FINAL EXAM

Interior Department's Decision Imperils Wolves, Endangered Species Act

Gray wolves were removed from the endangered species list too soon, and opening them to hunting puts them at risk of once again being in danger of extinction

What is Barry Commoner's significance?

He suggested that it is not population or economic growth that has had the greatest environmental impact, but the technology behind the economic growth (e.g. the rise of six-pack beer at home vs on tap at bar --> greater environmental impact from production and disposal)

Hetch-Hetcy Valley (Muir)

Hetch-Hetchy is geologically, botanically, and hydrologically unique and equal in value to the Yosemite. It offers experiences of beauty, enjoyment, and spirituality -- Muir compares it to a temple. He argues that the personal pleasure and aethetic value that comes from nature should not be overlooked, and that the people who want to dam Hetch-Hetchy don't understand the valley.

What are the three core elements of the precautionary principle? Should it always be employed? Why?

The three key elements are prevention of harm, pro-active response, and thee shifting of the onus for proving the product safe onto the producer (rather than consumers having to prove it harmful). Precautionary principle has been criticized for only resting on imagined harm, not proven harm, and for blocking/stalling innovation through prohibitively high costs of thorough testing and long testing times

What was the IPCC created to do?

To gather information from studies published on climate change and report it to governments

Instrumental value

Value which something has as a means to an end

Can we Feed the World and Sustain the Planet? (Foley)

We grow enough food to feed the world, but it is not equitably distributed, partly due to poverty. Increased use of biofuels will likely make the food problem worse. We can't just grow more food because most arable land is already under cultivation, and pushing it any farther or trying to make any more land will result in environmental damage. Foley proposes five strategies for meeting food needs while reducing environmental damage: 1. Stop ag expansion, especially into the tropics, and protect prime farmland. Rich nations can pay poor nations to preserve forest in exchange for CO2 credits. 2. Close the "yield gap" between the most and least productive land by improving the farming techniques being used 3. Use resources more effectively with drip irrigation, no-till, covercropping, etc 4. Shift diets away from meat since it's input- and CO2-heavy 5. Reduce food waste

Half-Earth (E O Wilson)

Wilson suggests that to preserve 80% of species, we need to set aside half of the globe exclusively for wildlife. He suggests that this will be satisfying to many because instead of just making progress, we'll now have a solid conservation goal. He thinks that advancements in technology and changes in economic structure will allow everyone's footprint to shrink over time, making the half-Earth idea possible.

Environmental Warriors: Going to the Root of the Problem

Young, indigenous, poor, and PoC are leading environmental movements because their problems are connected to the environmental problems. The movements target issues of poverty, income, and racial inequality and recognize that tackling climate change requires the redefinition of social and economic structures. Urban and indigenous issues are often at the center.

Beyond Sustainability (Fang)

- "Sustainable development" conveys not urgency. To sustain is the bare minimum, it is not to heal - "Sustainable development" justifies the status quo of consumption, and by encouraging economic growth also encourages increased consumption - We need a better word that is inspirational/aspirational. Fang suggests something that implies responsibility/rights, such as "environmental stewardship," "environmental justice," or "eco-fairness"

What is a social movement?

A social movement is a sustained effort that exists in opposition to some established authority and uses extra-institutional methods (e.g. protests, monkey-wrenching) to seek non-incremental social change. Social movements also typically create coalitions and mobilize groups of people who were not previously politically active and seek to provide a new way to understand things in our society (e.g. cops, whales, industry)

What are some potential "treatments" for climate change?

Adaption (e.g. relocate, institute health programs), mitigation (e.g. energy efficiency, renewable energy, use of landfill gas, carbon sinks), and those strategies that overlap (e.g. sealing buildings, smart growth, green growth). Or, if we dare, geoengineering

What is adaption to climate change? What does it require?

Adaption to climate change involves adjusting to the impacts of climate change to reduce risks and vulnerability. Requires that governments develop more adaptive capacity and resilience, and methods to deal with things that exacerbate vulnerability (e.g. poverty)

Why E O Wilson is Wrong About How to Save the Earth

Authors say that E O Wilson's half-Earth proposal fails to account for unequal responsibility for environmental damage, and would likely lead to the least powerful and also least at fault nations bearing the majority of the sacrifices in terms of displacement and loss of food production. They are also skeptical of Wilson's idea of a technology and economics silver bullet that will shrink people's footprints.

In the context of cars and cities, describe the economic, cultural, and political elements of the problem.

Economic: Market structure, information asymmetry, negative externalities Cultural: Cars are a part of American culture and are equated with identity, freedom, and individuality Political: Funding would be necessary to support the infrastructure for a car alternative, people who would be willing to make the changes may not be in power, zoning laws may interfere with the creation of "smart cities"

What is usually seen as marking the shift from preservation/conservation to environmentalism?

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Around this time people started to look at the impacts of economic progress and question its value given pollution and health issues

Overcoming Racism in Environmental Decision-Making (Bullard)

Racial minorities and the poor are more exposed to environmental problems partially because of "fair" EPA policies that don't take into account unfair outcomes. Bullard suggests five principles to achieve environmental equality: (1) make environmental protection a right, (2) prevent harm before it occurs, (3) shift the burden of proof onto polluters, (4) obviate proof of intent, (5) redress existing inequalities. He says that no community should be sacrificed and that laws must be changed so that unfairness can't hide behind "objective" science.

The Population Bomb (Ehrlich)

Rapid population growth in the developing world is going to outpace production of food, leading to worsening living conditions and mass starvation. Efforts to raise food production to keep up with population growth will cause wide-spread environmental degradation from agriculture; also pollution, greenhouse effect, loss of biodiversity. To combat these problems, we need a birth solution or a death solution. Family planning hasn't worked, so we need to find new methods. Food production seems unlikely to increase much more, and the cultivation methods (e.g. new land under cultivation, high-yield monocultures) that would be necessary to allow it to would be environmentally disastrous. Although water and air pollution are big issues, Ehrlich is more concerned with pesticide pollution. He sees futures in which the issues of overpopulation lead to conflict, and believes that the best plan for the US is to wall itself off and allow the mass die-offs to take place in the developing world. Major problems: US couldn't support population without food import, his dire predictions never came to pass

Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World? (Maniates)

Responsibility for environmental problems has been individualized and framed largely as an issue of personal consumer choices. People consider actions that they can do with their wallets, but not as citizens. This consumerism-based approach is ineffective and contradictory. Individualization and "we are all responsible" approaches also fail to recognize unequal responsibility, roles of companies and governments in shaping environmental impact. We must re-find our ability to act as citizens and replace the IPAT equation, which lacks actors or power (connection to Meadows). Maniates suggets "IWAC" -- I = quality of Work x meaningful consumption Alternatives x political Creativity. Encourages people to care by relating to jobs, points to companies and governments and their power.

How is risk calculated? What are the three main steps of risk assessment? What are the methods?

Risk = likelihood of exposure x severity of harm. The three steps of risk assessment are: 1. Identification of the hazard 2. Determination of likelihood of exposure to the hazard 3. Determination of the severity of consequences of exposure A common method of determining likelihood of exposure is exposure estimation, although this may not necessarily account for unequal exposure across groups (e.g. cashiers and BPA in receipts). A common method of determining consequences of exposure is dose-response testing, often on mice. Info is then put together into a risk characterization (e.g your chances of dying in a car crash are 1 in 100)

What are some limitations of risk assessment? Of risk management?

Risk assessment is time-consuming and financially intensive, and may not necessarily accurately represent risk, although it is supposed to. Risk management is highly political, and requires judging an acceptable level of risk. What is acceptable to one person may be unacceptable to another.

What is considered in risk management?

Risk management considers the results of risk assessment, but also political and economic factors, and faces the difficulty of the fact that different people have different ideas of the acceptable level of risk

What does the Keeling curve show?

The rise in the concentration of atmospheric carbon over the decades

What are some ways we can address environmental inequality?

1. Safer and more secure alternatives 2. More effective laws 3. Better informed communities (e.g. the Toxic Release Inventory, which informs people about potential exposures)

Rewilding

Recent movement that advocates reintroducing animals and plants to developed areas to return them to a more natural, uncultivated state

2017 was one of the Hottest Years on Record. And that was Without El Nino

2017 was the hottest year on record even with La Nina, which generally produces cooler temperatures. These record highs are likely to become the new normal under climate change. Weather patterns will also change, so horrible storms will become "normal" storms.

The Need for Wilderness Areas (Zahniser)

- *Un-managed* wilderness must be preserved to grant posterity the right to enjoy it as it exists now. - Wilderness has recreational values that come from the enjoyment of beauty, relaxation, and the development of hardiness. It also offers a more spiritual experience than other forms of recreation - Wilderness educates us on our insignificance and the importance of our connection to other forms of life. It encourages us to take a step back from thinking about what we can do to think about what we are - Wilderness also provides cultural/historical and scientific value - Zahniser assumes that the trajectory of modern life is towards unhappiness, and wilderness can counter that - This writing was highly influential in the creation of the Wilderness Act

Putting the Earth First (Foreman)

- Advocates deep ecology. Human life is worth no more than any other life; wilderness is the real world and the "human world" is artificial. Technological progress should be questioned - Advocates monkey wrenching and quick action to preserve wilderness. Says that ethical debates are inefficient and that activists should not seek to gain credit with the social/political establishment. Emphasizes the need for activists to practice what they preach and be willing to make sacrifices. - Says overpopulation is the root of the problem and all people who contribute to the problem are responsible, regardless of their relative degree of power - Often criticized for extremist views

The Dilemma of Sustainability (Adams)

- Although the Brundtland definition of sustainable development is appealing, the term remains vague and the degree to which it is actually applied is uncertain. The vagueness has allowed people to make broad claims and use it in greenwashing, but it has also allowed people from different disciplines and with different concerns for development to come together. Part of the vagueness comes from the fact that "development" is itself a vague term based on European cultural hegemony and the belief that there is a linear progression towards capitalism, industrialization, urbanization, and democracy. - GDP is a poor measure of actual development. Adams prefers the HDI,which looks at educational attainment, life expectancy, quality of life, income, nutrition, air and water quality, etc. Developed and developing nations show huge gaps in both, indicating that traditional development aid hasn't been working. - The Living Planet Indicator (LPI) is meant to be a metric of environmental degradation that examines natural forest cover, 102 freshwater vertebrates, and 102 marine vertebrates. Shows that environmental degradation is accelerating as development accelerates. Sustainable development is meant to end this trend - Although sustainable development has formed links between the environmental planning and developmental planning, they remain loosely connected (more multidisciplinary than interdisciplinary) because of the differences between the natural sciences and social sciences in terms of methods and goals - Adams also highlights a need to focus on meeting the needs of the poor. I'm not sure if this is more related to equity or the idea of the unsustainable poor

Resources, Environment, and Economic Development (Harris and Roach)

- Capital, technology, energy supply, natural capital, and the absorptive capacity of the environment are key to economic growth. - Although rate of population growth is slowing, population momentum will ensure that it continues to grow. Supporting the needs of a growing population along with the increases in consumption that come with increases in wealth will require intensification of production, which will increase environmental stress. Continued and increased extraction of non-renewables will also worsen stress, and overharvesting of renewables will lead to loss of species and depletion of the renewable resources (this may be helped by enclosing the commons). If we are to support the economic growth that will allow improvements in conditions for poor, we must ensure that these resources are not depleted, and that energy resources are given special conservation attention because of the key role they play in development. However, economic development also causes increases in cumulative (non-degrading) and non-cumulative pollutants, CO2 among them. We must be aware of these risks as we pursue sustainable development - To achieve development without these problems, economic analysis must change to reflect the fact that the economy is contained within environmental limits, and goals must change from continuous growth to sustainable development. New measures of growth should be developed to include environmental considerations as well as economic ones, and consumption should be based on meeting needs instead of wants. Growth should recognize environmental constraints, and a population policy must be adopted that emphasizes economic development, education social policies, and health care availability. Agriculture must become less resource-intensive and shift to renewable resources. Shifting to renewable resources for power will require energy supply augmentation (building infrastructure for renewable power) and demand-side management (making things more efficient and reducing consumption). Resource management should begin to include environmental considerations in cost-benefit analysis.

What are some of the main anti-wolf reintroduction arguments?

- Danger to herds/livelihood - Fear of wolves/wolf image problem - Dislike of federal government interference/interference from people living far away - Hunters don't want herds to decrease . . . why don't you care about elk?

What is Environmental Studies? (Soule and Press)

- Environmental studies arose from two conflicting philosophies to human interaction with the environment: conservation and preservation - Environmental studies suffers from a lack of a unifying doctrine, which is made worse by the fact that it tries to combine the competing anthropocentric ideologies of the social sciences, which offers social explanations for environmental problems and favors radical change, and the more ecocentric ideologies of the natural sciences, which offer biological/chemical/physical explanations for environmental problems and favor incremental change. The lack of a unifying doctrine and the tendency to do applied research decreases the credibility of environmental studies as a major. - Environmental studies emphasizes the complexity and scale of environmental problems. However, in trying to cover the breadth of those complexities, environmental studies forms a multidiscipline in which professors are pulled from many departments and courses cover many subject areas with minimal conceptual or theoretical connections. - Such multidisciplinary programs are resisted by the academic establishment because departments like to remain autonomous. The multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies is also damaging to students, who acquire a superficial knowledge of many fields but no in-depth knowledge (multidisciplinary illiteracy) - Authors propose that the problem of multidisciplinary illiteracy can be partly solved by requiring an additional major/minor or a specialization, doing away with the environmental studies major, and/or developing a core of courses. The problem of ideological conflicts can be solved by breaking environmental studies into three departments: science and policy (hard sciences along with policy and econ studies), literature and philosophy (aesthetics, ethics, cultural connections), and social criticism and critical theory (social justice, humanistic values)

What is Sustainability? (Heinberg)

- In a sustainable society, nature must not be exposed to increasing concentrations of substances extracted from the crust or produced by society, or increasing levels of environmental degradation. People's ability to meet their needs must also not by systematically undermined. - The ecological footprint was developed as a method to gauge sustainability. Total population footprint should be no more than one Earth. - Author proposes five axioms of sustainability: (1) any society that uses resources unsustainably without finding replacements will collapse, (2) population growth and/or growth in consumption are unsustainable at current rates, (3) renewables must be used at less than or equal to the rate of replenishment, (4) the use of nonrenewables must be declining at a faster rate than they are being depleted to ensure substitutes can be found before resources run out, and (5) substances introduced to the environmental must be minimized and made harmless. - Although these axioms don't address social equity, following those strategies may lead to social equity.

A Safe Operating Space for Humanity

- Suggests that if the world is going to remain in the stable Holocene epoch, we must remain within planetary boundaries in regard to (1) climate change, (2) loss of biodiversity, (3) interference with N and P cycling, (4) ozone depletion, (5) ocean acidification, (6) freshwater use, (7) change in land use, (8) chemical pollution, and (9) atmospheric aerosol loading. - We are approaching the boundaries for freshwater use, ocean acidification, and interference with P cycling. We have already exceeded boundaries in climate change, loss of biodiversity, and interference with N cycling. - At current rate of CO2 release, we will see increases of 4 to 8 degrees C due to positive feedback loops. Authors suggest we must not exceed 350 ppm CO2 or 1W/m^2 of radiative forcing above preindustrial levels if we are to avoid those feedback loops. - We have increased extinction rate to 100 to 1000x background rate, often due to changes in land use. This decline in biodiversity decreases ecosystem stability. - We are fixing N (for fertilizers) at much greater rate than natural. Runoff leads to nutrient pollution leads to algal blooms leads to hypoxia leads to fish kills - Exceeding one boundary endangers the others since they are all connected

The Sustainability Debate (Lipshutz)

- Sustainable development lacks a concrete definition and plan for implementing it. It is also contrary to the idea of "limits to growth" - Some people believe sustainable development can be achieved by using technological, economic, and biological fixes that will reduce the impact of human activities without requiring people to change their habits. The problem with this is that those fixes may be cancelled out by the sheer volume of production and consumption, which will only increase with further economic development - Others believe it can be achieved by changing laws, incentives, and education to encourage more sustainable consumer behavior. The problem with this approach is that changes in incentives are not likely to do much as long as consumptive norms remain the same, just as education is unlikely to overcome norms - Other believe that we must change norms and values, as well as consumption-based identities. Although this approach would get to the root of the problem, norms are incredible hard to change and we would have to be able to alter not just material culture, but symbolic culture (e.g. the idea that cars = freedom) - Although the concept of sustainability is now visible in society, implementation is sloppy. One approach is to try to make every stage of the product life cycle more sustainable (e.g. FSC-certified wood). Another is to make human environments and institutions meet sustainability standards. This is usually done by changing a few elements without thinking about the bigger problem, and is therefore not terribly effective. The free-market approach to sustainability includes establishing property rights for what are currently commons (e.g. fisheries, elephants). The government regulation approach includes taxes and fees aimed at increasing the cost of goods to price in negative externalities, or putting limits on production of certain goods. Neither approach is completely perfect, and fails to miss the political elements related to making economic policy changes. Another approach is to try to change social structure, altering culture (material and symbolic culture), values, norms. However, this is very difficult.

The Great Wilderness Debate (Nelson)

- The word wilderness poses problems - It is not a cultural universal and has no linguistic equivalent in other cultures; in some cultures there is no conceptual equivalent, either, because they don't see the same human/environment divide that Western perspectives do. It is an ethnocentric social construct that has been caused/been used to justify forced removals and even genocides because people have identified areas as wilderness, and therefore categorized their human inhabitants as the same as wildlife (e.g. aboriginal peoples of Australia) - Word is androcentric, wilderness has traditionally been associated with masculine identity/bonding - The idea is founded in the outdated "climax community" model, and we now recognize that disturbance is key to management. We also recognize that the "original state" we seek to replicate in wilderness is the result of active management by indigenous people - The idea of wilderness as something in opposition to humans creates a false value dualism that erodes the environmental ethic and prevents people from seeing themselves as connected to nature - Main criticism: Nelson misses the point of the debate. People are not debating the meaning or relevance of the world wilderness; they are debating how to manage natural areas regardless of what they are called

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)

- Uses the Brundtland definition of sustainable development "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" - Economic development, but focusing on resource equity (esp to poor) and respecting ecological limits to growth and resource use. Renewables should be used at a rate no greater than the natural rate of replenishment, and nonrenewables should be used at such a rate as to prevent them from running out before substitutes become available. Since no substitutes exist for species, those should be conserved. - Sustainable development also requires social developments (e.g education, institutions, law enforcement, women's rights) that will reduce inequalities. Laws should change to promote recognition of the common interest, which can loosely be considered as community involvement with enviro/econ/soc issues and an alternative way to solve the tragedy of the commons (i.e. an alternative to the enclosure method) - We must focus on (1) reviving growth in the developing world to alleviate poverty, (2) changing the quality of growth to be more equitable and less resource/energy intensive, and making pricing structures reflect negative externalities, (3) meeting essential human needs for water, food, space, employment, and health care, (4) ensuring a sustainable level of population through increased involvement of women, while keeping in mind that a child born in the developed world has more environmental impact than one born in the developing world, (5) conserving and enhancing the resource base to ensure that everyone has access to the means to earn a sustainable living while conserving things like energy, water, air, species, (6) reorienting technology to solve problems in the developing world and managing risk by testing all technology for vulnerabilities and environmental impact, and (7) merging environmental and economic considerations in decision making and making environmental information relevant to decisions available to the public. - In summary: sustainable development focuses on economic, environmental, and social improvement with an emphasis on meeting the needs of the world's poor and ensuring that future generations can meet their needs.

What's the evidence of race- and class-based environmental inequality?

1. Anecdotes 2. Correlation between race/class and exposure to pollutants/polluting facilities 3. Correlation between race/class and poor health outcomes (e.g. Louisiana's cancer alley) 4. Comparison of government responses and enforcement in different communities (more rapid response and higher penalties in white communities)

What are the 3 key themes of environmental studies?

1. Complexity - environmental problems can't be understood from a purely scientific, technological, or social perspective. All of them must be included. 2. Scale - solutions vary over time and space. Different scales of view will lead to different solutions 3. Context - history and culture must be considered

What 5 things does the environmental impact of affluence come from?

1. Extraction 2. Production 3. Distribution 4. Consumption 5. Disposal

What are the three key concepts from social movements?

1. Opportunity structure - the external context that limits or empowers a movement (in the 1960s, protests were already established) 2. Framing - creating a schema of interpretation for events (e.g. the killing of whales) 3. Resource mobilization - a movement's ability to acquire resources and mobilize people to achieve goals (e.g. environmental movement needed to get money)

List the six commonly-cited causes of environmental problems and provide some explanation

1. Population 2. Consumption 3. Technology 4. Values 5. Public policy 6. Economic conditions and incentives

Relate each of Bullard's five principles of environmental justice to the Flint case

1. Right to protection - In theory, Flint had this. In practice, it did not. Consider reactions of mayor, EPA 2. Prevent harm - Pipes should have been replaced or corrosion control should have been added 3. Shift burden of proof - Town should have had to prove water safe; Flint residents shouldn't have had to prove it dangerous (technically, town did "prove" it "safe") 4. Obviate proof of intent - Arguments of racism should be able to stand on statistical outcome (black and poor victims), not on overtly racist statements (although "not a town we want to go to bat for" comes close to the latter) 5. Redress existing inequalities - Flint victims should be closely monitored and provided with medical care. Pipes should be replaced

What are the five main causes of environmental inequity?

1. Scientific rationality - Siting is based on technical criteria, so it must be fair 2. Market rationality - Economic factors and relative costs of siting in different locations determine site 3. Neighborhood transition - When a polluting industry arrives, people who can move do, leaving the poor behind 4. Political power - Poor and minorities have less political clout, and also many other concerns that may limit their ability to organize 5. Intentional discrimination by public and private actors

What are Bullard's five principles of environmental justice?

1. The right to environmental protection 2. Prevention of harm before it occurs 3. Shifting the burden of proof onto the polluters 4. Obviating proof of intent (i.e. allowing statistical evidence) 5. Redressing existing inequalities (i.e. devoting resources to those who need it)

What are the four dimensions of environmental inequality?

1. Unequal exposure to problems 2. Unequal protection 3. Unequal enforcement of laws 4. Unequal access to the means for rule and decision making

What are the main controversies surrounding the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone, as covered in class and in the documentary?

1. Who gets to decide if we should reintroduce wolves? 2. What constitutes recovery? 3. Conflict between pro-introduction camp and ranchers living in the area

Global Foodscapes: Oppression and Resistance in the Life of Food (Fraser)

Agriculture is governed by national governments and the WTO organization. Although the WTO technically does not allow direct ag subsidies, its policy has many loopholes, so ag is still subsidized in America. The American ag market is a oligospony/oligopoly consisting of companies that can influence prices, policies, and research to suit their own interests. This makes people feel powerless (and in many cases they are) but Fraser suggests that people can regain some degree of power by taking back control of seeds and seed research, which is the basis of ag. Fraser also objects somewhat to the purely economic governance of ag since food is a key resource for life, not just a commodity.

Major Climate Report Describes Strong Risk of Crisis Early as 2040

Although economic changes (like CO2 tax, coal elimination) needed to reduce warming are technically possible, they are politically impossible with groups like the World Coal Assoc, Americans for Prosperity, and Competitive Enterprise Institute campaigning against them. Common argument is that reducing coal use would drive electricity prices up, but failing to combat global warming could lead to loss of 1.2% of US GDP for each 1.8C. Climate change could lead to increased flooding, evacuations from tropics, and reef death. But since some of these effects may be reversible, government concern is not as great.

Food Justice - Growing and Producing Food (Gottlieb and Joshi)

American farm laborers work in slavery-like conditions and are abused, exploited, and exposed to physical and chemical hazards. Since many farm workers are undocumented immigrants, they may fear to speak up about hazards in case of deportation. Animal farming and CAFOs also have health risks for workers and the community, and their arrival is often followed by increases in poverty. Big Ag is hard to fight because it has so much political power. Although information about hazards has been published, people continue to focus mainly on food quality and animal rights. We need to care as much about the workers and surrounding communities as we do about the animals.

When was the first Earth Day? Why was it so significant?

April 22, 1970. People all over the US organized Earth Day events without prompting and protests lasted for at least a week after the actual day

An Oversupply of False Bad News (Simon)

Argues that data does not support the predictions of Ehrlich, Hardin, and Meadows. Although population continues to grow, so does per capita food production and income. Also claims that population growth will actually be helpful, because more people will be available to produce beneficial technological innovation. Says loss of land to development isn't an issue because more land has been converted to farmland than lost; depletion of resources also isn't an issue because the price of goods is going down. Pollution levels are improving. Makes the claim that resources aren't finite because human ingenuity will allow us to find new sources, new methods of extractions, and new uses for old materials. Says we hear bad news because there is a funding and sales incentive to produce it, and that some people mistakenly think doomsday predictions will spur people to action (Simon warns that it's a boy-who-cried-wolf situation)

Explain the connections between environmentalism and the New Deal

Around the time the New Deal was implemented, environmental policy in the US changed to include more elements of conservationist thought. The Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps, and Soil Conservation Services (now NRCS) were all conservation-driven, as is BLM. Around the same time, environmental concern shifted from remote natural areas to also include issues in urban areas, such as air and water quality, waste management, nutrition and hygiene, and urban parks and playgrounds. People also began to flock to National Parks in greater numbers, and the Wilderness Act was created.

Editing Out Unsustainable Behavior (Maniates)

Choice editing (i.e. eliminating environmentally undesirable options) is well-established and highly effective, but somewhat controversial now that it's being used in favor of sustainable rather than unsustainable options. It can be done by governments or companies and is far more effective than labeling. The two major obstacles facing choice editing are overcoming the belief that labels are effective and better, and changing from consumption-shifting to consumption-reducing, potentially by trying to get people to reduce their income.

What are some of the effects of climate change?

Climate can change dramatically relatively quickly. Potential effects of climate change include - More frequent and worsened storms - Rising sea levels - Increased precipitation in some areas, drought in others - Declining populations of cold-water and cold-climate species (e.g. salmon) - Exposure to worse air quality - Declining crop yeilds

Global Warming in South Asia: 800 Million at Risk

Climate change will strongly effect South Asia, especially areas that are already hot and poor. There will be negative health effects, decreased labor productivity, and decreased ag productivity.

What are the main arguments of Why We Disagree About Climate Change?

Climate is not a purely physical thing, it has cultural elements that we need to acknowledge. Author says we disagree about climate change because . . . 1. We have different expectations about what science can and should do. Science can't give absolute answers, and we disagree about how it should inform policy. 2. We disagree about the valuation of the future and have different perceptions of risk 3. We have different ideas of our responsibility to future generations, the planet, and for climate change/fixing it. This also connects to different religious beliefs and the relationship they say we should have with Earth. 4. We construct risk differently and have different ideas of what is acceptable 5. We receive conflicting messages about the issue using different frames, and then have different frames that we use to interpret them 6. We understand the goals of development and the nature of inequality differently 7. We seek to govern climate (and climate change) differently. Some people support economic measures, others want international agreements like Kyoto or even supergovernments . . . or clumsy governance Ultimately, the author seems to suggest that in the face of the "wickedness" of climate change, we should "ask not what we can do for climate change, but what climate change can do for us" and embrace it as a cultural opportunity.

Population: Delusion and Reality (Sen)

Concerns over population growth have been exaggerated but are not completely without merit. Per capita food production and income has risen in developing nations, and probably would have risen more if it weren't for the decline in some regions of Africa (this decline being more related to political instability than population growth). Although it is true that living conditions are declining in developing nations, especially in populous cities, this is likely due to more than just population growth. Sen sees environmental degradation to be the biggest legitimate threat from population growth given how it will magnify consumption. While he recognizes that population growth is a problem, Sen proposes development-based solutions that focus on women's education and improvements in health care over the coercive population control methods that Hardin, Ehrlich, and Meadows seem to support. He gives the example of China's coercive one child policy, which, though successful, led to the neglect of extra children, particularly girls, and Kerala, India's cooperative which focused on education and health care development and allowed Kerala to achieve a lower birth rate than China with greater gender equity. (Sen can be seen as more moderate on population issues than Simon, and of course than Ehrlich)

Here's How far the World is from Meeting its Climate Goals

Current goals are insufficient and many nations, like USA and EU, will likely miss them. China and India will hit because goals were minor. Reductions pledges have so far been unsuccessful because they are too opaque about how goals will be met. Much debate remains about how to divide reductions among nations.

What is deep ecology?

Deep ecology is a movement that sought to preserve nature from human interference. It is connected to the idea of moral extensionism, which seeks to expand the realm of moral concern to include non-human animals (Deep ecology often associated with Foreman)

Thinking Like a Mountain (Leopold)

Describes shooting a wolf. Includes the idea that nature has an innate knowledge not known to Man, that everything has an intrinsic and instrumental value, and that humans are often over-eager and don't fully consider or understand the consequences of their actions before they take them. Addresses the removal of wolves, and the resulting explosion of the deer population and severe defoliation.

What is a significant obstacle to reducing carbon emissions on a global scale?

Disagreements over which country needs to make cuts, and how much. Some argue developed should reduce more because they produced more historically. Some argue developing because their emissions are rising and outpacing those of developed countries. This was part of the reason Trump is seeking to withdraw from the Paris Agreement

What are some questions related to environmental justice?

Do we want a fair system or a fair outcome? What level of inequality is tolerable?

A Leader in the War on Poverty Opens a New Front: Pollution (connect to Bullard)

Dr. Barber takes from MLK's Poor People's Campaign to target pollution and climate change, which he believes are issues of racial and socioeconomic inequality. One community he works with (Belews Creek) is exposed to heavy metals in coal ash. They don't seem to be guaranteed the right to protection, not prevention, as the plant's coal ash ponds are unlined (inadequate enforcement). Belews Creek is also black and poor

Summer's Memo

Dumping toxic wastes in LDN's is acceptable because they have lower demand for good environmental quality so the cost of pollution is lower, and the people there don't live long enough to really feel the effects of the toxics. Plus, people in LDN's earn less and produce less than people in MDN's, so the cost of loss of productivity/life is lower for LDN's than MDN's. LDN's are essentially polluted less than is economically efficient

What does the ecological footprint do?

Ecological footprint estimates the impact of human consumption and waste disposal in terms of land area needed for production/disposal of goods and human activities.

What are the main points of Why Good People do Bad Environmental Things?

Environmental harm is an externality, and rarely a purposeful action. The main reasons that people do things that are environmentally harmful are... 1. Problem characteristics and econ/soc/pol structures. Environmental harm is a distant externality and something in which an individual plays a minimal role, so it's easy to not think about it or think we have minimal impact. External structures also limit our reasonable choices 2. Incentives generally point away from the environmentally responsible choice. Changing them to make the responsible action easier may help. 3. Information is a good first step, but not that effective at getting people to do something different. Procedural knowledge, feedback, and knowledge provided early in life may be somewhat more useful. 4. Habits generally point us towards the less environmentally friendly activity because incentives are geared that way. Habits are hard to break, but if they can be formed in favor of the environmentally friendly behaviour, even simply by making it the default, they can persist. 5. Our attitudes, values, and identities are numerous, conflicting, and may point us away from the environmentally friendly option. Trying to change them is highly difficult, and may be ineffective. Social norms are likely to be more effective, and can sometimes be shaped/created by norms. Must be wary of efforts backsliding, however.

How does environmental science differ from environmental studies?

Environmental science focuses on the hard sciences, while environmental studies incorporates more of the social sciences

What is environmental studies?

Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary field that studies complex human interactions with the environment in the interest of solving problems. It can be thought of as "the search for a responsible role for humans in the landscape" (Lee et al)

Going Green. Environmentalism: A Global History (Guha)

Environmentalism is a movement that began in the United States and then spread internationally. It reveals the power of the environment to spur both reflection and action on the relationship between humans and nature. The first wave of environmentalism recognized the environmental degradation that followed the Industrial Revolution, and the second wave proposed coherent responses to that observation. Although most literature about environmentalism focuses on the US, it is important to recognize the cross-cultural nature of the movement's development. Guha identifies three sub-strands of the environmentalist movement: Back-to-the-land (rejects industrial life in favor of simpler living), Scientific conservation (doesn't completely reject industrial society, instead suggesting a wise-use approach -- Pinchot), and Wilderness idea (most common in the US, advocates isolating certain areas from human influence -- Muir, Zahniser, Foreman)

Describe the three major waves of environmentalism

First wave: concerned primarily with the preservation of natural areas Second wave: concerned primarily with human impact on the environment Third wave: concerned primarily with addressing human impact on the environment (e.g. emergence of idea of sustainable development)

The Tragedy of the Commons (Hardin)

Given the limits of resources, it is not possible to maximize both population and access to food, water, space, higher standards of living, so continued population growth will lead to a lower quality of life for all people. Part of the reason that population is exploding is that breeding is a commons -- all people are allowed to do it, but none bear full consequences. We must discard the idea that individual actions are in the best interest of society, and recognize that appeals to conscience in matters of breeding are likely to worsen the situation as offspring of people who disregard these appeals will make up a larger portion of the population and breed more. Instead, we need to enclose the commons in matters of breeding through mutually agreed-upon coercion, and recognize that allowing the status quo to persist is an action, not an inaction.

Enter the Anthropocene (Kolbert)

Human-driven changes may actually appear in the geological record as a distinct epoch, the Anthropocene. This period would likely be marked by monoculture pollen, a record of extinctions due to forest clearing, and a "reef gap" caused by the acidification of oceans due to CO2

Evolve: A Case for Modernization as a Road to Salvation (Shellenberger and Nordhaus)

Humans have been coevolving with the earth through technology, and turning away from tech now would be in denial of this history. The western "ecotheology" that opposes tech, consumption, and economic growth is hypocritical and meant to enforce the status quo. Claims of an ecological apocalypse are unjustified -- climate change won't seriously harm the economy and exploitation of other species has made us rich, not destabilized us. What we need is "modernization theology" which embraces technological development as the road to salvation. Environmental harm is an inevitable byproduct of tech development and not something that should concern us because we can develop more tech to fix it.

Rethinking the Wild (Solomon)

In light of the impacts of climate change, we must transition from a "hands off" approach to wilderness to a policy of active management. Such an approach would be allowed under the Wilderness Act as a measure to protect nature. The active management may include efforts to forestall the effect of climate change (e.g. removing encroaching species), to increase resilience (e.g. mulching bare soil, thinning overstocked forests), or to help species adapt (e.g. assisted migration, selective breeding of more resilient species). Solomon acknowledges the concerns over opening wilderness areas to human interference and taking actions without fully understanding systems, but insists that we know enough about them and must take action to prevent undesirable ecosystem change/degradation.

The Next Industrial Revolution (Hawken)

Industrial capitalism fails to recognize that the economy is dependent on the environmental and to properly value all forms of capital. It's linear form and dependence on the GDP doesn't accurately reflect natural limits or criteria. Natural capitalism seeks to operate inside ecological limits, use better metrics, value all forms of capital, and meet the needs of people. Its four key strategies are (1) radically increasing resource productivity so we can achieve same output with less, (2) biomimicry to reduce our need for high-heat and high-energy inputs and our generation of waste materials (connection to MIT presentation), (3) shifting to an economy in which firms sell services by renting out products so that the firm is ultimately responsible for waste disposal and motivated to reduce waste, and (4) investing in natural capital because we need it to sustain the economy

What is the appeal of risk assessment? What are the challenges of it?

It allows a scientific and theoretically objective determination of risk, and in theory also allows for the comparison of different risks. Challenges come from differences in risk perception and questions over what we should consider risk to (environment? human health? profits?). There is also the moral issue of putting a "price tag" on life when you ask how many deaths are acceptable if an industry would incur a billion dollar loss from regulation. There is also the question of how much evidence is needed for regulation, and the fact that risk assessment isn't always accurate (e.g. Three Mile Island, thalidomide). Some groups may also be given less consideration in risk assessment (i.e. do we care about farm workers? Women? Minorities? Poor)

Why can environmental studies be called a "subversive science"?

It explicitly seeks to change society and proposes conclusions that go against the norms of society and nations

How does environmental studies help us address complex problems?

It helps us examine many layers of a problem and decide on which it is most appropriate to address that problem. It also helps us understand why problems arise, what is at stake and for whom, and how we can solve those problems.

Why is an understanding of the historical context of environmentalism important?

It helps us track the growth and change in concern over the environment in the US and puts US environmentalism in conversation with global environmentalism in the same time periods (e.g. as Guha seeks to do)

The End of Nature (McKibben)

McKibben says that because climate change affects every part of the Earth on a fundamental level, nature and the idea of untouched wilderness have been destroyed. What we experience as nature is a prosthetic, and we must always doubt if what we see and the weather we experience would have been that way without the impact of climate change. By destroying "pure" nature, we have lost a connection to something larger than/separate from ourselves, as well as the idea of a connection between God and nature -- we as a race have become equal to God by controlling the weather. McKibben claims that the loss of nature makes us sad not just because we've lost these connections, but because we know that we could have stopped that from happening but didn't.

What is mitigation of climate change?

Mitigation of climate change involves taking steps to reduce the effects or pace of climate change. This would require steep cuts to carbon emissions, and may be aided by technological progress.

13 Ways of Seeing Nature in LA (Price)

Modern nature writing needs to become aware of the other ways to see nature; LA is the perfect place for this change to happen, partly because of the LA river. Nature can be seen in the products we use, the way we change the land and it responds, and environmental injustices. It is a source of human meaning, a foundation of the story of all places (including LA), something to which we should recognize our connections and pay attention, and a focus of great good work by people who recognize connections to nature and the negative impacts that ignoring those connections. Author sees nature in all forms in the LA River: it was degraded, polluted, and restricted by concrete, but now people are trying to restore its natural flow and build a long LA River park that will improve overall environmental conditions, reduce the need to draw water from other parts of the US, and increase quality of life for poorer residents. This is the text that proposes the idea of intimate natural connections for every person, no matter where they live, and mundane/utilitarian nature.

Connect concern over wolves to concern over wilderness

People often see wolves as symbols of the true wild, so their interest in protecting them is related to an interest in protecting the wild. Feelings of guilt over having removed the wolf from certain areas may also reflect guilt over having degraded wilderness. Those who oppose the reintroduction of the wolf, fear it, or hunt it, may on some level also be those that support the idea of conquest and control of wilderness.

Climate Change is a Matter of Justice

Poor people, many in Asia and Africa, who contributed little to global warming will bear most of the effects from floods, droughts, and record heat. We need strong cooperation and commitment from all countries. Rich countries must make commitments to poor countries. All must think intergenerationally.

The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al)

Population hypergrowth caused by a decline in death rates (due to modern science and sanitation) without a decline in birth rates. Increases in population, food production, industrial capacity, consumption, and pollution seem to be acting in positive feedback loops that are quickly moving society to ecological limits, at which point there will be a destabilizing crash. Somethings has to change, most likely in population or industrial growth, to avoid this. However, it *can* be avoided with policy changes.

Distinguish between preservation and conservation

Preservation seeks to maintain natural areas in an untouched state to preserve their innate value; reverence for nature. Conservation seeks to maintain natural areas in such a way as to achieve sustainable natural resource yields; utilitarian/"wise use" approach to nature. Also believed we must prevent "waste" of resources through natural disturbances like forest fires. Historically, the preservation v. conservation debate has appeared around the damming of Hetch-Hetchy as well as the operation of the forest service in national parks. More recently, it has appeared in relation to oil harvesting in Alaska.

Congress Debates the Hetch Hetchy (Pinchot)

Preservationists place too much emphasis on beauty. San Francisco's growth needs to be supported, and damming will benefit far more people through the water and fire preparedness it provides, as well as the increased accessibility of Hetch Hetchy Valley. Pinchot argues that the dam would create a new sort of beauty and make it available to more people than would have experienced Hetch Hetchy in its natural state. As a conservationist, Pinchot supports the management of natural areas for the purpose of supporting economic and population growth. Argument against Pichot points out that there are other ways of providing water to San Francisco, they are just more expensive. Worries that allowing the dam to proceed erodes the value of preservation in National Parks and overlooks the value of recreation and relaxation in nature.

What lessons does the example of cars and cities provide?

Problems have many, many layers, and choices have a long and sometimes difficult to see impact. There are limits to the ability of policy to solve these sorts of problems given their complexity, and people's choices not to act may be due to powerlessness, values, habits, and cultural factors.

What is social justice? Compare it to environmental justice

Social justice is a set of principles governing the structure of society in relationship to the distribution of rights, resources, and opportunities. Environmental justice is the principle that no people should have to shoulder an unfair environmental burden or receive unequal environmental protection

Reconciliation ecology

Success/recovery occurs when the needs of humans and animals are balanced

In what way were the policy implications of Limits to Growth different from the works of Hardin and Erlich?

Suggested that population wasn't solely to blame for environmental problems -- affluence and consumption are too. However, developed world is far more likely to direct blame outwards onto rapidly growing developing nations than towards its own habits, despite the fact that it accounts for 20% of world pop but more than half of the resource use and waste generation. For example, the consumption of a single American is worth to that of tens or hundreds of people in some developing nations.

A Case Study of Environmental Injustice: The Failure in Flint

The Flint crisis occurred because of a failure to put corrosion control in the water (in violation of law) after switching to a new source, which caused the scale in lead pipes to break down and enter the water. Lead poses developmental risks, especially to children. The people affected in Flint were predominately poor and African American. Despite citizens raising the issue, local and federal government officials (the EPA) continually denied that there was any problem with the water. This led to accusations of environmental racism. The author connects this problem to Bullard's five principles of environmental justice and notes that despite the harm caused, Flint has raised awareness about issues of lead and other pollutants, as well as environmental injustice. The author suggests that Flint victims should be monitored and provided with health services into the future, and that the EPA should change standard to not allow any lead in drinking water.

What happened at the UN Conference on the Human Environment?

The Group of 77 formed to push back against Northern population arguments with the affluence/consumption argument. This was partially to protect their own interest in being allowed to grow and partially to put some well-deserved blame onto the habits of the developed world. Also put forward arguments about global equity.

Who Causes Environmental Problems? (Meadows)

The IPAT equation (which grew out of the work from Limits to Growth as well as some other pessimist writings) is overly simplistic and fails to identify the root causes of things like population growth, affluence, and the role of technology. Suggests that a better equation would look at the relative effect of military, big business, small business, government, luxury consumption, and subsistence consumption.

Describe the connections to environmental science/studies and environmental justice in the movie on Flint

The decision to switch water sources was economic-based. Engineering and chemistry were heavily related to the problems of water filtration and contamination. Chemistry and biology also relate to the health effects of Pb, and were used in trying to prove the Pb case, which was the product of citizen science. Politics and power appear heavily in the continued push-back against the claims of Flint residents. The relations to environmental injustice come mainly from the fact that Flint was poor and African American, and that their concerns were repeatedly dismissed by people in power. "Not the kind of community we want to go out on a limb for"

Where did the environmental justice movement begin? To what was it connected?

The environmental justice movement began with peaceful protests in NC in connection to the Civil Rights movement and issues of environmental racism

Who is most at risk of climate change?

The poor, people in low-lying or arid areas, people with resource-based lifestyles, the elderly and young, future generations

Inequality in the Air we Breathe?

The predominantly black, poor population of Gibsland, Lous. faces groundwater contamination, explosions, abandoned explosives, and air pollution from open burning of the abandoned explosives (per order of the EPA) after an Army Ammunition Plant nearby closed. This is part of a trend of poor, racial minority communities facing more environmental risks and receiving less protection

How does the problem of cars and cities reflect the nature of environmental problems? What are Alan Durning's proposed solutions?

The problem of cars and cities indicates the complexity of environmental issues since both are part of a cyclical relationship that drives degradation and contributes to environmental and human problems. Durning emphasizes the need to shorten distances, create alternatives, change pricing mechanisms, raise awareness, and build community.