2021-intro to environmental science lec 4 policy, ethics, and worldview notes docx PDF

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2021-intro to environmental science lec 4 policy, ethics, and worldview notes docx...

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Intro to Environmental Science Lecture 4: Policy, Ethics, and Worldview 

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Environmental Justice o Ideal: every person is entitled to protection from environmental hazards o Studies: large share of polluting factors, incinerators, and landfills in the United States  Located in African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American communities o Environmental justice movement – growing grassroots effort to address inequalities Differing Environmental Worldviews o Environmental worldviews – beliefs about how the natural world works and how people should interact with it  Differ on importance, human needs/wants vs overall health of ecosystems/biosphere  Scope of concern for different environmental worldviews  Biosphere  Biodiversity  Ecosystems  All species on earth  All people on earth  Community and friends  Family  Self  Human-centered environmental worldview – humans are #1  Focus: needs/wants of people o Planetary management worldview  Can/should manage earth for our own benefit  No-problem school  Free-market school o Stewardship worldview – have a responsibility to be caring stewards  Criticisms: o Assumes we can always be good stewards – we do not always know enough about the earth o Unregulated global free market approach will degrade and deplete natural capital  Life-centered/earth-centered  All species have value and humans should not hasten the extinction of other species  Natural capital exists for all species, not just humans and should be preserved for all current and future life  Environmental wisdom worldview o We are part of community of life and the ecological processes that sustain all life

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o Use lessons from nature (environmental wisdom) to guide us o Not in charge of the world o Subject to nature’s scientific laws which cannot be broken  2000: UN earth charter o Respect earth/life in all its diversity o Care for life with understanding, love, compassion o Build societies that are free, just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful o Secure earth’s bounty for present and future generations o Prevent harm to environment o Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, environmental imperative o Environmental ethics  Beliefs about what is right and wrong in our behavior toward the environment  Differing worldviews can influence ethics concerns Role of Government in Making Sustainable Society Transition o Government policies  Protect environmental/public interests  Encourage more environmentally sustainable economic development o Delicate balance between free enterprise and government intervention o Government is best mechanism to deal with:  Full-cost pricing, market failures, tragedy of the commons o Serving environmental/public interests  Policies – laws/regulations/funded programs  Environmental policy  Policy life cycle stages  Problem recognition  Policy formulation  Policy implementation  Policy adjustment o Democratic process – politicians focus on short-term problems  Special-interest groups pressure the government  Profit-making organizations  NGOs  Labor unions  Trade associations Policy Creation o Enacting laws, funding programs, writing/enforcing rules  Complex process affected by political processes o Individuals can work together to become part of political processes that influence environmental policies o Budgeting appropriates funding needed to implement and enforce each law o Government department/agency must draw up regulations to implement the law

Lobbyists – person/group that tries to persuade legislators to vote or act in their favor  Regulated businesses try to have their members appointed to regulatory agency – revolving door effect  Politics >> environmental science Principles of Policy-making o Precautionary o Prevention o Reversibility – avoid decisions which cannot be reversed o Net-energy principle – avoid energy technologies with low/negative net energy yields o Polluter-pays – ensure polluters bear the cost o Environmental justice principle – no group should have unfair share of burden o Triple-bottom-line principle – balance economic, environmental, social needs Environmental Law – body of laws/treaties which broadly define what is acceptable environmental behavior o Most environmental lawsuits are civil suits  Injunction  Class action suit  Negligence o Legal standing o Very expensive o Public interest law firms – cannot recover attorney’s fees o Plaintiffs must establish that harm has been done Influencing Policy o Individuals matter – change usually happens from the bottom up o 2007: Chinese citizens opposed construction of a chemical plant – mobile phone text messaging spread the word o At a fundamental level, all politics is local o Individual efforts  Become informed on issues  Make your views known at public hearings  Make your views known to elected representatives and understand their positions on environmental issues  Contribute money/time to candidates who support your views  Vote  Run for office  Form/join NGOs seeking change  Support reform of election campaign financing that reduces undue influence by corporations and wealthy individuals Education in Living Sustainably o First step to living more sustainably is become environmentally literate o Important ideas of environmental literacy  Natural capital matters  Ecological footprints are immense/growing rapidly 

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 Should not exceed the earth’s planetary boundaries/tipping points o Requires answering key questions and having basic understanding of key topics  How does life on earth sustain itself?  How am I connected to the earth and other living things?  Where do the things I consume come from and where do they go after I use them?  What is my environmental worldview?  What is my environmental responsibility as a human being? o Living simply/lightly  Avoid buying something for the trend  Go on ad diet by not watching/reading advertisements  Avoid shopping for recreation/buying on impulse  Stop using credit/buy only with cash to avoid overspending  Borrow/share things like books/tools/other consumer goods Student Environmental Groups/Researchers o Campus environmental groups work with faculty and administration to bring about improvements  Environmental audits gather data on practices that affect the environment  Propose changes  Influence institutional investing Bringing Sustainability Revolution during Lifetime o Sustainability revolution  Decentralized, global movement  Arising from actions of individuals and groups o For major social change to occur:  Only 5-10% of people must be convinced that the change must take place – and act to bring about the change  History shows we can change faster than we think Big Ideas o Environmental worldviews play key role in how we treat the earth – shapes ethics/policy-making o Important outcome of political process is environmental policy – body of laws, regulations, programs designed, implemented, funded, and enforced by one or more government agencies o All politics is local – individuals can work with each other to become part of political processes that influence environmental policies o we need to become more environmentally literate about:  how earth works  how we affect its life-support systems that keep us and other species alive  what we can do to live more sustainably...