected). The
focus was the different lenses through which people
see land:
 Commodity
 Resource
 Environment
 Ecosystem
 Heritage/ homeland
 Bioregion
weighing
issues
the
Mining in Mecca…?
Suppose a mining company discovered uranium
near the Sacred Mosque at Mecca—or the site
in Bethlehem believed to be the birthplace of
Jesus or the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
 What do you think would happen if the
company announced plans to develop a mine
close to one of these sacred locations, assuring
the public that environmental impacts would be
minimal and that the mine would create jobs
and stimulate economic growth?
 Also: why, in contrast with Europe and other
parts of the world, is beauty valued so little in
relation to commercial values in North
America? Why are ecosystems valued so little?
21-9
Take Your Pick…
There are many ways to understand the
environment
 Scientific knowledge
 Traditional or indigenous ecological
knowledge = the intimate knowledge of a
particular environment possessed and passed
along by those who have inhabited an area for
many generations (e.g. Mirrar Clan in
Australia vs. a second uranium mine)
 Medicinal properties of local plants
 Migration habits of local animals
 Geographic and microclimatic variations
For21-11
more information, see The Earth’s Blanket by Nancy Turner.
Environmental Ethics
21-12
Environmental ethics
 Ethics = the study of good and bad, right and
wrong
 Relativists = ethics varies with (social) context
 Universalists = right and wrong remains the
same across cultures and situations
 What would be an example of each perspective?
 Ethical standards = criteria that help
differentiate right from wrong
 The golden rule
 Utilitarian principle = something is right that
produces the most benefits for the most
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people (Jeremy Bentham)
weighing
issues
the
The Atlantic seal hunt
No environmental issue identified with Canada is more
emotionally charged than the Atlantic seal hunt. Each
year environmentalists and animal activists mobilize to
try to stop the hunt, arguing that too many seals are
killed and that the methods used are inhumane.
The hunters and supporters counter that they are
continuing a way of life that has been practiced by
Aboriginal people for at least 4000 years (and also
Newfoundlanders and others), that it is their right to
practice their traditional ways, and that the hunt is vital
for the economic well-being and survival of their
communities.
 What do you think?
 Who should decide which of these sets of values—
animal rights or Aboriginal self-determination—should
take precedence in this case?
21-14
Throatsinger Tanya Tagaq’s
controversial “sealfie”
Environmental ethics pertains to humans
and the environment
 Environmental ethics = application of ethical standards to
relationships between human and non-human entities
Should we conserve
resources for future
generations?
Is is OK to destroy a
forest to create jobs
for people?
Are humans justified
in driving other
species to extinction?
Is it OK for some communities to
be exposed to excess pollution?
The ‘jobs vs. environment’ dichotomy is largely a false one;
21-16
if
we had invested in a ‘green economy’ earlier there would
be many good-paying ‘green jobs’ by now.
We have started to extend ethical consideration to
non-human entities (examples?)
 Why have we expanded our ethical concerns?
 Economic prosperity: more leisure time, less
anxieties
 Science: interconnection of all organisms
 Non-western cultures often have broader ethical
domains (e.g. First Nations, Hindus, Jains, and
Buddhists, etc.); in addition, at least two nations have
enshrined the rights of ecosystems into their legal
systems: Bolivia and Ecuador.
 Three perspectives in Western ethics
 Anthropocentrism = only humans have rights
 Biocentrism = certain living things also have value
 Ecocentrism = whole ecological systems have
value
What are some of the sources of anthropocentrism?
21-18
Environmental ethics has ancient roots
•
People have questioned our relationship with the
environment for centuries
•
Environment as sacred:
•

Aboriginal oral traditions

Jain Dharma (Compassion for all life)
Anthropocentric view or stewardship over nature?

•
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (Genesis 1:28: “God
said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish
of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every
living thing that moves upon the earth‘”)
The Industrial Revolution intensified debate about our
relationship with the environment, with the Romantics
seeking
to re-establish the value of nature. They felt that
21-19
contact with nature refreshed and ennobled people.
The Industrial Revolution inspired
environmental philosophers and other
commentators
•
As long ago as George Perkins Marsh (author
of Man and Nature, 1864), authors began to
write about the environmental crisis.
•
Transcendentalism = viewed nature as a
direct manifestation of the divine
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
Henry Thoreau
-
Walt Whitman
-
John Muir, and others
 Modern environmentalism, at least some
strands, has built on these traditions.
21-20
Conservation and preservation arose at
the start of the twentieth century
 John Muir (right,
with President
Roosevelt at
Yosemite National
Park) had an ecocentric viewpoint
and founded the
Sierra Club.
21-21
Conservation and preservation arose at the
start of the twentieth century (cont’d)
 Preservation ethic = holds that we should
protect the natural environment in a pristine,
unaltered state
 James Bernard Harkin was the first
commissioner of Dominion Parks – first
national park system in the world (1911),
eventually Parks Canada
 Conservation ethic = holds that humans should
put natural resources to use but also that we
have a responsibility to manage them wisely
 Clifford Sifton was the first chairman of the
Commission for the Conservation of Natural
21-22 Resources (established 1909)
The land ethic and deep ecology enlarged
the boundaries of the ethical community
• Aldo Leopold – “The Land Ethic” in 1949
 humans should view themselves and “the
land” as members of the same community
 People are obligated to treat the land in an
ethical manner based on mutual respect
• Deep ecology = humans are inseparable from
nature

Since all living things have equal value, they
should be protected
21-23
Ecofeminism recognizes connections between
the oppression of nature and women
• Ecofeminism = the patriarchal structure of society is
the root cause of both social and environmental
problems
-
A world view traditionally associated with women
(interrelationships and cooperation) is more
compatible with nature than that associated with men
(hierarchies and competition)
Ecofeminists note that women have also been
traditionally associated with nature (e.g. Mother
Nature, and the naming of hurricanes until relatively
recently). God has, in the Abrahamic tradition, always
21-24been seen as male.
-
Ecofeminists in Practice
Chipko or ‘treehugger’ movement in India
Waangari Mathhai, founder of the ‘Green
Belt’ movement in Kenya
Environmental justice seeks equitable
access to resources and protection from
environmental degradation
• Environmental justice = based on the principle that all
people have the right:
-
To live and work in a clean, healthy environment
To receive protection from the risks and impacts of
environmental degradation
-
To be compensated for having suffered such impacts
-
To have equitable access to environmental resources
A good example is the campaign, led by Majora Carter,
to create a “Sustainable South Bronx” – see
http://www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urb
21-26an_renewal?language=en
-
Majora Carter
Regarding
environmental
racism, see:
http://www.toler
ance.org/sites/de
fault/files/genera
l/air%20pollution
%20map.pdf
Economics: Approaches and environmental
implications
•
Conflict between ethical and economic motiva-tions is
a recurrent theme in environmental issues
•
Environmental protection is seen as working in
opposition to economic progress, hence Harper’s
neutering of environmental protection legislation
•
Arguments are made that environmental protection
costs too much money, interferes with growth, and
leads to job loss (short-term view)
•
Environmental protection can be good for the economy
both in terms of creating ‘green’ jobs, and in
preserving needed resources (long-term view). As the
organization Earth First! used to say, “there are no
jobs on a dead planet!” Also: economist Nicholas Stern
estimated that the costs of not dealing with climate
21-28
change will far exceed those of investing in mitigation.
Economics studies the allocation of
scarce resources
•
Economics = the study of how people
decide to use scarce resources to provide
goods and services in the face of demand
for them
•
Most environmental and economic issues
are linked, including through the process
you have studied with the LCAs –
throughput: the transformation of raw
materials into products, waste, and
pollution.
•
Root Greek word “oikos” (household) gave
21-29
rise to both ecology and economics
Environment and economy are
intricately linked
 Economies receive inputs from
the environment, process them
in complex ways
 Open system = economies are
open systems integrated with
the larger environmental
system of which they are part
of
 Closed system = earth is a
closed system, the material
inputs Earth can provide are
finite and so is the wasteabsorbing capacity
“Over-full
world”
biosphere
21-30
i.e. cyclical not linear
21-31
but “throughput” is linear
21-32
Environment and economy are intricately
linked (cont’d)
o Ecosystem services = essential services support the life
that makes economic activities possible and yet we put no
price on them
 Soil formation
 Pollination
 Water purification
 Nutrient cycling
 Climate regulation
 Waste treatment
o These services have only recently become widely
recognized, and still don’t have dollar values put on them.
21-33
Aspects of neoclassical economics have
profound implications for the environment
 Assumptions of neoclassical economics:
 Resources are infinite or substitutable
 Costs and benefits are internal to the production
and consumption process (which they are not). In
reality, producers and consumers don’t pay for
many of these “externalities”, which are borne by
other members of the society or other species or
ecosystems
 Current pricing ignores social, environmental or
economic costs
 Long-term effects are discounted – i.e. “a bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush”
 Growth is good and necessary!
21-34
Aspects of neoclassical economics have
profound implications for the environment
(cont’d)
 Assumption: Resources are infinite
 Economic models treat resources as
substitutable and interchangeable
 A replacement resource will be found
But, Earth’s resources are limited
Nonrenewable resources, by definition,
are depleted
Renewable resources can also be depleted
if not managed properly
21-35
Moreover, some ‘resources,’ such as
biodiversity, clean air and water, and a
stable climate cannot be substituted for.
Aspects of neoclassical economics have
profound implications for the environment
(cont’d)
 Assumptions: Long-term effects should be discounted
 A future event counts less than a present one
 Discounting = short-term costs and benefits
are more important than long-term costs and
benefits
 Policymakers ignore long term consequences
of our actions
Economic growth is necessary to maintain
employment and social order
Promoting economic growth creates
opportunities for poor to become wealthier
Progress is measured by economic growth
21-36
Is the growth paradigm good for us?
 More and bigger is better
 The dramatic rise in per-person consumption
has severe environmental consequences
 Critics fear that economic growth will destroy
the ecological system on which we all depend
ECOSPHERE
ECONOMY
21-37
As UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon
says, “There is no Plan
B because there is no
Planet B.”
Economists disagree on whether
economic growth is sustainable
 Are endless improvements in technology
possible?
 Ecological economists argue that
civilizations do not overcome their
environmental limitations in the long run
 Could we continue this activity forever
and be happy with the outcome?
 Environmental economists argue that
economies are unsustainable if population
growth is not reduced and resource use is
not made more efficient
21-38
Economists disagree on whether
economic growth is sustainable (cont’d)
• Steady-state economy = economies that
do not grow and do not shrink but rather
are stable and mirror natural ecological
systems
• Will not evolve on its own from a capitalist
market system
• Critics assume that an end to growth
means an end to a rising quality of life; is
this necessarily true?
• Requires reforms
21-39
We can measure economic progress
differently
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = total
monetary value of final goods and
services produced



21-40
Does not account for non-market
values or activities
Not necessarily measure desirable
economic activity
A large oil spill would increase GDP, as
would people dying of cancer from
smoking or poor diets, as would wars.
We can measure economic progress
differently (cont’d)
GPI: An alternative to the GDP
Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) =
differentiates between desirable and
undesirable economic activity
Adds positive contributions (i.e.
volunteer work) not paid for with
money are added to economic
activity
Deducts negative impacts (crime,
pollution, ill health) are subtracted
21-41
21-42
Although GDP of Alberta has increased, GPI shows a decline
21-43
Other Alternatives to GDP
 The Kingdom of Bhutan a number of years
ago adopted what they called “Gross
National Happiness,” in which every national
decision was supposed to be based on
making people happier and healthier.
 The New Economics Foundation has created
the “Happy Planet Index” to measure how
happy people in different countries are
relative to their ecological footprint.
 The UN also has the Gender Empowerment
Index (GEI) and the Human Development
Index, based on life expectancy, education
levels, and gross national income per
capita.
We can give ecosystem goods and
services monetary values
 Economies receive from the environment vital
resources and ecosystem services
 Ecosystem services are said to have nonmarket
values, values not usually included in the price of
a good or service
 Existence values
 Option values
 Aesthetic values
 Scientific values
 Educational values
 Cultural values
 Use values
21-45
Markets can fail
 Market failure occurs when markets do not
account for:
 the environment’s positive effects on economies
 the negative effects of economic activity on the
environment or people
 Government intervention counters market failure
 Laws and regulations
 Green taxes = penalize harmful activities
 Economic incentives to promote conservation
and sustainability
21-46
Corporations are responding to
sustinability concerns
 Industries, businesses, and
corporations can make
money by “greening” their
operations
 Corporate sustainability has
gone mainstream
 Be careful of greenwashing, where consumers
are misled into thinking
companies are acting
sustainably
 Examples
from the LCAs?
21-47
Conclusion
 Corporate responsibility, alternative ways of
measuring growth, and the valuation of
ecosystem goods and services offer different, but
potentially complementary, economic approaches
to environmental protection
 Environmental ethics has expanded people’s
ethical consideration
 Distributional equity = equal treatment for all
 True income is sustainable income
 If economic welfare can be enhanced in the
absence of growth, economies and
environmental
quality can benefit from one
21-48
another
Assignment for Thursday
 I will break you in five groups today to consider the following
questions related to environmental ethics. Do some research
in the interim:
 What obligations, if any, do members of present generations
have to consider the welfare of future generations and, if we
do, what would that look like?
 What obligations, if any, do members of present generations
have to consider the welfare of other species and ecosystems
and, if we do, what would that look like?
 Given the potential short-term economic costs, what are
appropriate actions we can take to mitigate and forestall the
effects of climate change?
 What should take precedence – cultural tradition or ecological
sustainability, as with the case of shark fin soup or sealing.
 Industrial agriculture and meat production, in particular, is
very efficient. To what extent should the welfare of the
animals be taken into consideration and what would that look
like?