Download 2.2 Environmental Ethics

Chapter 2 – Environmental Ethics,
Economics, and Policy
Chapter 2 Outline
•
•
•
•
•
Historical Views of Nature
The Environment and Morals and Values
The Importance of Economics
Quantifying the Value of Ecosystems
Ecosystems and Governments Environmental Policies
• US Environmental Laws and Policies
• International Laws and Policies
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.1 Changing Views of Humans and Nature
• Pre-industrial views
– Animism
• Living/nonliving objects have soul/spirit
• Common religious feature for indigenous people
– Domestication of plants/animals
• Humans alter ecosystem
• Monotheism rises during agricultural development
– New beliefs mostly removes humans from nature
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.1 Changing Views of Humans and Nature
• Enlightenment and industrial revolution
– New technology
– New scientific understanding
• Evolution
• Botany/zoology understanding environmental
connections
– New ideas
• Transcendentalism
• Birth of modern environmental movement
– Man and Nature by George Perkins
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.1 Changing Views of Humans and Nature
• Conservation vs. preservation
– Preservationist view
• Parks/public land should preserve wild nature in
pristine state
– All hands off!
– Conservationist view
• Should be used and managed sustainably to
provide the greatest benefit to the greatest number
of people
– Timber, water, etc. may be used sustainably
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.1 Changing Views of Humans and Nature
• Modern era
– Environmental trends, debates, and warnings
dominate media
– Also entwined in global politics
– Beginning to understand dependence on
ecosystems
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.2 Environmental Ethics
• Doing the right thing–main ethical
traditions
– Virtue ethics
• Right if motivated by virtues (kindness, loyalty,
justice, etc.)
– Consequence-based ethics
• Importance of outcome (benefit vs. harm, pleasure
vs. harm)
• Utilitarianism–greatest good for most people
– Duty-based ethics
• Based on set of rules/laws (lying always wrong)
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.2 Environmental Ethics
• Environmental ethics differ
– Intrinsic value
• People, organisms, or objects are valued
– Instrumental value
• Things valued as a means to something else
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.2 Environmental Ethics
• Anthropocentric ethics
– Intrinsic value–humans only
– Instrumental value–everything else that helps
humans
• Biocentric ethics
– Intrinsic value–all living things
• Ecocentric ethics
– Intrinsic value–communities and ecosystems
– Deep ecology movement
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.2 Environmental Ethics
• Ecofeminism
– Fosters feminine concerns for
interrelationships among humans, nonhuman
life, and the environment
– Women suffer disproportionately from human
destruction of the environment
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.2 Environmental Ethics
• Environmental justice
– Seeks to protect natural resources for all
regardless of race, gender, economic status
– Involved in many international
treaties/negotiations on global issues
– Concern for developing regions
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.3 The Environment and the Marketplace
• Economic systems
– Subsistence economy
• Society meets need without gaining wealth
– Market economy
• Production and consumption take place in markets
guided by prices
• Free market economy
– Government does not influence the marketplace with
subsidies, taxation, or regulation.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.3 The Environment and the Marketplace
• Economic systems
– Planned economy
• Government regulates the price of goods and
services and the level of production
• Control usually by regulation, incentives, subsides,
grants, and taxation
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.3 The Environment and the Marketplace
• Supply and demand
– Price increases when supply low
• Producer gains more profit
• Neoclassical economic theory
• Focus–price and production set through supply
and demand interactions
– Economies of scale
• Cost of production lower in mass
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.3 The Environment and the Marketplace
• Economic value
– Price consumers will pay
• Not a fixed amount
• The more you have, the less you are willing to pay
• Discount rate–rate at which economic value
declines with time
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.3 The Environment and the Marketplace
• Market Complications
• Free markets may deplete resources
– Externalized costs and benefits
• Positive externalities–third party benefits
• Negative externalities–third party suffers
– External costs–cause problems to human well
being
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.3 The Environment and the Marketplace
• Unknown costs and benefits
– Not all costs are currently known
– Example: Smoking
• Limited resources
– Economic models treat resources as infinite
or interchangeable
– Rarely true
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.4 Valuing Ecosystems
• Economic valuation–a price tag for nature
– What is cost of an ecosystem
• Marginal value–willingness to pay compared to
alternative
• Travel-cost valuation–how much people will to pay
for travel to visit ecosystem
• Hedonic valuation–difference of real estate price
affected by environmental alternatives
• Contingent valuation–value based on what people
will pay
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.4 Valuing Ecosystems
• Ecological valuation
– Value of ecosystem measured by cost of
possible loss of ecosystem
• Natural capital–Earth's resources humans
depend on
• Ecological valuation–what will it cost us if lost
– Example: deforestation may lead to cost of flooding
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.4 Valuing Ecosystems
• Measuring the wealth of nations
– May externalize costs
• Gross domestic product (GDP)
– Value of goods/services produced divided by
population
• Genuine progress indicator (GPI)
– Alternative measure
– GDP–economic value of
degradation/enhancement of environment
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
FOCUS ON SCIENCE:
Calculating Ecological Value
• Studied the ecosystem service provided
by native forest
• Examined coffee production in Costa Rica
– Compared pollination rates
– Coffee closer to native forest had higher
pollination fruit yield (ecosystem service)
– Loss of surrounding forest equals $60,000 in
lost crop production/year
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.5 Environmental Policy: Deciding and
Acting
• Policies–principles that guide in setting
goals, decisions, and activities
• Environmental policies–guide
decisions/action that influence
environment
– Achieved via regulation, incentives,
partnerships, volunteerism
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.5 Environmental Policy: Deciding and
Acting
• The policy cycle
– Series of steps government takes to develop
and revise policies
• Problem identified
• Policies formed
– Public hearings, debates, lobbying
– Policy implemented
– Policy assessed
• Revision or termination
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.5 Environmental Policy: Deciding and
Acting
• Environmental policies–in action
– Regulatory mandates
• Legal standards for action
– CAFE regulations
– Incentives
• Offer something appealing
– Tax credit for new technology
» Hybrid vehicles, solar panels
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.5 Environmental Policy: Deciding and
Acting
• Environmental policies–in action
– Market-based policies
• Economic markets used to guide actions
– Cap and trade
» Regulatory limit set, rights to exceed limits traded on
market
– Volunteerism
• Work performed freely by community
– "Give a hoot don't pollute," "Only you can stop forest
fires," park cleanups
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.5 Environmental Policy: Deciding and
Acting
• Policy decision framework–eight issues
– Government vs. individual control
• What level of government control?
– Laws mandating recycling, etc.
– Competing public values
• Logging jobs vs. watershed quality
– Uncertainty and action
• Precautionary principle–any evidence it could
cause a problem?
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.5 Environmental Policy: Deciding and
Acting
• Policy decision framework: 8 issues
– Which level of government decides?
• Federal vs. state vs. county vs. city
– Which government agency has jurisdiction?
• Agency overlap for same system
– River with levies and dams
– Protection against selfish actions
• Tragedy of the commons
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.5 Environmental Policy: Deciding and
Acting
• Policy decision framework–eight issues
– The best means to an end
• Goal usually agreed on
• Issue is acceptable strategy
– Political power relationships
• Political compromises
• Political parties in majority
• Regional issues
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.6 U.S. Environmental Law and Policy
• Government function
– Three branches involved
• Legislative
• Executive
• Judicial
– Regulations–specific rules
• Establish standards, compliance, enforcement
– Case law–various decisions from courts
• Precedents influence future decisions
• Interpretation
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.6 U.S. Environmental Law and Policy
• Constitution and environmental policy
– Articles and amendments influence
• Federal government regulates foreign/interstate
commerce
• Public lands
• Immanent domain
• Equal protection (environmental justice)
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.7 International Environmental Law and
Policy
• Environmental Laws
– Sovereignty
• Country can do whatever it wants, as long as it
does not violate international laws agreed to
– Customary international laws
• Behaviors/rules of long-standing precedent
– Conventional international laws
• Treaties
– Judicial international laws
• Standards set by international courts/ tribunals
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
2.7 International Environmental Law and
Policy
• International institutions
– Environmental policies/laws influenced
• United Nations
– Most important
– 54 nations involved in economic and social council
• Regional consortia
– European Union, Organization of American States, etc.
• International financial institutions
– World Bank, World Trade Organization
• Nongovernmental organizations
– Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.