Chapter+Two

Chapter Two **Environmental Ethics**

**1. Create a meaningful caption for the image below.**



Kelcie : The more you use and waste, the bigger your foot will grow to be. Max : Though we like to think that our individual environmental impact is small, each of us carries an enormous burden to the world around us. Logan: The more wasteful we are, the larger the footprint we leave on the environment Catie: According to the environment, Big Foot truly does exist! Take a look at the size of your own footprint. Maybe you'll find him! Kyle: By the way our environmental footprint has been looking, you'd think Earth was a basketball player... with athlete's foot!

2. "The problem of managing those interactions however, has been transformed today by unprecedented increases in the rate, scale, and complexity of the interactions." This is a quote from page 15 of the text. Try to in your own words to explain what is meant by this sentence. Give a couple examples.

Nick : Business and industry is a lot bigger these days. For this reason, industries have a bigger impact on more people than they did one hundred years ago. As an example, the nuclear industry has to consider where it is to keep very large amounts of toxic, radioactive waste. A nuclear company has to be very careful about making this decision, and must jump through hoops set up by their own and government regulation. Alex: I like Nick's explanation, and I think the nuclear power example is a really good one because it has become a very big and ethically controversial topic in our world today. To add onto Nick's idea, I think this quote is also trying to say that there are so many more people in this world than there once was, and the population is growing at such a fast rate, that not only do more industries have more impact on people, but they constantly have more people to impact.

3. Discuss some of the issues that arise when what is ethically good for the environment comes in conflict with what is good for people.

Nick : Employment is typically something that is a big concern regarding this issue. For example, it would be good for the environment if we were to not clear cut a forest. However, this conflicts with the good of the people. Society would benefit from extra logging employment positions to fill, and from the wood which could be used

Catie: I think that Nick's point about employment making an impact on the environment is a great example. Some other examples could be how human's and the resources we use to survive create a harmful impact on the environment.It's ethically good for the earth to preserve environments. But as the human population grows, humans need more places to live, and so trees are cut down and habitats are destroyed so that new developments and houses can be created. I know that the neighborhood right by Broken Ground School used to be woods several years ago, but now there is an entire new development. It's not ethically good for the environment to destroy these habitats and trees, but it conflicts with what is good for people. Humans also need resources like paper and oil. It's harmful for the environment to deplete areas for their resources, but humans have grown to depend on these resources so they do it anyway.

Freddie: What Catie said is very true, and I think that there is a point of equilibrium that we absolutely need to find. Already many people are seeing the benefits of renewable energy, reducing our dependence on quickly depleting amounts of fossil fuels. Regarding the housing developments, our race is always going to be growing, we just passed the 7 billion mark, and will quickly run out of room to live, but the resources of other planets are immense. This may seem outlandish, but being able to access a interconnected digital community with an incalculable amount of information from thin devices we carry around in our pockets was science fiction not too long ago. Although many human interests cause harm to the environment, there is a point of equilibrium that we as a world community must work together to find.

4. What examples can you think of where corporations are going after "green dollars"?

Kelcie: An example would be how Toyota is starting to making eco-friendly cars and other products. Alex: Another example that has become more and more popular are clothing lines made of recycled or organic material. EMS is an example of a corporation that has been selling more of these types of clothes.

5. What do you think will be the long term economic fall out for BP in terms of the oil spill in the Gulf Oil Spill?

Keagan: In the long run, I believe that the Gulf Oil Spill will result in financial losses for BP. In our world today, the environment is becoming an issue that is more and more prevalent in the mainstream consciousness. Because of BP's mistreatment of the environment, consumers will be more hesitant to purchase from them. This is because an individual might feel as if they are supporting individuals and corporations that trample over the rights of the environment, and will feel as if they are a part of the problem. If they don't support these types of corporations on the other hand, they will feel as if they are making a statement and doing something to help the environment. Max Blazon: I agree with Keagan initially, but I feel in the long run BP will be able to fully recover from this spill. We live in an age where most people are too ignorant to try to activily prevent this from happening again. Kyle Zollo: Sadly, I do not think that BP will suffer very much at all from the gulf oil spill. Despite the initial negative publicity that the tragedy drew for the oil company, the negative looks of the oil spill wore off long before the effects of the actual disaster had. If you were to ask someone who live on the gulf if the oil spill still affects them, I'm sure they would say yes, and that they are still very mad at BP. However, most of BP's customer-base do not live anywhere near the gulf coast, and have long since forgotten about the oil spill. While boycotting BP could have sent a strong messsage to powerful oil companies who seem to care less about safety than profits, regrettably, many people did not put in a long enough continuous effort to make a signifcant impact on BP's profits.

6. What responsibility, if any, do we all share in terms of the oil spill?

Freddie: If any responsibility was to be put on all of us, is that there was not enough safety checks for maintenance, and evaluations of the operators abilities. The spill was caused by faulty mechanics and human error, both are preventable with enough evaluation. The voting population could have pressured our representatives to enforce stricter maintenance and more government employed technicians to ensure the safety of the rig. Charles : I agree with Freddie, especially in terms of human error, and the fact that we all play a role in being thorough, careful, and conscious when we think about the world around us.

7. Go to a couple of the sites below an complete of the quizzes to determine your foot print and then share the information. Comment on what information you found and its implications.

eco footprint one Nick : According to this quiz, if everyone in the world were to live like me we'd need 4.88 earths to suit everyone's needs. 34% of my footprint, the largest chunk, comes from forestland consumption. Alex: According to this quiz, we would need 2.88 Earths if everyone lived like me. My biggest individual footprint was my carbon footprint, and my lowest was my goods and services footprint. Logan: My ecological footprint is equivalent to 5.28 earths. So if everyone lived liked my family and I a lot of earths would be necessary. I feel like I need to conserve my resources. eco footprint two Freddie: I took the quiz and I also would need 4.8 Earths to sustain the world is everyone lived like me. The largest part of my footprint breakdown was services. Alex: According to this quiz, we would need 3.9 Earths to survive if everyone lived like me. The biggest contribution to this footprint was energy land.

eco footprint # three

Keagan: According to this quiz, it would take 2.6 planet Earth's if everyone lived like me. To support me personally, it takes 4.7 global hectares of productive area. Food was the largest part of my footprint, taking up just over fifty-percent. Charles : According to this quiz, it would take 2.4 earths to support my lifestyle. The majority of my footprint was in food and shelter, which were both 32%.

eco footprint # four Maxn: According to my quiz, i use about 2.47 planets, of which 55% comes from "Stuff". My footprint is **9.10** tonnes per annum. Kyle : I would need 2.19 planets to support my style of living, and my footprint is 8.47 tonnes per annum.

Kyle : This quiz says that i use 2.19 planets, have a footprint of 8.47 tonnes per annum