Environmental History and Value Systems

7.1.1-7.1.6Videos – The Lorax

7.1.1 – State what is meant by an environmental value system

7.1.2 – Outline the range of environmental philosophies with reference

7.1.3 – Discuss how these philosophies influence the decision-making process with respect to environmental issues covered in this course

7.1.4 – Outline key historical influences on the development of the modern environmental movement

7.1.5 - Compare and contrast environmental value systems of two named societies

7.1.6 - Justify your personal viewpoint on environmental issues

Environmental History

In the US – frontier ethic dominates during 1700’s &1800’s

In 1800’s naturalists begin to voice concern

John James Audubon – painted birds and sparked interest

Henry David Thoreau – writer and naturalist who lived on Walden pond for 2 years

George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882) – wrote Man and Nature 1st discussion of humans as agents of environmental change

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) – 17.4 million acres of land protected

1872 – Yellowstone NP established world’s first NP

John Muir (1838-1914) est. Yosemite, Sequoia NPs and Sierra Club

Aldo Leopold (1886-1948) – Naturalist – A sand county almanac

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) – Silent Spring Garrett Hardin (1968) – Tragedy of the

Commons Paul Ehrlich (1968) – Population Bomb

Interactive timeline

http://blog.longnow.org/2007/08/10/environmental-history-timeline/

Environmental History of U.S. in the last 30 years

Top 10: Anthropogenic Environmental Disasters

n Sometimes we get a wake up call 1. Bhopal: the Union Carbide gas leak2. Chernobyl: Russian nuclear power plant explosion3. Seveso: Italian dioxin crisis4. The 1952 London smog disaster5. Major oil spills of the 20th and 21st century6. The Love Canal chemical waste dump7. The Baia Mare cyanide spill8. The European BSE crisis9. Spanish waste water spill10. The Three Mile Island near nuclear disaster

http://www.lenntech.com/environmental-disasters.htm

Bhopal disaster (1984, India)

Union Carbide pesticide plant released 42 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate gas 500,000 exposed, 8,000 dead within a week, >16,000 dead since

Chernobyl Meltdown (1986

Ukraine)

Reactor tests conductedRequired shutdown of

safety systems

Cooling system failureLeading to meltdownExplosion releasing

radioactive cloud

Permanent evacuation in 30

km radiusEventual deaths 8,000-

400,000

Now?

Contained not Cleaned

Mercury and Minamata 1950’s Japan Suddenly people

develop acute mercury poisoning – numbness, muscle weakness, coma death

Minamata disease – 2,300 officially recognized victims

Chisso corporation dumping methyl mercury into local bay

Biomagnification of Hg through food chain into people

Whaling Historically hunted

for blubber, whale oil

Now hunted for meat

International Whaling commission forms in 1946 – moratorium in 1986

Now whaling by Inuits & Norway & Iceland (legitimate?) & Japan (Scientific?)

Extinct Critically Endangered

Endangered Vulnerable Lower Risk(Conservation

Dependent)

Lower risk(Near

Threatened)

Lower Risk(Least

Concern)

None*•Blue Whale(ANTARCTIC)[48] •Gray WhaleNorthwest Pacific population(cf. Northeast Pacific population)[49]

•Blue Whale[50] •Fin Whale[51] •North Pacific Right Whale

[52] •North Atlantic Right Whale

[53] •Sei Whale[54]

•Beluga[55] •Blue Whalemusculus subspecies - Atlantic population[56] •Sperm Whale[57]

•Antarctic Minke Whale

•Arnoux's Beaked Whale

•Baird's Beaked Whale

•Blue Whale(North Pacific)[58] •Bowhead Whale[59] •Gray WhaleNortheast Pacific population[60] •Northern Bottlenose Whale

•Southern Bottlenose Whale

•Short-finned Pilot Whale

•Southern Right Whale

[61]

•Minke Whale

[62] •Dwarf Sperm Whale

[63] •Pygmy Right Whale

•Long-finned Pilot Whale

•Humpback Whale

[64] •Pygmy Sperm Whale

[65] •Melon-headed Whale

•Gray Whale (species)[62]

• Atlantic population of Gray Whale went extinct in late 17th Century. It is not listed as a part of IUCN's red list. [41]

Once we’re awake (aware)

Growth of environmental pressure groups – Greenpeace, Sea Sheppard

Function locally and globally Development of Environmental Stewardship Increased media coverage increased

awareness of issues

These events

Help us to establish our environmental value systems

This is a world view or set of paradigms that shapes the way an individual or group perceives and evaluates environmental issues

Influenced by cultural, religious, economic and socio-political factors

Environmental Values as a system

Input – education, cultural dogma, religious doctrines, media

Transfers and Transformations – Processing of information, thinking, discussion, regurgitation

Outputs – decisions, perspectives, courses of action

Value Systems can beGrouped into a spectrum Of Philosophies

Know / Understand figure 6

Be able to outline the range

The continuum

Ecocentrism

Anthropocentrism

Technocentrism

Deep Ecologists

Soft Ecologists

Environmental Managers

Cornucopians

Pick a world view and from that standpoint describe what you see

The influence of these philosophies

We will look back to this as we move forward in the course

Some examples look to our presidents Carter progressive environmental policy to get us

off of oil Reagan crushes solar energy industry Bush 1 reauthorized clean air act but Gulf war was

one of the worst environmental disasters in history Clinton good – increased preserve area, pollution

standards; bad – NAFTA, subsidizing SUV era of US automakers

Bush 2 Works to weaken environmental regulations on businesses – loosening scrubber requ.

Obama Blocks mountain top coal mining

Historical Clashes of Worldviews

Native Americans (first nation americans) vs. European Pioneers

Buddhist vs. Judeo-christian Societies Communist vs. capitalist societies

Native Americans Deep respect for the natural world Thought of themselves as part of it not

lords over it Much of their religion was tied to nature so

spiritual connection as well

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the

last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

~ Cree Indian Proverb ~

European Pioneers Frontier economics Exploitation of seemingly unlimited resources Becomes Manifest destiny – expansion not

only good but obvious and certain

Justify your personal viewpoint on environmental issues

-Where do you stand on the continuum of philosophies?

Does it change with the specific issue For example does your stance on

population control put you in the same area as your stance on resource exploitation or sustainable development

We will answer this question again at the end of the course as well

Sites of interest

http://www.foxriverwatch.com/nrda/bush_record.html - Bush 2’s environmental record