20 CHAPTER 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
As a result, the prices of goods and services do not
include their harmful environmental costs. Thus, con-
sumers are generally not aware of them and have no
effective way to evaluate the resulting harmful effects
on the earth’s life-support systems and on their own
health.
Another problem is that governments give com-
panies tax breaks and payments called subsidies to assist
them in using resources to run their businesses. This
helps to create jobs and stimulate economies, but it
can also result in degradation of natural capital, again
because the value of the natural capital is not included
in the market prices of goods and services. We ex-
plore this problem and some possible solutions in later
chapters.People Have Different Views
about Environmental Problems
and Their Solutions
Differing views about the seriousness of our environ-
mental problems and what we should do about them
arise mostly out of differing environmental world-
views. Your environmental worldview is a set of
assumptions and values reflecting how you think the
world works and what you think your role in the world
should be. This involves environmental ethics, which
are our beliefs about what is right and wrong with how
we treat the environment. Here are some important
ethical questions relating to the environment:- Why should we care about the environment?
- Are we the most important beings on the planet
or are we just one of the earth’s millions of differ-
ent forms of life? - Do we have an obligation to see that our activi-
ties do not cause the premature extinction of
other species? Should we try to protect all species
or only some? How do we decide which species to
protect? - Do we have an ethical obligation to pass on to
future generations the extraordinary natural
world in a condition at least as good as what we
inherited? - Should every person be entitled to equal protec-
tion from environmental hazards regardless of race,
gender, age, national origin, income, social class, or
any other factor?
THINKING ABOUT
Our Responsibilities
How would you answer each of the questions above? Com-
pare your answers with those of your classmates. Record your
answers and, at the end of this course, return to these ques-
tions to see if your answers have changed.People with widely differing environmental world-
views can take the same data, be logically consistent,
and arrive at quite different conclusions because they
start with different assumptions and moral, ethical, or
religious beliefs (Concept 1-5B). Environmental world-
views are discussed in detail in Chapter 25, but here is
a brief introduction.
Theplanetary management worldview holds
that we are separate from nature, that nature exists
mainly to meet our needs and increasing wants, and
that we can use our ingenuity and technology to man-
age the earth’s life-support systems, mostly for our
benefit, indefinitely.
Thestewardship worldview holds that we can
and should manage the earth for our benefit, but that
we have an ethical responsibility to be caring and re-
sponsible managers, or stewards, of the earth. It says we
should encourage environmentally beneficial forms of
economic growth and development and discourage en-
vironmentally harmful forms.
Theenvironmental wisdom worldview holds
that we are part of, and totally dependent on, nature
and that nature exists for all species, not just for us.
It also calls for encouraging earth-sustaining forms of
economic growth and development and discouraging
earth-degrading forms. According to this view, our suc-
cess depends on learning how life on earth sustains it-
self and integrating such environmental wisdom into the
ways we think and act.
Many of the ideas for the stewardship and environ-
mental wisdom worldviews are derived from the writ-
ings of Aldo Leopold (Individuals Matter, p. 22).We Can Learn to Make Informed
Environmental Decisions
The first step for dealing with an environmental prob-
lem is to carry out scientific research on the nature of
the problem and to evaluate possible solutions to the
problem. Once this is done, other factors involving the
social sciences and the humanities (Table 1-1) must be
used to evaluate each proposed solution. This involves
considering various human values. What are its projected
short-term and long-term beneficial and harmful envi-
ronmental, economic, and health effects? How much
will it cost? Is it ethical? Figure 1-15 shows the major
steps involved in making an environmental decision.We Can Work Together to Solve
Environmental Problems
Making the shift to more sustainable societies and
economies involves building what sociologists call so-
cial capital. This involves getting people with different
views and values to talk and listen to one another, find
common ground based on understanding and trust,
and work together to solve environmental and other