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Essays on sustainable development goals
Environmental ethics thesis
Environmental ethics thesis
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Thesis: If polluters are harming the environment, the pollution is a moral danger to the ecosystem and should be resolved. If polluters can pay economic compensation for their disruption of the environment, this will not necessarily resolve the problems of the environment. Three authors in this essay offer different perspectives on the issue of making polluters pay, their explicit views of this subject are not observably mentioned in their work, just different positions for and against the idea. As the authors give different reasons for why or why not polluters should pay, they all mention a moral issue is attached to this discussion. I plan to analyze the authors’ readings and interpret their writings for purposes of this essay.
From a moral standpoint, if polluters are harming the environment, the pollution is a real danger to the environment and should be resolved. Although polluters can pay compensation for their disruption of the environment, this does not necessarily resolve the environmental issues affecting our ecosystem. While three authors offer different perspectives on this issue of making polluters pay, their explicit views are not observably mentioned in their work, mostly just different positions for and against the idea. I plan to analyze the authors’ readings and interpret their arguments in this area of discussion.
The first author’s reading I will analyze is Mark Sagoff’s publication, the economy of the earth. Although Sagoff’s writings are helpful to our understanding, they ultimately do not speak explicitly about the main question being answered about whether or not polluters should pay. In Chapter 3, he speaks about the allocation and distribution of resources and how people have incompatible preferen...
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...ems of the environment. The analysis and interpretation of these readings is interepreted to justify the thesis of this argument.
Bibliography Page
Dryzek, John S. 2005. The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses. 2nded.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- This source was helpful in defining green taxes and the reasons why it could help pollution and vice versa.
Goodin, Robert. 1994. “Selling Environmental Indulgences.” Kyklos 47(4): 573-596.
- This source was helping in giving an analogy to the thought of selling sin and selling the environment.
Sagoff, Mark. 2008. “The Allocation and Distribution of Resources.” In The Economy of the Earth: Philosophy, Law, and the Environment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 50-73.
- This source was helpful for defining standards of who gets what resources and
how they will be distributed.
Solis, Hilda. “Environmental Justice: An Unalienable Right for All.” Human Rights 30 (2003): 5-6. JSTOR. Web. 13 February 2014.
In Michael Pollan’s “Why Bother?” Pollan argues that each person can contribute to helping to the environment by erasing their carbon footprints. In my everyday life I experience the choice of driving my car to work or riding my bike. More often than not I choose to drive my car because it is the easier option. I, along with many other people, believe that my individual impact will not cause a larger impact on the global scale. In Pollan’s essay, he makes each person think about the effect they are leaving on the environment and how each person, as an individual, can change his ways before it is too late. Wendell Berry, a naturalist and well-respected and influential writer, was a key factor in recognition of the environmental crisis and how to solve the problem.
In the first chapter in the second half of the book Rosenbaum discusses issues that relate to air and water, which he describes as being the primary issues for environmental policy today. These issues are the most politically salient and most important. Rosenbaum explains the current condition of the air and water in America and explains the task that Americans face in restoring these; the idea of restoring America’s air and water sources has been a goal since environmentalism emerged. It is important to realize, however, that the slow progress is not entirely the blame of policy and administrative failure, but rather science and technology is constantly changing and therefore new and unanticipated effects are placed on the environment. On the flip side science is also constantly redefining the standards that need to be meet in regards to pollution. The way that he is explaining how the government is working to combat the problems of pollution he i...
After reading both passages, the most prevalent taste left in the reader's mouth is one of "irony". The intention of Wilson's work is to show two views. One is of environmentalists who are upset with the critics because they are not conserving enough and are only inte...
The Earth’s climate is changing as a result of human emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Do we, as individuals, have a moral responsibility to change our emissions-behaviour, so as to prevent current or future harm from anthropocentric climate change? For instance, suppose we go driving for fun on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in a gas-guzzling vehicle (Sinnott-Armstrong 333). In this case, have we caused any harm with regard to its effect on climate change? In “It’s Not My Fault: Global Warming and Individual Moral Obligations,” Walter Sinnott-Armstrong argues that such an action is completely harmless and that most or all common individual actions are too causally insignificant to make any difference regarding climate change (Sinnott-Armstrong
middle of paper ... ... Nonetheless, the recent proposal discussed on whether environmental harm should be criminalized has sparked controversy. There are many pros and cons that can be acknowledged in this case. One main thing is certain: the environment is very sacred to every human being and should be well cared for.
In his provocative article “Green Guilt”, Stephen T. Asma elaborates the sources behind why civilians of Western culture feel passionately guilty about the current norm of environmentalism. Asma’s purpose of such text is to inform readers that Western culture is taking environmentalism to the extreme by developing guilt with an association of not living a valued “green life”. Stephen Asma achieves his analysis to the audience of vast environmentalists by emphasizing this extreme guilt and self-loathing through the rhetorical appeal of pathos and ethos -- as well as using diction and tone to support his evidence.
Analyzing human obligation pertaining to all that is not man made, apart from humans, we discover an assortment of concerns, some of which have been voiced by philosophers such as Tom Regan, Peter Singer and Aldo Leopold. Environmentally ethical ideals hold a broad spectrum of perspectives that, not only attempt to identify a problem, but also focus on how that problem is addressed through determining what is right and wrong.
The articles “The Environmental issue from hell” by Bill McKibben and “The Obligation to Endure” by Rachel Carson both talk about the environmental consequences that people have caused. However, McKibben writes about Global warming and argues that it is a moral responsibility to preserve the earth, while on the other hand, Carson writes about pollution of the earth caused by man. McKibben article makes good points and supports his claim with facts which makes his article valid. Carson supports her idea with adequate information and factual evidence which also makes her article valid.
Weltman, Barbara. "Tax Incentives for Going Green." NY Report. N.p., 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
When we think of environmental justice, we often focus on the ecosystem in which we as humans live, and the natural resources and non-human animals that live there. We tend to think about ethical uses of natural resources, and the effects it has on the non-human animals, such as animal rights, endangerment and extinction, loss of habitat, deforestation, erosion, and pollution. Environmental justice is another factor that is concerned with environmental protection and social justice, including humans into the mix of the complex ecosystem. Environmental justice considers the fair and equal distribution of cost and benefits between humans and the natural world. (1) Environmental justice is also defined as the fair treatment of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income and no particular group should have to bear more than their fair share of the burden of negative environmental consequences from industrial pollution or
With rising sea levels, CO2 emissions, and global temperatures, climate scientists and researchers alike are left to wonder how the global climate was allowed to progress to its present state, as well as how to stop this progression in the future. The main topic of debate in this paper will be the relationship between the free market and the environment, and if such a relationship even exists in the first place. In assessing the works and positions of both Naomi Klein and Ronald Bailey, I find Klein’s view of the negative relationship between capitalism and environmentalism to be more convincing, overall.
Everyone’s interpretation of environmental justice varies from their degree of belief and understanding of this serious subject. Though politics play a large role in the globalization of the world, it is those politics that have the power to accept or reject people’s notion. Though the characters in Edward Abbey’s book go about making their statement in an unacceptable way, to them, it is thought to make a difference in the amount of expansion they hope will not be made in the western states. As starhawk states, “we must have respect within to gain it” (30). With the respect of our selves, neighbors and our natural settings, there leaves no room for anything other than improvement.
William F. Baxter exemplifies this anthropocentric viewpoint. In his book People or Penguins: The Case of Optimal Pollution, he argues that society should respect and attempt to preserve environmental balance only if the benefits to humans outweigh the costs. Baxter claims that, since there is no normative definition of “pure” air or water, society should aim for a level of pol...
These differing emphases naturally point to fundamentally different solutions: slow population growth in less-developed nations or change destructive consumption and production patterns in the more-developed nations. This debate, however, assumes a one-step answer to the complex problems created by population pressures on the environment. Both population size and consumption influence environmental change and are among the many factors that need to be combined into credible policy debates.... ... middle of paper ... ...