Human Values and Environmental Problems

I=PAT Activity• We will getting into 5 groups.

• In your assigned group, estimate how much of your assigned resource you use in a day. Think Broadly and brainstorm as many things as possible.

• List these on your easel paper.

Share out and evaluate

• Each group will share the types of items that they used in a day.

• Now, let’s imagine this scenario: Our Population stabilizes at twice the current size (14 billion), all people will seek Affluence, so what types of technologies will be required to keep the Impacts? Think creatively.

Environmental Sustainability and Human

ValuesChapter 2

I=PAT Review Question:• How has technology changed to

reduce our impact on the environment?

• Give two examples of technological improvements that has helped to reduce or maintain our impact, despite our growing population and affluence.

Question of the Day:

• What are “commons”?

• What is the “Tragedy of the Commons” as described by the book?

• How could we work to decrease our consumption?

The Global CommonsThe Tragedy of the Commons (1968 essay)– Garrett Hardin

• Our inability to solve environmental problems stems from the conflict between short-term individual welfare and long-term environmental sustainability

• Used Medieval shared pastureland (the commons) as example.

The Global Commons

• Sustainability – The ability to meet humanity’s current

needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

• Sustainable Development– Economic growth that meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

– Must meet the needs of the poor– Can only occur within the limits of the

environment– Cannot sustain everyone at the levels of

consumption of the US, Europe, and Japan.

Human Use of the Earth

Human Use of the Earth

The London Olympics-Sustainability

• http://www.london2012.com/videos/video=the-olympic-park-with-kevin-mccloud.html

• Consumption overpopulation: – People use more than their share of

resources– Affluent lifestyle– Leads to pollution and degradation

• Sustainable Consumption: – People use their share of resources to meets

their needs– Must improve the quality of life for the poor– Minimizes the use of resources– Voluntary Simplicity

Human Use of the Earth

Let’s Brainstorm Ideas that you already do to reduce

consumption

• Voluntary Simplicity– Requires behavioral change: purchasing less – Accumulation of goods does not equal

happiness– Values and character define a person, not

what they own– E.g., car-sharing, using public

transportation, etc.– Not popular with politicians and consumers

Human Use of the Earth

Human Use of the Earth

Environmental InSight

Global Climate Change

1. What is sustainable development?2. What is sustainable consumption? How

is it linked to a reduction in world poverty?

3. How is voluntary simplicity an example of sustainable consumption?

• Ethics: branch of philosophy that deals with human values

• Environmental Ethics: considers the moral basis of environmental responsibility– Considers the rights of people living

today AND of future generations– Critical because our actions today affect

the environment in the future

Human Values and Environmental Problems

• Worldviews: – personal perspectives, based on values– Help us make sense of the world–What is right and wrong– Lead to behaviors and lifestyles–May or may not be compatible with

environmental sustainability

Human Values and Environmental Problems

• Environmental Worldview:– How the environment works– Our place in the environment– Right and wrong environmental

behaviors

• Two extremes;–Western Worldview– Deep Ecology Worldview

Human Values and Environmental Problems

• Western Worldview:– Expansionist, human-centered– Frontier attitude; conquer and exploit

nature– Human superiority over nature– Unrestricted use of natural resources– Unrestricted economic growth– Anthropocentric perspective

Human Values and Environmental Problems

• Deep Ecology:– 1970s: Arne Naess, Bill Devall, George Sessions– Based on harmony with nature– Spiritual respect for life– Humans and other species have equal worth– Requires radical shift in modern thinking– Appreciating quality of life, rather than a

high standard of living– Biocentric perspective

Human Values and Environmental Problems

Activity:Who is the environmentalist?

• Consider the character descriptions on the next slides. Which of these individuals, if any, is an environmentalist? Why?–What does this imply about environmentalism?

Maria-Is an environmental studies major at PSU. She is active in the campus student environmental group and is trying to set up a recycling center on campus. She has been saving her income from working at a local nature center for a trip to Costa Rica after graduation.

Kurt- is a stock analyst who commutes 40 minutes to his job in the city. He carpools with one other person in his Suburban. Every year, he send donations to Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Willistown Conservation Trust and Great Valley Nature Center. At home, his family recycles and they eat meat very infrequently. They buy locally as much as possible.

Sasha- is an engineer at a pulp and paper mill. She can be heard grumbling about the environmental regulations her plant faces and the gov’t agents who come to inspect. She recently won an award for figuring out a way to divert waste heat from her plant and recycle the heat to dry out the paper. This saves the company $$ and reduces energy costs. Several years ago she won an award for figuring out a way to use pulp waste as fertilizer.

Environmental Ethics

• Field of ethics that considers the moral basis of environmental responsibility

• Western Worldview– Human superiority and dominance over

nature

• Deep Ecology Worldview– All species have an equal worth to humans

• Most people’s ethics fall somewhere in between

Global Climate Change

1. What is environmental ethics?2. What assumptions are made in the

deep ecology worldview?