 Moral Agents
 Those who have the freedom and rational capacity to be responsible for choices
 Those capable of moral reflection and decision.
 Example: adult humans of sound mind

Infants and mentally infirm adults are NOT moral agents

 Moral Standing:
 If you have moral standing:

Your continued existence or welfare is valuable in
itself (intrinsic value)

Your interests and wellbeing must be weighed when deciding what is permissible to do.
 Example: humans of all kinds

Babies, children, adults, old people, etc .

Women, different races, different cultures

 Moral Duties
 That which is owed by moral agents to those with moral standing.
 Example: It is wrong to kill our children because we have a moral duty toward them



Who or what has moral standing, and why?
 Does the environment have moral standing?
 Must look at criteria for moral standing
What moral duty do we
(moral agents) have toward those with moral standing?
 Different ethical positions suggest different moral duties.
Yosemite National Park

Environmental Ethics &
Philosophies
 Biocentric - views all living things as having inherent worth (Albert Schweitzer)
 Ecocentric - holistic, considering the whole to have an inherent value and therefore deserving of moral consideration independent of human-imposed values (Aldo Leopold)

 Membership in the species
Homo sapiens

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Humans have a soul
Humans are moral agents
 and are responsible for knowing right from wrong
Humans are intelligent

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Humans have personhood
 and self-consciousness
Humans have language

 Sentience, the ability to feel pain
 Therefore extend moral standing to animals

 Being alive
 Therefore extend moral standing to animals and plants:
 All living things.

 Being part of nature
 Therefore extend moral standing to the
 earth
 ecosystems


 rocks rivers plants animals
 the entire natural world

 Anthropocentrism:
Human centered morality
 Only humans have intrinsic value and moral standing.
 The rest of the natural world has instrumental value
(use to humans).



We can best protect nature by looking out for human needs.

Ex: Ducks Unlimited preserves wetlands

Ex: Saving the rainforests will provide O
2 and medicines for humans.
Problem: Would you blow up the world if you were the last human

 Sentio-centrism:
Sentient-being centered morality


All and only sentient beings (animals that feel pain) have intrinsic value and moral standing.
The rest of the natural world has instrumental value.
 Both humans and sentient animals have rights and/or interests that must be considered

 Biocentric Individualism:
Life-centered morality



All and only living beings, specifically individual
organisms (not species or ecosystems) have intrinsic value and moral standing.
Humans are not superior to other life forms nor privileged, and must respect the inherent worth of every organism
Humans should minimize harm and interference with nature: eat vegetarian since less land needs to be cultivated.

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Eco-centric Holism: ecosystem centered morality
Non-individuals (the earth as an interconnected ecosystem, species, natural processes) have moral standing or intrinsic value and are deserving of respect.
Individuals must be concerned about the whole community of life/nature,
Humans should strive to preserve ecological balance and stability.

 Greek, Roman, Hebrew:



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Humans are separate from
 and superior to nature
Human, mind, rationality, and man
 are linked and superior
Nature, body, feelings, and woman
 are linked, and inferior
Justifies domination by men over


Nature
Women
Aristotle

Environmental Ethics &
Philosophies
 ecofeminism analyzes societal and cultural traits that may have led to the degradation of the environment; specifically concentrates on the oppression of women by a traditional patriarchal society as a major form of social domination that has precipitated other forms of exploitation and domination, including exploitation of the environment.

 Rejects Patriarchal Dualisms
 The domination of nature by men is wrong
 is similar to and related to the domination of women by men.
 Must break the pattern of "power over" relationships
 will benefit both women and the natural world.
Acid attack victims



Humans are deeply connected with nature.
If humans identify with nature, then taking care of the natural world will become part of taking care of one's self.

Environmental Ethics &
Philosophies
 Deep ecology - holistic and extreme nonanthropocentric perspective, rejecting the human vs environment dichotomy (humans only one species among equal species)
(Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess)

 In his essay, “People or Penguins”


Baxter argues that people have intrinsic value, but that penguins do not.
In Baxter’s words, “ Every human being should be regarded as an end rather than as a means to be used for the betterment of another.”
 This means that people have intrinsic value and should not be used.

 Intrinsic Value
 Extrinsic Value

 Intrinsic value is value that a thing has in and of its self.
 Often valuable as an ends.
 Examples:
 Happiness, Love, Honor, Family, Heath, and
Freedom

 Something has extrinsic if it is valuable as a means to acquiring or attaining something we value in virtue of itself.
 For example money has little or no intrinsic value, it’s just bits of paper or metal, but it has great extrinsic value in that it can used to acquire other items which we do value.

 Penguins have value, if people find then valuable. If they make us happy or we enjoy watching them march across
Antarctica.

 Business should not interfere in political regulation of environmental policy.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Business argues that it has no special obligation to the environment because it is willing to follow consumer’s preference on this issue.
Because of external factors consumers cannot express their preferences in the market
Therefore they must express them in the political arena
Business intervention interferes with the express of those preferences
Since 4 follows from 1, business should not interfere in the political process.

 Pollution is the introduction of harmful substances or products into the environment
 We will be examining 3 main parts of pollution
 Water Pollution
 Air Pollution
 Land Pollution

 Factors that contribute to water pollution can be categorized into two different groups
 Point sources
 Non-point sources
 Point sources are the easiest to identify and control
 Non point sources are ambiguously defined and harder to control

 Some point sources of water pollution include
 Waste products from factories
 Waste from sewage system
 Waste from power plants
 Waste from underground coalmines
 Waste from oil wells
 They are called point sources because they are direct sources of water pollution and can be reduced and monitored

 The term non-point source encompasses a large range of sources such as:
 when rain or snow moves through the ground and picks up pollutants as it moves towards a major body of water
 the runoff of fertilizers from farm animals and crop land
 air pollutants getting washed or deposited to earth
 storm water drainage from lawns, parking lots, and streets

 One of the main causes of air pollution is the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, this happens because of
Deforestation and fossil fuel burning
 Sulfur dioxide is another air polluter and is released into the atmosphere by the burning of sulfur containing compounds of fossil fuels. Sulfur oxides are very dangerous to humans at a high concentration. Sulfur in the atmosphere is responsible for acid rain

 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) also contribute to air pollution by reducing the amount of ozone the stratosphere. CFCs come from a variety of places such as:
 the burning of plastic foam items
 leaking refrigerator equipment
 spray cans

 Natural air pollutants can include:
 Smoke from wild fires
 Methane released from live stock
 Volcanic eruptions

 CO2 is a good transmitter of sunlight, but it also partially restricts infrared radiation going back from the earth into space, which produces the so-called greenhouse effect that prevents a drastic cooling of the Earth during the night


Increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reinforces this effect and is expected to result in a warming of the Earth's surface
CO2 in atmosphere  GLOBAL WARMING

In the 1990 CAA amendments, congress required EPA to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the CAA
“Final Report to Congress on Benefits and Costs of the
Clean Air Act, 19701990”
Annual Costs: $25 billion (mainly compliance costs)
Annual Benefits: $1.1 trillion (range 0.3-2.5 trillion)
Mainly avoided deaths, avoided hospitalizations and avoided lost IQ points in children)
A “no brainer”...


 Costs or other economic considerations are not to be considered.

The CAA specifies that EPA should set air standards —called the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) —in order to protect the most sensitive members of the public with an adequate margin of safety.
NAAQS should be re-evaluated by EPA every
5 years to ensure they are consistent with best scientific data. This leads to a “ratchet effect.”

Non-attainment areas for 8-hour O
3 standard
Currently, about 100 million people in the US live in areas that don’t meet the O
3 standard.
Note that in 2007, EPA has proposed a new lower (tougher) O
3 standard. Final rules will be announced in 2012.

PM2.5 Non-attainment areas
Orange: Areas that exceed only the annual std (15 ug/m 3 ).
Yellow: Ares that exceed only the 24 hour std (65 ug/m 3 ).
Red: Areas that exceed both.
Currently, ~50 million people in the US live in areas that violate the PM2.5 standard. By one estimate, there are 64,000 premature deaths in the US due to PM, at levels above and below the standard.

New PM2.5 Non-attainment areas (2007)
Orange: Areas that exceed only the annual std (15 ug/m 3 ).
Yellow: Ares that exceed only the 24 hour std (35 ug/m 3 ).
Red: Areas that exceed both.

 More than 110 glaciers have disappeared from
Montana’s Glacier National Park over the past
150 years, and researchers estimate that the park’s remaining 37 glaciers may be gone in another 25 years.
 Half a world away on the African equator,
Hemingway’s snows of Kilimanjaro are steadily melting and could completely disappear in the next 20 years.
 In the Alps, Andes and Rockies, glaciers are retreating and disappearing every year.

 When emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide from stationary sources are transported long distances by winds, they form secondary pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, nitric acid vapor, and droplets containing solutions of sulfuric acid, sulfate, and nitrate salts
 These chemicals descend to the earth's surface in wet form as rain or snow and in dry form as a gases fog, dew, or solid particles, it is known as acid rain or acid deposition

 With the introduction of petroleum to replace coal economies in countries, photochemical smog has become predominant in many cities, which are located in sunny, warm, and dry climates with many motor vehicles
 Worst episodes of photochemical smog tends to occur in summer

 Smog clouds our cities.

 Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and peroxyacl nitrates (PANs), cause direct damage to leaves of crop plants and trees when they enter leaf pores (stomates)
 Chronic exposure of leaves and needles to air pollutants can also break down the waxy coating that helps prevent excessive water loss and damage from diseases, pests, drought and frost

 "In the midwestern United States crop losses of wheat, corn, soybeans, and peanuts from damage by ozone and acid deposition amount to about $5 billion a year". (Miller
498)

 Four Main causes of land pollution
 Construction
 Agriculture
 Domestic waste
 Industrial Waste

 Buildings take up resources and land, the trees are chopped down and used to make buildings

Takes away from places for animals and other organisms to live


As there are more and more people inhabiting the earth, food is in higher demand and so forests are chopped down and turned into farmland

In addition, herbicides, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, animal manure
(poop) are washed into the soil and pollute it

 Tons of domestic waste is dumped every day.
Some waste from homes, offices and industries can be recycled or burnt in incinerators
 There is still a lot of garbage, such as refrigerators and washing machines that are dumped in landfills simply because they cannot be reused in anyway, nor recycled

 Plastics factories, chemical plants, oil refineries, nuclear waste disposal activity, large animal farms, coal-fired power plants, metals production factories and other heavy industry all contribute to land pollution






Land pollution exterminates wild life
Acid rain kills trees and other plants
The vegetation that provides food and shelter is destroyed
Land pollution can seriously disrupt the balance of nature, and, in extreme cases, can cause human fatalities
Pesticides can damage crops; kill vegetation; and poison birds, animals, and fish. Most pesticides kill or damage life forms other than those intended. For example, pesticides used in an effort to control or destroy undesirable vegetation and insects often destroy birds and small animals. Some life forms develop immunity to pesticides used to destroy them

 You can help to reduce global air pollution and climate change by:
 Driving a car that gets at least 35 mpg

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Walking, biking, and using public transportation
Using CFL bulbs over incandescent bulbs
Buying only energy efficient appliances
Recycling newspaper, aluminum, and others
Planting trees!
Avoid purchasing products that contain CFCs
Supporting much stricter clean air laws and enforcement of international treaties to reduce ozone depletion and slow global warming

 The environment, plant and animal extinctions, human development of natural lands, and fossil fuels are all major issues within this topic.

 Lead a simple life with local production of food and other products by people that you know
 Increases environmental awareness and caring
 decreases exploitation of the environment and people.

 End

 www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford