introduction chapter 2 environmental history, laws, economics, and ethics 10/26/2015o'connell1
TRANSCRIPT
INTRODUCTIONChapter 2
Environmental History, Laws, Economics, and Ethics
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There is no such thing as a “national’ environment. Our growing economic interdependence provides the context for global cooperation in dealing with the global ecosystem.
-John Naisbitt
(1989)
HISTORY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
• 3 periods in the history of humankind:–Hunter-gatherer–Agricultural Revolution– Industrial Revolution
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Hunter-Gatherer
• Little impact on the environment
• Doesn’t stay in one place very long
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Agricultural Revolution Approximately 10,000 years agoAltered the landscapeUses renewable resourcesSustains more people
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Industrial RevolutionMore pollutantsMore people living
in crowded citiesUrbanization
Uses nonrenewable resources
Even more crops grown
Better medicine and clean water
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HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT
• Attitudes about the environment –Trial era
–US environmental policies were created in three periods • Frontier era
• Conservation or preservation
• Environmentalism
–Global citizenship
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Tribal Era:
• No one owns the land or water.
• Mostly, a sustainable use.
• “Waste not, want not.”
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Frontier Era (1780s – late 1800s):The First US
Environmental policy addressed public land management
Land, water, and some people were to be subdued for use.
The U.S. government give away04/20/23 O'Connell 9
Manifest Destiny
ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF U.S.
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1600
1700
1800
1900
Dominated by the frontier attitude
Conservation and Preservation (late 1800s – mid-20th Century):
• 2nd period of US environmental policy
• Save resources from wasteful consumption.
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Conservation and Preservation
John James AudubonBirds
Henry David ThoreauWalden Pond
George Perkins MarshMan and Nature
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Environmental History of U.S.
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1750
1800
1900
Some conservationists were influential in raising environmental concerns later in this period.
John James Audubon
Henry David Thoreau
George Perkins Marsh
Conservation and Preservation
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Yellowstone National Park (elk)
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Sequoia National Park (Giant Sequoia
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Yosemite National Park (Half Dome)
Environmental History of U.S.
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1850
1900
1950
Several presidents, particularly Theodore Roosevelt, used this Act to establish 43 million acres of forest reserves.
General Revision Act
1st National Park: Yellowstone
Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks
Conservation and Preservation:
• President Theodore Roosevelt –Conservationist and hunter
• John Muir –Leave the wilderness alone
–1st president of the Sierra Club
–Yosemite
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Environmental History of U.S.
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1850
1900
1950Different worldviews
•Theodore Roosevelt - utilitarian
John Muir - preservationist
Conservation and Preservation:
• Gifford Pinchot –1st chief of the U.S. Forest Service–Sustainable yield–Multiple use
• Aldo Leopold –Wildlife biologist–Sand Canyon Almanac
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Environmental History of U.S.
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1900
1950
2000
Franklin Roosevelt establishes CCC and
SCS
Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac published
posthumously
Environmentalism (mid-late 20th Century):
3rd period of US environmental policy
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962
Cuyahoga River fire
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Environmental History of U.S.
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1900
1950
2000
Rachel Carson published Silent Spring
Environmentalism• Concerned the entire
environment
• First Earth Day in 1970.
• NEPA
• The Population Bomb
• Shallow ecology and deep ecology.
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Environmental History of U.S.
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1900
1950
2000
Paul Ehrlich published The
Population Bomb
Wilderness Act of 1964, spurred on by Wallace
Stegner
First Earth Day
Global Citizenship (currentl):• Whole planet.
• Sustainable development
• 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Kyoto Protocol
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It's Your Future
In the Past2 approaches:
EnvironmentalistsAnti-environmentalists
TodayUnity: the environment is everyone’s concern.A sustainable environment and a sustainable
economy
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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION• National Environmental Policy Act –– EIS required for all federally funded projects
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Many environmental laws have been passed:
Clean Air Act (1970) (Amended in 1990)Clean Water Act (1972)Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972)Endangered Species Act (1973)Energy Policy and Conservation Act (1975)Federal Land Policy and Management Act (1976)National Forest Management Act (1976)Toxic Substances Control Act (1976)Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act (1977)Medical Waste Tracking ActFood Quality Protection Act (1996)Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (2002)
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What has been the effect of environmental legislation since 1970?
• More National Parks • National Wilderness Preservation System• Substantial soil erosion reduction• Emissions of many pollutants reduced• Many endangered species fairing better
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ECONOMICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
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Source
Raw Material
s
Economy
Production Consumption
Products
Money
Sinks
Waste
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Problems with natural capital
Resource degradationClear cutting forestsWater useSoil erosion
Pollution AirWaterLandfills
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National Income Accounts
• 2 Measures are used:• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)• Net Domestic Product (NDP)
• NDP = GDP - depreciation / capital expenses
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BUT, consuming nonrenewable natural resources typically NOT accounted
National Income Accounts
• 2 Measures are used:• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)• Net Domestic Product (NDP)
• NDP = GDP - depreciation / capital expenses
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In addition, degradation of natural resources by pollution also typically NOT accounted
External costs rarely considered
Common problems with economic analyses:Reduction in quality of life and natural beauty
difficult to assessIntrinsic vs. extrinsic Fails to consider unexpected catastrophic
environmental damage
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• Economic strategies for pollution control:– Command and control regulations
– Incentive-based regulation
–Marketable emissions (waste-discharge) permits
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• Case-in-Point: Environmental Problems in Central and Eastern Europe
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ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES, AND WORLDVIEW ETHICS
• Environmental justice– Poor people and minorities bear the brunt of
environmental degradation
• Deep ecology– Self-realization – Biocentric equality
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• Environmental Ethics:– List your moral values concerning the
stewardship of natural resources.–Where would you place yourself along this
spectrum of worldviews?
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Deep Ecology
Western
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
• What we can do.• Values and knowledge.• The direction of environmental
science.
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WHAT CAN WE DO?
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