Chapter 14- Final Exam Review

Friedman "Flush with energy" article

Denmark: banned all sunday driving, 50% of rush hour traffic was people on bikes $10/gallon of gas high energy taxes no complaints unemployment is now 1.6% "fastest growing export areas" Norway: $6.66/ gallon of gas 1.9 gallons/day vs 3 gallons/day in US to combat greenhouse gases

Explain how environmental problems are social problems

environmental experiences depend on how our lives are organized and the information we have access to

Social causes of environmental problems

extracting too many resources (including the use of hazardous methods and generate toxic materials) producing too much stuff throwing too much stuff away

Explain the basic meanings of environmental justice

some aren't being exploited for the benefits of others access to environmental resources is fair we work for the benefit of everyone, not just the majority of those that seem must worthy equal ability to participate in decision making regardless of factors like race, class, and gender

Compare: functionalist perspective vs. Conflict perspective

structural functionalism: reorganize society -ecological modernization: find solutions to our environmental by altering current economic system to encourage good environmental behaviors -competition, management, and taxes can reduce inclination to use the environment for free Ex: cash for clunkers Conflict theory: Why is environmental labor free? -environment produces goods but has no ability to negotiate a price -many environmental consquences of human activites shared -DO NOT fall specifically on the individual who caused the problem -Many actions do not show environmental consequences for years -easy to put off future suffering for immediate gain

Electronic waste

(computers, cell phones, television sets)- discarded annually, mostly in the developed countries, usually snipped to Asian & African countries for inexpensive, labor-intensive recycling and disposal -only industrialized nation not to have ratified the Basel convention, which would prevent it from trading in hazardous waste -has no federal laws to prohibit the export of toxic e-waste over 2 million tons of e-waste ends up in U.S. landfills every year

Identify causes of deforestation in the Amazon (2000-2005)

-fires, mining, urbanization, road construction, dams- 3% -logging, legal & illegal- 3% -large-scale commerical agriculture- 1% -small-scale substance agriculture- 33% cattle ranches-60%

Natural resources: compare oil consumption (tones per capita/across nation)

25% oil consumption comes from the U.S.

Are environmental problems social problems?

Ex: How will the following individuals experience a heat wave differently? 1. An officer worker with air conditioning in his home, office, and personal vehicle 2. a construction worker who takes multiple buses to work, works outside, and lives in an apartment building without central air

environmental social problems often:

have social causes & effects threaten humans' health of lifestyle signal human actions are unsustainable

Hurricane Katrina: Describe how class and race has come into play when we are thinking about the consequences of the natural disaster Hurricane Katrina

one of the 5 deadliest hurricanes w/ death toll of 1,800 Black people of New Orleans were much more likely to die than whites, more generally elders were at high risk Income also influences death rate: low economic resources made difficult for people to evacuate and relocate while city flooded with water Income, race, and gender, age, all influenced magnitude of disaster for groups of people

treadmill of production

the absence of environmental costs in the economy -constant pressure for economic growth and the increased use of environmental resources under capitalism -even greener consumption will encourage production to expand and propel environmental degradation at an increasing rate as competition forces firms to cut costs of labor and other inputs ToP theorists argue that environmental problems cannot be solved in such a system, since growth puts ever-increasing demands on the environment by extracting natural resources and generating pollution. Thus, achieving environmental sustainability requires radical restructuring of the political economy and a move away from growth dependence.

environmental racism and environmental classism

the greater likelihood that the poor and racial and ethnic minorities will encounter various kinds of pollution, more susceptible than are the nonpoor to excessive noise, foul air, or toxic chemicals, such as lead poisoning

Compare the rate of deforestation between Africa, Latin America, and Asia

the removal of forest cover as a result of human activity the elimination of forest and woodland areas on the large scale -asia: highest rate 11% (becoming industrialized nation) -latin america & africa- 7.5% (1990)

The causes of environmental problems also social

why do we cause environmental problems? society encourages: economically reward industrial activities that are environmentally harmful (cheap producing oil or cutting down trees) society says its normal to live far away from work and commute long distances in personal vehicles gain social status by purchasing the latest computer models and throwing the old ones away