GEOG 101: Day 22Environmental Ethics and Economics: Values and Choices (read Chapter 21 – very important!)

Housekeeping Items

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.

I’ll give a few assignments back today. Remember that the environmental education reflection pieces are due on April 9th at the latest.

Apparently, Earth Hour was a flop in BC this year – down from kilowatts saved in 2012 and saved in 2013. The top five communities were Whistler, ….. Nanaimo was

Upon successfully completing this chapter (21), you will be able to

Characterize the influences of culture and world view on the choices people make

Outline the nature, evolution, and expansion of environmental ethics in Western cultures

Describe some basic precepts of economic theory and summarize their implications for the environment

Compare the concepts of economic growth, economic health, and sustainability

Explain the fundamentals of environmental economics, ecological economics, and natural accounting21-3

Culture, World View, And The Environment

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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

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Culture and worldview affect our perception of the environment and environmental problems. Examples?

Many factors shape our world views and perception of the environment (examples?)

ReligionCommunitiesPolitical ideologyEconomicsIndividual interestsVested interest = an individual with

strong interests in the outcome of a decision that results in gain or loss for that individual21-7

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

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?

weighing

the issues

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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

For more information, see The Earth’s Blanket by Nancy Turner.

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Environmental Ethics

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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 people (Jeremy Bentham)21-13

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?

weighing

the issues

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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

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Should we conserve resources for future generations?

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

Are humans justified in driving other species to extinction?

Is is OK to destroy a forest to create jobs for people?

Only two nations have enshrined the rights of ecosystems into their legal systems: Bolivia and Ecuador.

We have started to extend ethical consider-ation 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.)

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?

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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

• The Industrial Revolution intensified debate about our relationship with the environment, with the Romantic Revolution seeking to re-establish the value of nature. It was felt that contact with nature refreshed and ennobled people.

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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.

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Conservation and preservation arose at the start of the twentieth century

John Muir (right, with President Roosevelt at Yosemite National Park) had an eco-centric viewpoint and founded the Sierra Club.

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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 (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 Resources21-22

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 protected21-23

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 been seen as male.21-24

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_urban_renewal?language=en

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Majora Carter

Regarding environmentalracism, see:http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/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!”21-28

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 “oikos” (household) gave rise to both ecology and economics21-29

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 waste- absorbing capacity

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biosphereeconomy

biosphere

“Over-full world”

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i.e. cyclical not linear

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but “throughput” is linear

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 substitutableCosts and benefits are internal to the

production and consumption process (not!) – producers and consumers don’t pay for many of these “externalities”

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 limitedNonrenewable resources, by definition,

are depleted

Renewable resources can also be depleted if not managed properly

Moreover, some ‘resources,’ such as biodiversity, clean air and water, and a stable climate cannot be substituted for.

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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 orderPromoting economic growth creates

opportunities for poor to become wealthierProgress is measured by economic growth

Aspects of neoclassical economics have

profound implications for the environment (cont’d)

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Assumption: Costs and benefits are internal Costs and benefits are experienced by the buyer and seller

alone

Do not affect other members of the society or other species or ecosystems

Pricing ignores social, environmental or economic costs

Externalities = costs or benefits involving people other than the buyer or seller

External costs = cost borne by someone not involved in a transaction

Human health problems

Resource depletion

Hard to account for and eliminate

Aspects of neoclassical economics have profound implications for the environment (cont’d)

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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

Is the growth paradigm good for us?

ECONOMY

ECOSPHERE

As 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 efficient21-39

Economists disagree on whether economic growth is sustainable (cont’d)

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• 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

We can measure economic progress differently

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• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = total monetary value of final goods and services produced Does not account for non-market

values Not necessarily measure desirable

economic activity A large oil spill would increase GDP, as

would people dying of cancer from smoking or poor diets.

We can measure economic progress differently (cont’d)

GPI: An alternative to the GDPGenuine Progress Indicator (GPI) =

differentiates between desirable and undesirable economic activityPositive contributions (i.e. volunteer

work) not paid for with money are added to economic activity

Negative impacts (crime, pollution) are subtracted

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Although GDP of Alberta has increased, GPI shows a decline

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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 better off.

The New Economics Foundation has created the “Happy Planet Index” to measure how happy people in different countries 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 values21-46

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

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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 green-washing, where consumers are misled into thinking companies are acting sustainably

Examples from the LCAs?21-48

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 another21-49