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Utilitarianism/Nature as a resource -
Wilderness Condition
Roderick Nash -Nature was wild needed to be tamed, Garden
of Eden was natural -Feared because of actual danger
(Indians, beasts) and moral vacuum, no laws or civilization to
restrain the inherent flaws of humanity -Had to make land
useful in order to survive
TERM 2
Utilitarianism/Nature as a resource -
Reclamation Idea
DEFINITION 2 John Wesley Powell -Wanted government intervention in order to settle the west and make it inhabitable for humans -Leads to the creation of the US Bureau of Reclamation, make use of nature for the benefit of civilized society -Sees nature by its benefit to humanity, "natural timber lands" (Utilitarian view) -Does note that this land cannot support huge populations because of resource limits TERM 3
Utilitarianism/Nature as a resource -
Conservation@White House
DEFINITION 3 Teddy Roosevelt -Speech about the exploitation of natural resources in danger of exhaustion -Fears America will lose prestige because of its dependence on fossil fuels, being "reckless" -In reaction to Frederick Jackson Turner's The Closing of the American Frontier and his Frontier Theory. -No more frontier, we have reached the boundaries of our country, and thus cannot simply keep moving west when we run out of resources Argues for conservation of resource, limit use to prolong their existence TERM 4
Nature as Sublime -Hetch Hetchy
DEFINITION 4 John Muir -Nature = God's country/holy which he captures through his poetic descriptions -Opposing movement to dam Hetch Hetchy in order to provide hydroelectric power for San Francisco after a fire -His actions/death lead to the establishment of the Natural Reclamation Act in 1916 which allows the federal government to preserve certain areas of land TERM 5
Nature as Sublime -Walking and Walden
DEFINITION 5
Thoreau -Founder of Transcendentalism-focus on
interconnectedness of life and nature -Nature reflects
spiritual truths, humans need it to survive -Place of freedom,
away from cities
Nature as Sublime -Winter Creek
Kathleen Moore -An escape, place for finding oneself and
one's thoughts
TERM 7
Problems with the Sublime
DEFINITION 7
Problems: -They still see nature as separate, someplace else
-What about ordinary nature? Only worrying about sublime
views, not everyday grasses and trees. -People "escape" into
nature -Essentially, Cronon's arguments
TERM 8
Anthropocentrism v
Ecocentrism
DEFINITION 8 o (Human centered vs Environment centered)/ Judeo-Christian vs Native American -Book of Genesis- "Go forth and conquer", be "stewards of the land", "masters" -Separation of humans from nature, duality -Idea of superiority -Native Americans are one with nature, harmonious balance as part of a greater whole -They are just one of the world's species and they actively seek to remain at peace with their surroundings TERM 9
Nature as a Commodity
DEFINITION 9
o Sea World, using nature to sell products (advertising) -Ex;
Images of nature presentations -Nature as sublime
TERM 10
Limits to Growth/Carrying
Capacity/Exponential Growth -Meadows
DEFINITION 10 Limits to Growth (1972) -Ran computer simulations with the Club of Rome -5 factors "population, food production, industrialization, pollution, consumption of non renewable resources, analyzed to run simulators -Exponential growth in a finite system -> (Limits will be reached in 100 years, leading to a decline in population and industrial capacity) -Possible to alter these, but we need to change now -> Trade-offs b/w present and future benefits
Problems with Faustian Bargain/Alternative
Technologies/Bioremediation
-Extremely expensive, not yet widely available -
Ethanol/biofuels- plant based fuels that require more input
than they produce -Example of a Faustian Bargain- you are
losing more than gaining (technology) -selling your soul for
infinite knowledge
TERM 17
Tragedy of the Commons
DEFINITION 17 Garrett Hardin -Selfishness and laissez faire lead to a destruction of common property -Ex; overfishing in the ocean, pollution of the air, waste in the waters -Deal by gov't stepping in to make public, or privatize land -Common property resources- classes of resources for which exclusion is difficult to control access (excludability characteristic) -Joint use involves subtractability- each user is capable of subtracting from other users Population is key contributor to this problem TERM 18
Problems with Tragedy of the Commons
DEFINITION 18
-Assumes market economy -Assumes high population -British
land was not destroyed until it was fenced off and divided -
Mongolia's cashmere industry, worked fine until forced to
privatize -Native Americans
TERM 19
Scarcity Society
DEFINITION 19 -Politics of Scarcity- by William Ophuls -Scarcity is root of all political evil, need authoritative political action -Democracy is too slow to deal with problems (Laissez faire capitalism) -Problems of collective action- strong individualism makes us weak as group -No sense of collective good, only self-interest -Ecological mandarins- highly educated gov't officials to make environmental decisions TERM 20
Problems w/ Scarcity
Society
DEFINITION 20
-Not possible to remove democracy in America -People are
inherently suspicious of large government and gov't
intervention
Administrative Management (EPA)
o Regulatory agency spanning the gov't, use of experts, designed to be apolitical -Instruments Used: -Environmental impact assessment- statement of environmental impact for new projects or expansion of gov't agencies -Ban use of certain materials, specify which materials can be used -Standards (fines to enforce compliance) -Requiring the use of certain types of equipment/technology Mandating certain practices be implemented, ex; EIS TERM 22
problems w/ Admin.
Management
DEFINITION 22
-Biased, slow, no clear goals -Benefits of long term goals vs
need for short term results -Panglossian principle vs.
precautionary principle -When activity raises threat of harm
to human health or environment, precautionary measures
should be taken even if relationships aren'tt fully established
-Burden on producer, not victim
TERM 23
Cost-Benefit Analysis
DEFINITION 23 o Principle framework used to make public spending decisions - Maximize net benefits (seen in monetary terms) by comparing the costs of benefits o Problems: -Doesnt factor externalities- (environmental costs, human health costs) -Damage/Costs that are not factored into the production costs of a variety of manufacturing processes (prices dont reflect ecological truth) TERM 24
Environmental Economics (Cap and trade,
tax, contingent valuation) + Ecological
Economics (GNP v ANP, steady state society)
DEFINITION 24 o Major concern of economists is maximizing output by optimizing efficiency -Creation of honest market to internalize externalities, prices tell "ecological truth" -Mechanisms: o Market incentives- taxes, subsidies -Discharge fees (pay for emitting), congestion fees (pay to enter city to cut down on traffic), rebates (cash for clunkers) o Privatization-people take better care of it if its theirs - Tradable permit system/cap and trade TERM 25
Contingent Valuation
DEFINITION 25
determine values/costs of environmental damages/practices
-Cost of air pollution- factor in medical costs, lost workdays to
asthma, cost of smog, cost of rising temperatures
