ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE : SOCIAL ISSUES 199
on the basis that human beings are also a part of nature and nature has many interdependent
components. In any natural ecosystem, the well being of the individual and of each species
is linked to the well being of the entire community. In a world increasingly without
environmental borders, nations, like individuals, should have a fundamental ethical
responsibility to respect nature and to care for the Earth, protecting its life-support systems,
biodiversity, and beauty, caring for the needs of other countries and future generations.
Environmental ethicists argue that to consider environmental protection as a “right” of the
planet is a natural extension of concepts of human rights.
Although there are many different attitudes about the environment. Three types of the
ethics are identified as (a) the development ethic, (b) the preservation ethic, and (c) the
conservation ethic. Each of these ethical positions has its own appropriate code of conduct
against which ecological mortality may be measured.
The development ethic is based 011 actions. Development in any sector is inevitable.. But the development should not crop up at the cost of environmental failure. This philosophy
is strengthened by the idea that, “if it can be done, it should be done.”
The preservation ethic considers nature special in itself. Some preservationists have
an almost religious outlook regarding nature. They believe that nature is beautiful place to
live in and it should be maintained for feeding, breeding, enjoyment and peace. On the other
hand scientific outlook argue that the human species depends on and has much to learn
from nature. Rare and endangered species and ecosystems, as well as the more common
ones, must be preserved because of their known or assumed long-range, practical utility.
The third environmental ethic is referred to as the conservation ethic, It recognizes
the desirability of decent living standards, but it works towards a balance of resource use
and resource availability.
Economic growth and resource exploitation are attitudes shared by developing
societies. As a society, we continue to consume natural resources as if the supplies were
never ending. All of this is reflected in our increasingly unstable relationship with the
environment, which grows out of our tendency to take from the “common good” without
regard for the future.
Industrial Environmental Ethics
Industries are harmful to the health of environment and hence at large are considered
as nuisance. When raw materials are processed, some waste is inevitable e.g. paper industry
leads to a lot of wastage and pollution of water. It is usually not possible to completely
control the dispersal of all by-products of a manufacturing process. Also, some of the waste
material may simply be useless. Ethics are involved, however, when an industrialist
compromise upon the quality of a product or waste disposal to maximize profit. It is cheaper
to dump wastes into a river than to install a wastewater treatment facility. At its core,
environmental justice means fairness. It speaks to the impartiality that should guide the
application of laws designed to protect the health of human beings and the productivity of
ecological systems on which all human activity, economic activity included, depends.
Environmental Ethics at Individual level
As human populations and economic activity continue to grow, we are facing a number
of environmental problems that threaten not only human health and the productivity of