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Contem. Environmental Issues 1/19/2012 10:22:00 AM

Material for test 1

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2012 the year of sustainable energy for allo Huge deal in improving the quality of life for people around

the worldo 1.3 billion people on this planet do not have electricity (7

billion in the world)

The issueso 825 million are seriously under fed

Every five seconds, a child dies of hunger in the worldo Increasing stress on farms and farmers

Global fertilizer use has rapidly been increasingo Were losing critical amounts of soil

Land area the size of China and India combined hasbeen severely degraded in size from overuse of fertilizer

o How will we manage the commons? How do we achieve a balance between human values and interests

and our obligations and responsibilities to nature?

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A Brief History

Pragmatic resource conservationo Utilitarian conservation

The conservation of resources for the greatest good, forthe greatest number of people, for the greatest period

of time.

George Perkins Marsh (1864) Teddy Roosevelt

o Best President for the environment Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation

o John Muir (1838-1914) President of Sierra Club (1892) Spiritual core values

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Modern Environmentalismo 1962: Silent Spring (Carson)o 1970s: A decade of Awakening and cleanupo Earth dayo The majority of Americans now consider themselves

environmentalists

Global concerns/ environmentalismEnvironmental ethics

Ethicso Morals (distinction between right and wrong)o Values (ultimate worth)

Environmental ethicso Moral relationship between humans and the world around us

Difficult Questions

Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of humanconsumption?

Should we continue to make gasoline-powered vehicles, depleteingfossil fuel resources, when the technology exists to create zero-

emission vehicles?

Should we continue to dam rivers for water supply for non-essentialuses, such as lawn irrigation, knowing full-well the detrimental

impacts dams can have?

Stewardship

Does the company have a moral obligation to restore the landformand surface ecology?

What is the value of a human restored environment?Science = Gaining Knowledge

Science: systematic, precise, objectiveo Creativityo Skillo Insight

Neutrality -- unbiased

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Sound science vs. junk science Why has science failed to provide the certain and unbiased answers

on which good policymaking depends?

o Uncertainty, which scientists treat as a given, a characteristicof all information that must be honestly acknowledged and

communicated

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