SE 254

Environmental
Ethics
Prof. Almera Mode-Sales, MST
• Ethics is that branch of
philosophy that seeks to
define fundamentally what
is right and what is wrong.
 Environmental Ethics
• Environmental issues require a consideration of ethics
(individual, societal, corporate)
• Because of the complexity of issues, It is often difficult to
clearly define what is right and what is wrong
• The current world energy situation is an example…
⚬ Some individuals view this situation as serious and have
reduced their consumption
⚬ Some do not believe there is a problem and have not modified
their energy use
⚬ Some do not care about or are indifferent to the situation…
they will use energy as long as it is available (and as long as
they can afford it)
 The Call for New Ethic
• A lot of what we do on our home planet
connects us to something or somebody else.
• Managing the interactions between people and
their environment has been transformed by
unprecedented increases in the rate, scale, and
complexity of the interactions.
• Across the world, thousands of people believe
that today’s environmental challenges must be
met with a new and more robust environmental
ethic.
 Conflicting Ethical Positions
• Sometimes an individual’s own ethical
commitments can conflict with each other.
⚬ A mayor might have an ethical commitment to
preserving land in a city but also have an ethical
commitment to bringing in jobs associated with
construction of a new factory.
• In many cases, what is good for the
environment is also good for people.
⚬ While forest protection may reduce logging jobs, a
healthier forest might lead to new jobs in recreation,
fisheries, and tourism.
Three Philosophical Approaches to Environmental
Ethics
• Anthropocentrism (human-centered)
⚬ This view holds that all environmental
responsibility is derived from human
interests.
￭ Assumes that only humans are morally
significant.
￭ Assumes nature is an instrument for
human manipulation.
• Biocentrism (life-centered)
⚬ All life forms have an inherent right to
exist.
• Ecocentrism
⚬ This view maintains that the environment
deserves direct moral consideration, not
consideration derived from human or
animal interests.
“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.”
—Aldo Leopold
A Sand County Almanac,
1949
 Other Philosphical Approaches
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.
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.
4. Environmental pragmatism- an approach that
focuses on policy rather than ethics. Environmental
pragmatists 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.
5. Environmental Aesthetics- the study of how to
appreciate beauty in the natural world.

6. Animal rights/welfare- this position asserts that

humans have a strong moral obligation to
nonhuman animals.
• Animal rights advocates are particularly
concerned about the treatment of farm animals
and animals used in medical research.
 Environmental Attitudes
• Because ethical commitments pull in different
directions at different times, it is often easier to
talk in terms of environmental attitudes or
approaches.
The three most common attitudes/approaches are:
1. Development approach
2. Preservation approach
3. Conservation approach
 Development Ethic
• Developmentalists recognize that nature has
value, but believe that the Earth and its
resources exist solely for human benefit or
pleasure
• A developmentalist may see little value in a
stretch of undeveloped coastline. May argue
that it is a waste of resources not to develop the
area.
 Preservation Ethic
• Preservationists hold that nature has value
in and of itself and should not be disturbed
• Nature has intrinsic value apart from any
benefit that it provide to humans
• All forms of life have an inherent right to
exist
• Wide spectrum of belief …
⚬ Some have such a deep reverence for
life and respect for the rights of all
organisms to live, that preservation is
justified no matter what the economic
or social cost
⚬ Some determine the rights of various
species depending on the harm
(benefit) to people
 Conservation Ethic
• Conservationists recognize the value of
nature, yet realize that people must exploit
nature in a sustainable manner.
• They work toward striking a balance between
resource use and preservation
• Conservationists take a compromise position
favoring resource exploitation but in a
responsible, sustainable manner.
Overview of Attitudes and Potential for Conflict

• There is an inherent conflict between preservation and

development:
⚬ Development believes in the destruction of a
resource for human benefit
⚬ Preservation believes in the rights of all creatures
and that nature should be safeguarded, not
disturbed.
• The conservation ethic recognizes the desirability of
maintaining decent living standards, but aims for a
balance between resource use and resource availability.
Individual Environmental Ethics tie to Societal and
Business Ethics
• Ethical changes in society and business
must start with individuals.
• We must recognize that our individual
actions have a bearing on environmental
quality and that each of us bears some
responsibility for the quality of the
environment in which we live.
 Societal Environmental Ethics
• Western societies have long acted as if the earth has:
⚬ Unlimited reserves of natural resources.
⚬ An unlimited ability to assimilate wastes.
⚬ A limitless ability to accommodate unchecked
growth.
• Until the last quarter of the 20th century, economic
growth and resource exploitation were the dominant
orientations toward the natural environment in
industrialized societies.
• Things have now started to change.
 Corporate Environmental Ethics
• The by-products of manufacturing need to be
considered a residue rather than a waste—
residues need to be recycled or new uses found
for them (an industrial ecology concept)
• While it is not reasonable to expect a pollution-
free environment, industry should consider it a
goal, which they should attempt to achieve.
 Corporate Environmental Ethics
• Corporations are legal entities designed to operate
at a profit.
• Although a corporation’s primary purpose is to
generate a financial return for its shareholders,
this does not mean that a corporation has no
ethical obligations to the public or to the
environment.
• Shareholders can demand that their directors run
the corporation ethically.
 Corporate Environmental Ethics
(Why do industries pollute?)
• Industry consumes energy and raw materials,
and produces waste and pollutants that must
be discarded or controlled.
• Normal economic forces encourage
profitability by cutting costs—pollution
controls are expensive, especially to older and
more polluting forms of manufacturing.
• It’s unreasonable to expect some
older plants to install modern
pollution controls—profitability
would be reduced drastically.
• Newer industry is incorporating
pollution controls into their
building and manufacturing plans.
 Green Business Concepts
• It makes little sense to preserve the environment if
preservation causes economic collapse.
• Nor does it make sense to maintain industrial
productivity at the cost of breathable air, clean water,
wildlife, parks, and wilderness.
• Natural capitalism is the idea that businesses can both
expand their profits and take good care of the
environment.
⚬ The 3M Company is estimated to have saved up to
$500 million over the last 20 years through its
Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) program.
 Industrial Ecology
• A concept emerging in the 90’s that
stresses the reuse of products as a
way to reduce resource use, waste,
and pollution
• Argues that good ecology is also
good business: simply discarding
materials extracted from the Earth at
great cost is unwise
 Corporate Environmental Ethics
(Is industry becoming more environmentally concerned?)

• In 1990, a group of companies,

investors, and environmentalists
formed the Coalition for
Environmentally Responsible
Economics (CERES)
• CERES companies pledge to
uphold 10 environmental
standards, pledging to voluntarily
go beyond the requirements set by
law to strive for environmental
practices that …
 CERES environmental standards

1. Protect the biosphere

2. Sustainably use natural resources
3. Reduce and dispose of waste properly
4. Conserve energy
5. Minimize environmental risks through
safe technologies
6. Reduce the use, manufacture, and sale of
products/services that cause environmental
damage
7. Restore environmental damage
8. Inform pub of any health, safety, or env
condition
9. Consider env policies in management
decision
10. Report the results of an annual env audit
to the public
 Do We
Consume
Too
Much?
North Americans represent 5% of the
world’s population.
⚬ North Americans consume one-
fourth of the world’s oil.
• They use more water and own more
cars than anybody else.
• They waste more food than most
people in sub-Saharan Africa eat.
 Thank you
for coming!