ENV Learning Unit 4 (Chapters 2 + 3)

Quote by Lewis Thomas

"The most beautiful object I have ever seen in a photograph in all my life is the planet Earth seen from the distance of the moon, hanging in space, obviously alive. Although it seems at first glance to be made up of innumerable separate species of living things, on closer examination every one of its things, working parts, including us, is interdependently connected to all the other working parts. It is, to put it one way, the only truly closed ecosystem any of us know about."

Quote by John Muir

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

Market-Based Instruments (pg. 53)

-historically governments have sought to achieve environmental improvements by establishing regulations with penalties for those who do not comply with the regulations -different kinds of market-based instruments: ] 1.) information programs: provide consumers with information about the environmental consequences of purchasing decisions. 2.) Tradeable Emissions Permits: give companies the right to emit specified quantities of pollutants 3.) Emissions Fees and Taxes: make environmentally damaging activity or products more expensive, which provides an economic incentive to reduce environmental harm 4.) Deposit-Refund Programs: place a surcharge on the price of a product that is refunded when the used product is returned for reuse or recycling 5.) Performance Bonds: are fees that are collected to ensure that proper care is taken to protect environmental resources

The Ethics of Consumption (pg. 30)--Energy

-if everybody on Earth consumed as much oil as the average American, the world's known reserves would be gone in about 40 years -in many regions of the world, natural gas is replacing oil as the primary source of domestic and industrial power -in some countries, the winds of political change have brought nuclear power back onto the table in addition to solar, wind, wave, and biomass technologies

The Ethics of Consumption (pg. 30)

-in 1994 when delegates from around the world gathered in Cairo for the International Conference on Population and Development, representatives from developing countries protested that a baby born in the US will consume during its lifetime at least 20 times as much of the world's resources as an African or Indian baby. -it has been estimated that if the rest of the world consumed at the rate at which people in the US consume, we would need five more planets to supply the resources.

Cost-Benefit Analysis (pg. 49)

-it has long been the case in many developed countries that major projects, especially those undertaken by the government, require some form of cost-benefit analysis with respect to environmental impacts and regulations

Making Decisions (pg. 40)

-life decisions involve a consideration of two factors: risk and cost

Perception of Risk (pg. 42)

-one of the most profound dilemmas facing decision makers and public health scientists is how to address the discrepancy between the scientific and public perceptions of environmental risks -environmental hazards affecting human status are not necessarily those receiving the highest attention

The Ethics of Consumption (pg. 30)--Water

-right now, humans use about half the planet's accessible supply of renewable freshwater--the supply regenerated each year and available for human use -unlike fossil fuels, there is no substitute for water -what we might call water ethic--a set of common understandings, shared values, and widely accepted norms governing how humans ought to behave with reference to water--does not appear to be widely thought of in contemporary human affairs -over 99% of Earth's water is either saline or frozen -dozens of the greatest rivers are dry long before they reach the sea -water needs to be respected as a geological force

Corporate Environmental Ethics (pg. 27)

-the enormous effects of business on the state of the environment highlight the important need for corporate environmental ethics -in a legal sense, corporations act as a "artificial persons," a corporation's primary purpose is neither to benefit the public nor to protect the environment but to generate a financial return for its shareholders. -shareholders may demand that their directors run the corporation ethically -some of the most important decisions affecting our environment are made not by governments or the public, but by executives who wield massive corporate power.

Societal Environmental Ethics (pg. 27)

-the environmental ethic expressed by a society is a product of the decisions and choices made by a diverse range of social actors that includes individuals, businesses, and national leaders. -Western develop societies have long acted as if the Earth has unlimited reserves of natural resources, an unlimited ability to assimilate wastes, and a limitless ability to accommodate unchecked growth -the "growth mania" has resulted in the unsustainable use of nonrenewable resources for comfortable homes, well-equipped hospitals, convenient transportation, fast-food outlets, VCRs, home computers, and battery-operated toys, among other things. -Gandhi once said. "The Earth provides enough to satisfy every person's need, but not every person's greed."

Using Economic Tools to Address Environmental Issues (pg. 52)

-the traditional way of dealing with environmental issues is to develop regulations that prohibit certain kinds of behavior. this is often called a "command and control" approach and has been effective at reducing air and water pollution, protecting endangered species, and requiring that environmental concerns be addressed by environmental impact statements.

Green Business Concepts (pg. 30)

-there will be little political enthusiasm for preserving the environment if preservation results in national economic collapse -corporations should recognize that profits must come neither at the cost of the health of current and future generations nor at the cost of species extinctions

Ecological Footprint

Has been developed to help individuals measure their environmental impact on the Earth. One's ecological footprint is defined as "the area of Earth's productive land and water required to supply the resources that an individual demands, as well as to absorb the wastes that the individual produces."

External Costs

It is cheaper in the short run to dump wastes into a river than to install a wastewater treatment facility, and it is cheaper to release wastes into the air than it is to trap them in filters. These actions are called this, since the public or the environment, rather than the corporation, pay these costs.

Preservationist Approach (pg. 23)

Tends to be the most ecocentric of the three common attitudes toward the environment. Rather than seek to convert all of nature over to human uses, preservationists want to see large portions of nature preserved intact. Nature, they argue, has intrinsic value or inherent worth apart from human uses. During the 19th century, preservationists often gave openly religious reasons for protecting the natural world. John Muir condemned the "temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism" who, "instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty dollar." This was not a call for better cost-benefit analysis: Muir described nature not as a commodity but as a companion. Nature is sacred, Muir held, whether or not resources are scarce. Philosophers such as Emerson and Thoreau thought of nature as full of divinity. Walt Whitman celebrated a leaf of grass as no less than the "journeywork of the stars." "After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on and found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear--what remains? Nature remains." These people wish to keep large parts of nature intact for aesthetic or recreational purposes.

Supply

The amount of a good or service people are willing to sell at a given price.

Demand

The amount of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy at a given price

Extended Product Responsibility

The concept that the producer of a product is responsible for all the negative effects involved in its production, including the ultimate disposal of the product when its useful life is over.

Natural Capitalism

The idea that businesses can both expand their profits and take good care of the environment

Probability

The mathematical statement about how likely it is that something will happen

Risk

The probability that a condition or action will lead to an injury, damage, or loss.

Life Cycle Analysis

The process of assessing the environmental effects associated with the production, use, reuse, and disposal of a product over its entire useful life. Cam help us understand the full cost of new products and their associated technologies.

Environmental Justice

The social justice expression of environmental ethics. The environmental justice movement emerged to challenge the unfair distribution of toxic, hazardous, and dangerous waste facilities, which were disproportionately located in low-income communities of color.

Economics

The study of how people choose to use resources to produce goods and services and how goods and services are distributed to the public

Conservationist Approach (pg. 23)

The third environmental approach is this. Conservationism tends to strike a balance between unrestrained development and preservationism. This is anthropocentric in the sense that it is interested in promoting human well-being. They tend to consider a wider range of long-term human goods in their decisions about environmental management. Conservationist Gifford Pinchot, arguing with preservationist John Muir at the start of the 20th century about how to manage American forests, thought that the forests should primarily be managed to serve human needs and interests.But Pinchot could see that timber harvest rates should be kept low enough for the forest to have time to regenerate itself. He also realized that water quality for humans was best preserved by keeping large patches of forest intact. Many hunters are conservationists.

Ecocentrism

The third of the three theories to environmental responsibility, called ecocentrism, maintains that the environment deserves direct moral consideration and not consideration that is merely derived from human or animal interests. In ecocentrism it is suggested that the environment itself, not just the living organisms that inhabit it, has moral worth.

Risk Assessment

The use of facts and assumptions to estimate the probability of harm to people or the environment from particular environmental factors or conditions

Pollution-Prevention Costs

Those incurred either in the private sector or by government to prevent, either entirely or partially, the pollution that would otherwise result from some production or consumption activity

External Costs

Those that are borne by someone other than the individuals who produce or consume a good or service.

Opportunity Costs

Those that occur when a decision precludes other potential uses for a resource.

Resources

Three kinds of classic resources: 1.) labor (human resource) 2.) capital (anything that enables the efficient production of goods and services) 3.) land (natural resources of the planet)

Development Approach (pg. 22)

Tends to be the most anthropocentric of the three. It assumes that the human race is and should be master of nature and that the Earth and its resources exist solely for our benefit and pleasure. This approach is reinforced by the capitalist work ethic, which historically dictated that humans should create value for themselves by putting their labor into both land and materials in order to convert them into marketable products. In its unrestrained form, this approach suggests that improvements in the human condition require converting ever more of nature over to human use. This approach thinks highly of human creativity and ingenuity and holds that continual economic growth is itself a moral ideal for society. This mindset has very often accompanied the process of industrialization and modernization in a country.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising that ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Early Philosophers of Nature

FOUND ON PAGE 24

Anthropocentrism

First of the 3 theories is anthropocentrism or human-centered ethics. This is the view that all environmental responsibility is derived from human interests alone. The assumption here is that only human beings are morally significant and have direct moral standing. This view supports the idea that the value of the environment lies in its instrumental worth for humans.

Supply/Demand Curve

For any good or service, there is a constantly shifting relationship among supply, demand, and price.

Pollution Prevention

Pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible

Pollution Costs

Private or public expenditures to correct pollution damage once pollution has occurred

Subsidy

A gift from government to individuals or private enterprise to encourage actions considered important to the public interest. May include income tax rebates for purchases of energy efficient appliances, low-interest loans or grants to businesses to encourage them to invest in specific technologies to control pollution, or tax advantages to business and industry to develop new technologies. These gifts, whether loans, favorable tax situations, or direct grants, are all paid for by taxes on the public, so in effect they are an external cost. Can be useful when they have a clear purpose and are used for short periods. Also used to keep the price of a good or service below its true market price.

The Call for a New Ethic (pg. 18)

-As Harvard University ecologist William Clark points out, that only as a global species, "pooling our knowledge, coordinating our actions, and sharing what the planet has to offer--do we have any prospect for managing the planet's transformation along pathways of sustainable development." -some people see little value in an undeveloped river and feel it is unreasonable to leave it flowing in a natural state -it could be argued that rivers throughout the world ought to be controlled to provide power, irrigation, and navigation for the benefit of humans -it could also be argued that to not use these resources would be wasteful -in the US Pacific Northwest, there is a conflict over the value of old-growth forests. economic interests want to use the forests for timber production and feel that to not do so would cause economic hardship. they argue that the trees are simply a resource to be used in any way deemed necessary for human economic benefit. -an opposing view is that all the living things that make up the forest have a kind of value beyond their economic utility. removing the trees would destroy something ethically significant that took hundreds of years to develop and may be almost impossible to replace -the problem of managing human interaction upon their environment has been transformed today by unprecedented increases in the rate, scale, and complexity of the interactions -at one time, pollution was viewed as a local, temporary event, where today pollution may involve several countries and may affect multiple generations -the debates over chemical and radioactive waste disposal are examples of the increasingly international nature of pollution -many European countries are concerned about the transportation of radioactive and toxic wastes across their borders

Other Philosophical Approaches (pg. 21)

-As traditional political and national boundaries fade or shift in importance, new variations of environmental philosophy are fast emerging. 1.) Ecofeminism: the view that there are important theoretical, historical, and empirical connections between how society treats women and how it treats the environment 2.) Social Ecology: the view that social hierarchies are directly connected to behaviors that lead to environmental destruction. Social ecologists are strong supporters of the environmental justice movement. 3.) Deep Ecology: the generally ecocentric view that a new spiritual sense of oneness with the Earth is the essential starting point for a more healthy relationship with the environment. Deep ecology also includes a biocentric egalitarian world view. Many deep ecologists are environmental activists. 4.) Environmental Pragmatism: an approach that focuses on policy rather than ethics. These people think that a human-centered ethic with a long-range perspective will come to many of the same conclusions about environmental policy as an ecocentric ethic. Consequently they find the emphasis on ethical theories unhelpful. 5.) Environmental Aesthetics: the study of how to appreciate beauty in the natural world. Some of these people think that the most effective philosophical ground for protecting that natural environment is to think in terms of protecting natural beauty. 6.) Animal Rights/Welfare: this position asserts that humans have a strong moral obligation to nonhuman animals. Strictly speaking, this is not an environmental position because the commitment is to individual animals and not the ecosystems and ecological health. Animal rights advocates are particularly concerned about the treatment of farm animals and animals used in medical research.

Characterizing Risk (pg. 40)

-When we consider any activity or situation that poses a risk, we generally think about 3 factors: the probability of a bad outcome, the consequences of a bad outcome, and the cost of dealing with a bad outcome

Supply and Demand (pg. 44)

-an economic good or service can be defined as anything that is scarce -scarcity exists whenever the demand for anything exceeds its supply

Global Environmental Ethics (pg. 33)

-as human stresses on the environment increase, the stability of the planet's ecological systems becomes more and more uncertain -increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane, whether caused by humans or not, are leading to changes in surface temperatures that will result in major ecological effects -feedback loops add to urgency -some models predict that ocean currents, nutrient flows, and hydrologic cycles could make radical shifts from historic patterns in a matter of months -such disruptions would cause catastrophic environmental change by shifting agricultural regions, threatening species with extinction, decimating crop harvests. and pushing tropic diseases into areas where they are currently unknown -2012 was one of the top hottest years on record -in 1990, Noel Brown, the director of the United Nations North American Environmental Programme, stated: ...(pg. 36) -Arab, Israeli, Russian, and American environmental professionals have been working together for several years -much of current environmental crisis is rooted in and exacerbated by the widening gap between rich and poor nations -industrialized countries contain only 20% of the world's population, yet they control 80% of the world's goods and create most of its pollution -as nations struggle to catch up with the developed world and improve the quality of life for their people, a vicious cycle begins: their efforts at rapid industrialization poison their cities, while their attempts to boost agricultural production often result in the destruction of their forests and the depletion of their soils, which leads to greater poverty -Stockhold, Sweeden 1972 (pg. 36) -Wangari Maathai (pg. 37)

Deferred Costs

Costs that are ignored, not recognized, or whose effects accumulate over time, but that eventually must be paid.

Is There a Corporate Environmental Ethic? (pg. 28)

-corporations are making more frequent references to environmental issues over the past several years -Ray Anderson of Interface Incorporated led the way in greening the carpet industry -The International Organization for Standardization has developed a program called ISO 14000 to encourage industries to adopt the most environmentally sensitive production practices. -reaction by the business community to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska -Oil Pollution Act (OPA) passed in 1990 to reduce the environmental impact of future oil spills and has resulted in a 94% reduction in spills -a group of environmentalists, investors, and companies formed the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics (CERES) group in 1989 and created a set of 10 environmental standards by which their business practices could be measured called the CERES Principles. -CERES companies pledge to voluntarily go beyond the requirements set by the law to strive for environmental excellence through business practice that: (1) protect the biosphere, (2) sustainably use natural resources, (3) reduce and dispose of waste safely, (4) conserve energy, (5) minimize environmental risks through safe technologies, (6) reduce the use, manufacture, and sale of products and services that cause environmental damage, (7) restore environmental damage, (8) inform the public of any health, safety, or environmental conditions, (9) consider environmental policy in management decisions, and (10) report the results of an annual environmental audit to the public. -in 1997 the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was established

Personal Choices (pg. 33)

-eating food that is produced locally, is low on the food chain, and is grown with a minimum of chemical fertilizers and pesticides not only reduces the environmental impact of food production; it might also lead to better health -heart disease and certain cancers are increasingly being linked to diets high in animal fats -living in town rather than out in the suburbs, lobbying for the protection of wild areas, and voting for officials who take environmental issues seriously are all ways that your own environmental ethic can directly contribute to a reduced environmental impact -lifestyle choices are an expression of your ethical commitments -Margaret Mead

Individual Environmental Ethics (pg. 30)

-ethical changes in society and business must start with the individuals -we have to recognize that our individual actions have a bearing on environmental quality and that each of us bears some personal responsibility for the quality of the environment in which we live -

Environmental Ethics (pg. 19)

-ethics are a board way of thinking about what constitutes a good life and how to live one. -ethics address questions of right and wrong, making good decisions, and the character or attributes necessary to live a good life. -THREE KEY PROPOSITIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 1.) The Earth and its creatures have moral status, in other words, are worthy of our ethical concern 2.) The Earth and its creatures have intrinsic value, meaning that they have moral value merely because they exist, not only because they meet human needs 3.) Based on the concept of an ecosystem, human beings should consider "wholes" that include other forms of life and the environment -environmental ethics has required us to consider far more carefully the actual extent of the range of stakeholders in any ethical decision. -the concept of "the moral status of nature" is an important feature that distinguishes environmental ethics from social ethics -the future is a category especially pertinent to environmental ethics

Environmental Attitudes (pg. 22)

-even for those who have studies environmental ethics carefully, it is never easy to act in accordance with one particular ethic in everything -ethical commitments pull in difference directions at different times -because of these difficulties, it is sometimes easier to talk in terms of general attitudes or approaches to the environment rather than in terms of particular ethics -the three most common approaches are (a) the development approach, (b) the preservation approach, and (c) the conservation approach

Conflicting Ethical Positions (pg. 19)

-even when people have strong personal ethical commitments, they might find that some of their commitments conflict -ethical issues dealing with the environment are especially complex because sometimes it appears that what is good for people conflicts with what is good for the environment -what is good for the environment is also good for people

The Ethics of Consumption (pg. 30)--Wild Nature

-everyday in the US, between 1000 and 2000 hectares of farmland and natural areas are lost to development

The Greening of Religion (pg. 20)

-for many years, environmental issues were considered to be the concern of scientists, lawyers, and policymakers -until recently, religious communities have been so absorbed in internal sectarian affairs that they were unaware of the magnitude of the environmental concerns facing the world -the natural world figures prominently in the world's major religions: God's creation of material reality in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; the manifestation of the divine in the karmic processes underlying the recycling of matter in Hinduism and Jainism; the interdependence of life in Buddhism; and the Tao (the Way) that courses through nature in Confucianism and Taoism. -many religious leaders recognize that religions, as enduring shapers of culture and values, can make major contributions to the rethinking of our current environmental impasse -religions have developed ethics for homicide, suicide, and genocide; now they are challenged to respond to biocide and ecocide -the environment presents itself as one of the most compelling concerns for robust inter-religious dialogue....the common ground is the Earth itself, along with a shared sense among the world's religions of the interdependence of all life -increases in such "faith based" environmentalism can go to the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE), which was founded in 1993 to "weave the mission of care for God's creation across all areas of organized religion." NRPE has forged relationships with a diverse group of religious organizations, including the U.S. Catholic Conference, the National Council of Churches of Christ, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and the Evangelical Environmental Network -these organizations work with NRPE to develop environmental programs that mesh with their own varied spiritual teachings -some 135,000 congregations--counting Catholic parishes, synagogues, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches, and evangelical congregations--have been provided with resource kits on environmental issues, including sermons for clergy, lesson plans for Sunday school teachers, and even conservation tips for church and synagogue building managers.

How Economic and Ecological Systems Differ (pg. 51)

-for most natural scientists, currents crises such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and many other environmental problems are symptoms of an imbalance between the socioeconomic system and the natural world. 1.) Time Frame 2.) Location 3.) Units of Measure 4.) Complexity

Gaylord Nelson's Five Characteristics of Sustainability (pg. 55)

-founder of the first Earth day 1.) Renewability 2.) Substitution 3.) Interdependence 4.) Adaptability 5.) Institutional Commitment

Environmental Justice Notes (pg. 25)

-this movement is a distinct expression of environmentalism -over last 2 decades it has expanded its scope from community-oriented, anti-toxics activism to address global-scale inequalities in economic development and environmental degradation. -idea of this draws from civil rights, public health, and community organizing efforts -movement devotes itself to challenging the unfair distribution of environmental risks and the benefits of natural resources, and promotes efforts to prevent pollution from impacting low-income communities -follows traditional environmentalism's efforts to protect nature by making the poor and marginalized the object of special concern. Its power lies in its appeal to a fundamental ethic of fairness -in 1982, black residents of Warren County, NC, protested the use of a landfill in their community as a dumpsite for PCB-contaminated waste. -some observers asserted that the proposal constituted a form of environmental racism that took advantage of the poorest and least politically influential people in the state. -Warren County took direct action by lying down on the road in front of the trucks headed to the landfill. Hundreds were arrested including Walter Fauntroy, a US Congressional delegate for Washington, DC who had traveled to NC in support of the protests -following the protests, a number of studies quickly confirmed that toxic waste facilities were indeed disproportionately located in minority neighborhoods. Not only that, the studies also revealed that enforcement of laws was slower and fines levied against violators were lower in areas where residents were made up of poor minorities. -by the early 1990's, environmental justice (EJ) was recognized throughout the environmental movement as being a critical component of environmental protection. -in 1998, the EPA characterized environmental justice as a simple matter of fair treatment -environmental justice is related to civil rights -any action that affects one social group disproportionately is in violation of EPA rules -environmental movement began as the concern of middle-class and affluent white people -the movement for environmental justice has been the strongest when community-based organizations have partnered with university researchers

The Ethics of Consumption (pg. 30) -- Food

-two centuries ago, Thomas Malthus declared that worldwide famine was inevitable as human population growth outpaced food production. In 1972, a group of scholars known as the Club of Rome predicted much of the same thing. It didn't happen because human ingenuity has outpaced population growth -fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield crops have more than doubled world food production in the last 40 years -in year 2000 the world reached a point of there being the same number of overweight people as those that were malnourished -Norman Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his role in developing high-yield crops, predicts that genetic engineering and other new technologies will keep food production ahead of population increases over the next half-century -factors that add into the uncertainty about future food production include decreasing soil fertility caused by repeated chemical applications, desertification and erosion caused by poor farming techniques, and the loss of available cropland as a result of urbanization. -global population set to peak around 9 billion people in the middle of the 21st century

The Economics of Pollution (pg. 48)

-two primary factors that affect the amount of damage done by pollution are the size of the population and the development of technology that "invents" new forms of pollution. -two costs of controlling pollution 1.) pollution costs 2.) pollution-prevention costs -although some business and industrial organizations continually lobby for less stringent environmental regulations and oppose new regulations, many companies have shown that preventing pollution can actually cut business costs and thus increase profits

Common Property Resource Problems--The Tragedy of the Commons (pg. 52)

-when everyone shares ownership of a resource, there is a strong tendency to overexploit and misuse that resource -the problems inherent in common ownership of resources were outlined by biologist Garrett Hardin in a classic essay entitled "The Tragedy of the Commons" (1968). The original "commons" were areas of pastureland in England that were provided free by the king to anyone who wished to graze cattle. -no problems with commons as long as the number of animals is small in relation to the size of the pasture

Waste and Pollution (pg. 28)

-when raw materials are processed. some waste is usually inevitable.

Three Philosophical Approaches to Environmental Ethics (pg. 20)

1.) Anthropocentrism 2.) Biocentrism 3.) Ecocentrism

Environmental Justice Highlights (pg. 26)

1982: national attention focused on a series of protests in the low-income, minority community of Warren County, North Carolina, over a landfill filled with PCB-contaminated soil from 14 other counties throughout the state. Over 500 people were arrested. Promoted the US General Accounting Office (GAO) to initiate a study of hazardous waste landfills in eight southern states. The GAO study concluded that three out of every four landfills were located in minority communities. 1987: The United Church of Christ Commission on Racial Justice published a report showing that race was the most significant factor in the siting of toxic waste facilities throughout the nation. 1992: EPA created the Office of Environmental Justice to examine the issue of environmental justice in all agency policies and programs. EPA reported that low-income and minority communities were more likely to be exposed to lead, contaminated fish, air pollution, hazardous waste, and agricultural pesticides. 1994: President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, a directive requiring all federal agencies to begin taking environmental justice into account. The order specified that "Each Federal agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations. 2003: The US Commission on Civil Rights, an independent group charged with monitoring federal civil rights enforcement, issued to Congress its report titled "Not in My Backyard," which found that several federal agencies (EPA, DOT, HUD, and DOI) have failed to fully implement the 1994 Environmental Justice Executive Order 2004: The American Bar Association Special Committee on Environmental Justice published Environmental Justice For All: A Fifty State Survey Of Legislation, Policies, and Initiatives (2004). The report identifies the statuses, policies, initiatives, or other commitments that states have undertaken to give force of law and/or tangible meaning to the goal of environmental justice. A March 2004 Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, EPA Needs to Consistently Implement the Intent of the Executive Order on Environmental Justice, summed up the treatment of environmental justice under the Bush administration. 2005: A July 2005 US Government Accountability Office report, Environmental Justice: EPA Should Devote More Attention to Environmental Justice When Developing Clean Air RUles, criticized EPA for its handling of environmental justice issues when drafting clean air rules. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, authorities received reports of 575 oil and toxic chemical spills. The massive amounts of trash from Katrina resulted in hastily permitted urban landfills being established near residential areas of people of color. 2007: The United Church of Christ released Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, an update of the landmark study in 1987. Using new methods, this report found "that racial disparities in the distribution of hazardous wastes are greater than previously reported. 2009: EPA launched The State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement program awarding Alaska, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina a total of $800,000. EPA sponsored Strengthening Environmental Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts. The symposium was designed to lay the groundwork for developing a systematic and scientifically defensible approach for incorporating environmental justice concerns into EPA's decision-making process 2010: EPA sponsored the Conference on Environmental Justice, Air Quality, Goods Movement, and Green Jobs in New Orleans. 2013: The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its Environmental Justice Implementation Progress Report. The report identifies the role and contributions of the HHS to environmental justice in the areas of stakeholder engagement; policy development and dissemination; education and training; research and data collection; analysis; and services

Risk Management

A decision-making process that involves using the results of risk assessment, weighing out possible responses to the risk, and selecting appropriate actions to minimize or eliminate the risk. A good risk-management plan includes: 1.) Evaluating the scientific information regarding various kinds of risks; 2.) Deciding how much risk is acceptable; 3.) Deciding which risks should be given the highest priority; 4.) Deciding where the greatest benefit would be realized by spending limited funds; 5.) Deciding how the plan will be enforced and monitored

Greenwashing

A form of corporate misrepresentation whereby a company presents a green public image and publicizes green initiatives while privately engaging in environmentally damaging initiatives. May help companies win over investors, create competitive advantage in the marketplace, and convince critics that the company is well intentioned

Cost-Benefit Analysis

A formal process for calculating the costs and benefits of a project or source of action, to decide if benefits are greater than costs

Sustainable Development (pg. 23)

A term first used in 1987 in a UN-sponsored document called the Brundtland Report, is often defined as "meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs." Like conservationism, sustainable development is a middle ground that seeks to promote appropriate development in order to alleviate poverty while still preserving the ecological health of the landscape. Sustainable development does not solely focus on environmental issues. The United Nations 2005 World Summit Document refers to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection. Indigenous peoples have argued that there are four pillars of sustainable development--the 4th being cultural. Green development is generally differentiated from sustainable development in that green development prioritizes what its proponents consider to be environmental sustainability over economic and cultural considerations. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 produced a document entitled Agenda 21, which set out a roadmap for sustainable development. A follow-up conference in South Africa in 2002 drew up a Plan of Implementation for sustainable development. Many observers of the 2002 conference questioned why there had been such a lack of international progress in alleviating poverty and protecting the environment. Part of the problem is that people differ in their opinions on how to strike the strike the right balance between the development and preservation aspects of sustainable development.

Environmental Costs (pg. 47)

Air pollution, water pollution, plant and animal extinction, depletion of a resource, and loss of a scenic quality are all examples of the environmental costs of resource exploitation.

Triple Bottom Line

Another green business concept. Has been referred to as the ethical criteria for business success. Is about gauging corporate success on three fronts: financial, social, and environmental. Most popular

Pollution

Any addition of matter or energy that degrades the environment for humans and other organisms

Nonrenewable Resources

Are not replaced by natural processes, or the rate of replacement is so slow as to be ineffective

Negligible Risk

At what point is there really no significant health or environmental risk?

Ecosystem Services

Beneficial effects of functioning ecosystems for people and society

Economic Growth (pg. 27)

By far one of the dominant orientations toward the natural environment in industrialized societies

Resource Exploitation (pg. 27)

By far one of the dominant orientations toward the natural environment in industrialized societies.

Renewable Resources

Can be formed or regenerated by natural processes.

Industrial Ecology

Concept that emerged in the mid-1990s that links industrial production and environmental quality. Models industrial production on biological production.

Agricultural Act of 2014

Contains provisions that amount to subsidies of about $20 billion per year to farmers

Corporations

Legal entities designed to operate a profit. They possess certain rights and privileges, such as the right to own property and the limited liability of their shareholders.

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (pg. 49)

Mandates environmental impact statements for major government-supported projects.

Price

Monetary Value

Assigning Value to Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services (pg. 46)

NATURAL RESOURCES -we assign value to natural resources based on our perception of their relative scarcity ECOSYSTEM SERVICES -functioning ecosystems are a tangible source of economic wealth -ecosystem services include such things as pollination by insects, regrowth of forests, cleansing of water and air, decomposition of wastes, hydropower, and recreational opportunities -in 2010, a U.N. report stated that ecosystems such as freshwater, coral reefs, and forests accounted for between 47-87% of what the UN calls the "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)" of the rural poor -coral reefs valued at $30 billion/year -pollination by honeybees valued @ $200 billion/year

Ethics

One branch of philosophy. Seeks to define what is right and what is wrong. Helps us understand what actions are wrong and why they are wrong.

Aldo Leopold (pg. 21)

One of the earliest and most well-known spokespersons for ecocentrism was the ecologist Aldo Leopold. Most famous for his 1949 book A Sand County Almanac, which was written in response to the relentless destruction of the landscape that Leopold had witnessed during his life. A Sand County Almanac redefined the relationship between humankind and the Earth. He devoted an entire chapter of his book to "The Land Ethic." What he put forth in "The Land Ethic" was viewed by many as a radical shift in how humans perceive themselves in relation to the environment. Made a bold claim stating, "a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise...We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

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FACTORS THAT AFFECT HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE RISK

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Freedom Farm Act of 1996

Passed by Congress and eliminated many agricultural subsides and was hailed as the end of agricultural subsidies.

Biocentrism

Second of the 3 theories of moral responsibility to the environment is biocentrism or life-centered environmental ethics. According to the broadest version of the biocentric theory, all forms of life have an inherent right to exist. A number of biocentrism recognize a hierarchy of values among species. Another group of biocentrism, known as "biocentric egalitarians," take the view that all living organisms have an exactly equal right to exist.

Natural Resources

Structures and processes that humans can use for their own purposes but cannot create. Categorized as renewable or nonrenewable.

World Health Organization

has identified major environmental factors that lead to injury and death and are found on PAGE 41!!!