CHAPTER 13
Environmental Problems
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Explain how globalization affects the environment, including permeability of international borders,
cultural and social integration across nations, and growth of transnational corporations and free trade
agreements.
2. Illustrate the structural-functional approach to understanding environmental problems, including the
independence between humans and the natural environment, how changes in other aspects of society
affect concerns about environmental problems, and the unintended environmental consequences of
human activities.
3. From the conflict perspective, explain how wealth, power, and the pursuit of profit underlie many
environmental problems.
4. Use the symbolic interactionist perspective to explain how corporations manipulate public
perceptions by the use of “greenwashing” and “pinkwashing.”
5. Describe how energy use worldwide is depleting natural resources and the problems this is causing
especially with respect to global warming and climate change.
6. Explain problems of air pollutions, land pollution and water pollution
7. Explain health problems caused by commercial production of toxic chemicals, including the
vulnerability of children and multiple chemical sensitivity disorder.
8. Describe environmental injustice in the United States and around the world.
9. Explain the social causes of environmental problems, including population growth, industrialization
and economic development, and cultural values and attitudes.
10. Describe environmental activist movements to reduce environmental problems, including
environmental organizations, online activism, religious environmentalism, ecoterrorism, and the role
of corporations in environmental management.
11. Describe strategies to solve environmental problems by environmental education and “green” energy,
including solar power, wind power, biofuels, hydrogen power, and green building.
12. Describe international and government policies, programs, and regulations relating to environmental
problems, including cap and trade programs, commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, policies on
chemical safety, policies and regulations on energy use, taxes, and fuel efficiency standards.
KEY TERMS
acid rain 414
biodiversity 421
bioinvasion 404
deep ecology 424
deforestation 410
desertification 410
ecosystems 408
ecoterrorism 425
environmental footprint 411
environmental injustice 406
environmental racism 406
environmental refugees 405
460
e-waste 417
global warming 414
green energy 427
greenhouse gases 414
Green Revolving Funds
(GRFs) 433
Environmental Problems
Greenwashing 406
Kyoto Protocol 432
light pollution 421
multiple chemical sensitivity
419
pinkwashing 408
planned obsolescence 405
radical environmental
movement 424
sustainable development 433
tar sands 403
tar sands oil 403
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: GLOBALIZATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
A. Permeability of International Borders
1. Environmental problems such as global warming extend far beyond their source to affect the
entire planet and its inhabitants.
2. Bioinvasion: the emergence of organisms into regions where they are not native
a. Bioinvasion is largely a product of the growth of global trade and tourism.
B. The Growth of Transnational Corporations and the Free Trade Agreements
1. The world’s economy is dominated by transnational corporations, many of which are
implicated in environmentally destructive activities.
2. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and
FTAA provide transnational corporations with privileges to pursue profits, expand markets,
use natural resources, and exploit cheap labor in developing countries while weakening the
ability of governments to protect natural resources or to implement environmental
legislation.
3. Transnational corporations have influenced the world’s most powerful nations to
institutionalize an international system of governance that values commercialism, corporate
rights, and “free” trade over environment, human rights, worker rights, and human health.
II. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
A. Structural-Functionalist Perspective
1. Focuses on how changes in one aspect of the social system affect other aspects of society.
a. As croplands become scarce people must find alternative livelihoods.
b. By 2020 there will be an estimated 50 million environmental refugees globally—
individuals who have migrated because they can no longer secure a livelihood due to
environmental problems.
2. Raises our awareness of latent dysfunctions—negative consequences of societal actions that
are unintended and not widely recognized.
a. The more than 840,000 dams worldwide provide water to irrigate farms and supply 17%
of the world’s electricity, yet dam building destroys wetlands and wildlife habitat, emits
methane gas (that contributes to global warming), kills plant and animal life, and has
displaced millions of people from their homes.
B. Conflict Perspective
1. Focuses on how wealth, power, and the pursuit of profit underlie many environmental
problems.
2. Wealthy nations have higher per capita consumption of petroleum, wood, metals, cement,
and other commodities that deplete the earth’s resources, emit pollutants, and generate
massive amounts of waste.
3. The capitalistic pursuit of profit encourages making money from industry regardless of the
damage done to the environment.
4. To maximize sales, manufacturers design products intended to become obsolete—a
phenomenon referred to as planned obsolescence.
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Environmental Problems
5. Industries use power and wealth to influence politicians’ environmental and energy policies
as well as the public’s beliefs about environmental issues.
6. Environmental justice and environmental racism focuses on the tendency for marginalized
populations to disproportionately experience adversity due to environmental problems.
C. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
1. Focuses on how meanings, labels, and definitions learned through interaction and through
the media affect population and environmental problems.
2. Large corporations and industries commonly use marketing and public relations strategies to
construct favorable meanings of their corporation or industry.
3. Greenwashing: a business strategy in which environmentally damaging companies portray
their corporate image and products as being “environmentally friendly” or socially
responsible.
4. Pinkwashing: supporting breast cancer awareness even as the company uses or produces
chemicals which are linked to cancer.
III. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS: AN OVERVIEW
A. Ecosystems: the complex and dynamic relationships between forms of life and the environments
they inhabit
1. Over the past 50 years, humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in
any other comparable period of time in history.
B. Energy Use Worldwide: An Overview
1. Most of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels, which include petroleum (or oil), coal,
and natural gas.
b. The major environmental problems facing the world today—air, land, and water
pollution, destruction of habitats, biodiversity loss, global warming, and environmental
illness are linked to the production and use of fossil fuels.
2. After fossil fuels, energy come from hydroelectric power (6.2%) and nuclear power (5.7%).
a. safety of nuclear power has been called into question.
C. Depletion of Natural Resources: Our Growing Environmental Footprint
1. Humans have used more of the earth’s natural resources since 1950 than in the million years
preceding 1950.
2. Water supplies are being consumed by agriculture, by industry, and for domestic use.
a. By the year 2030, nearly half the world’s population will be living in areas of high water
stress.
3. The demand for new land, fuel, and raw materials has resulted in deforestation—the
conversion of forest land to non-forest land.
a. Consequences of deforestation include displacement of people and wild species from
their habitats; soil erosion, which can cause severe flooding; global warming;
desertification.
4. Desertification: the degradation of semiarid land
5. The demands humanity makes on the Earth’s natural resources is known as the
environmental footprint. A person’s environmental footprint is determined by the patterns of
production and consumption in that person’s culture.
D. Air Pollution
1. Transportation vehicles, fuel combustion, industrial processes (such as the burning of coal
and processing of minerals from mining), and solid waste disposal have contributed to
growing levels of air pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide,
mercury, and lead.
a. In the United States, 6 out of 10 people live in counties where they are exposed to
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unhealthful levels of air pollution.
2. Indoor Air Pollution
a. Indoor air pollution from burning wood and biomass for heating and cooking is a
significant cause of respiratory illness, lung cancer, and blindness in developing
countries.
b. More than half of the world’s population cook food and generate heat by burning dung,
wood, crop waste or coal on open fires or stoves without chimneys.
c. Even in affluent countries, much air pollution is invisible to the eye and exists in our
homes, schools, workplaces, and public buildings, in the forms of lead dust (from old
lead-based paint); secondhand tobacco smoke; by-products of combustion (e.g., carbon
monoxide) from stoves, furnaces, fireplaces, heaters, and dryers; and other common
household, personal, and commercial products.
3. Destruction of the Ozone Layer
a. The ozone layer of Earth’s atmosphere protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful
ultraviolet rays.
b. The ozone layer has been weakened by the use of certain chemicals, particularly
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigerators, air conditioners, spray cans, etc.
4. Acid rain
a. Air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, mix with precipitation to form
acid rain.
b. Polluted rain, snow, and fog contaminate crops, forests, lakes, and rivers.
E. Global Warming and Climate Change
1. Global warming refers to the increasing average global air temperature, caused mainly by the
accumulation of various gases that collect in the atmosphere.
2. Causes of Global Warming
a. The prevailing scientific view is that greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxide—accumulate in the atmosphere and act like the glass in a
greenhouse, holding heat from the sun close to the earth.
b. Most scientists believe that global warming has resulted from the marked increase in
global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases since industrialization began.
c. Despite scientific evidence that global warming is caused by human activity, one-third of
U.S. adults believe it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment.
d. Even if greenhouse gases are stabilized, global warming will continue for hundreds of
years because global warming that has already occurred contributes to further warming
of the planet – a process known as a positive feedback loop.
3. Effects of Global Warming and Climate Change
a. Global warming and climate change are projected to affect regions in different ways.
i. Climate change kills 30,000 people per year.
b. Effects of global warming include the following:
i. Melting Ice and Sea-Level Rise
ii. Flooding and Spread of Disease
iii. Threat of Species Extinction
iv. Extreme Weather
v. Forest Fires
b. As temperature increases, some regions will experience heavier rain and other regions
will get drier.
c. Global warming results in shifts in plant and animal habitats and the extinction of some
species.
d. Regions that experience increased rainfall may face increases in waterborne diseases and
diseases transmitted by insects.
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Environmental Problems
e. As global warming melts glaciers and permafrost (soil at or below freezing temperature
for 2 or more years), sea levels will rise.
f. In urban areas, flooding can be a problem where storm drains and waste management
systems are inadequate, resulting in:
F. Land Pollution
1. About 30% of the world’s surface is land, which provides soil to grow the food we eat.
2. Nuclear Waste
a. Nuclear waste contains radioactive plutonium, which is linked to cancer and genetic
defects.
b. The U.S. has waste stored in 121 temporary sites in 39 states with no long-term
repository in the U.S.
c. Recognizing the hazards of nuclear power plants and their waste, Germany became the
first country to order all of its 19 nuclear power plants shut down by 2020.
3. Solid Waste
a. In1960, each person in the U.S. generated 2.7 lbs. of garbage each day; this figure
increased to 3.7 pounds in 1980 and 4.3 pounds in 2009.
b. About one-half of solid waste is recycled or composted; the rest is taken to landfills.
c. Solid waste includes discarded electrical appliances and electronic equipment, known as
e-waste.
4. Pesticides
a. Pesticides are used worldwide in the growing of crops and gardens, outdoor mosquito
control, the care of lawns, parks, and golf courses, and indoor pest control.
b. Pesticides contaminate food, water, and air and can be absorbed through the skin,
swallowed, or inhaled.
c. Many pesticides are considered potential carcinogens and neurotoxins.
d. Even when a pesticide is found to be hazardous and is banned in the United States, other
countries from which we import food may continue to use it.
G. Water Pollution
1. Our water is being polluted by pesticides, vehicle exhaust, acid rain, oil spills, and industrial,
military, and agricultural waste.
2. Water pollution is most severe in developing countries, where more than 1 billion people
lack access to clean waters.
3. In the U.S., one indicator of water pollution is the number of fish advisories issued that warn
against the consumption of certain fish caught in local waters because of contamination with
such pollutants as mercury and dioxin.
4. Pollutants also find their way into the water we drink.
5. Fracking, used in the production of natural gas, poses methane risks.
H. Chemicals, Carcinogens, and Health Problems
1. Prevalence of potentially hazardous chemicals in human’s blood
a. During a 2004 World Health Organization convention, 44 different hazardous chemicals
were found in the bloodstream of top EU officials.
b. In a study of umbilical cord blood of 10 newborns, researchers found an average of 200
industrial chemicals, pesticides, and other pollutants.
2. Prevalence of hazardous chemicals in the environment
a. In the U.S., the EPA has required testing on only about 200 of the more than 80,000
chemicals on the market.
b. Long-term exposure to substances found in common household, personal, and
commercial products can affect the nervous system, reproductive system, liver, kidneys,
heart, and blood.
c. Children are more vulnerable than adults to the harmful effects of most pollutants.
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6. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Disorder (MCS), also known as environmental illness
a. A condition whereby individuals experience adverse reactions when exposed to low
levels of chemicals found in everyday substances (vehicle exhaust, fresh paint,
housecleaning products, perfume and other fragrances, synthetic building materials, and
numerous other petrochemical-based products).
b. Symptoms of MCS include headache, burning eyes, difficulty breathing, stomach
distress/nausea, loss of mental concentration, and dizziness.
I. Environmental Injustice (also called “environmental racism”)
1. Environmental injustice: the tendency for socially and politically marginalized groups to bear
the brunt of environmental ills.
2. Environmental Injustice in the United States
a. In U.S., polluting industries, industrial and waste facilities and transportation arteries
(that generate vehicle emissions pollution) are often located in minority communities.
b. More than half (56%) of people living within 3 km (1.8 miles) of a hazardous waste site
are people of color.
3. Environmental Injustice around the world
a. Environmental injustice affects marginalized populations around the world, including
minority groups, indigenous peoples, and other vulnerable and impoverished
communities, such as peasants and nomadic tribes.
b. These groups are often powerless to fight against government and corporate powers that
sustain environmentally damaging industries.
c. Minority populations and indigenous peoples around the globe are facing massive
degradation of their environments that threatens to irreversibly alter, indeed destroy,
their ways of life and cultures.
J. Threats to Biodiversity
1. Biodiversity refers to the enormous variety of life, which consists of an estimated 8.7 million
species on earth.
2. Biodiversity provides food, medicines, fibers, and fuel; purifies air and fresh water;
pollinates crops and vegetation; and makes soils fertile.
3. In recent decades we have witnessed mass extinction rates of diverse life forms: on average,
one species of plant or animal life becomes extinct every 3 hours.
4. Human activity is the primary cause of disappearing species today.
K. Light Pollution
1. Light pollution refers to artificial lighting that is annoying, unnecessary, and/or harmful to
life forms on Earth.
2. Light pollution at night contributes to sleep disorders, depression and other mood disorders
and may even be related to breast cancer.
3. Light pollution has adverse effects on the migration, feeding and reproductive patterns of
many animal species.
IV. SOCIAL CAUSES OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
A. Population Growth
1. The world’s population is growing by about 80 million people a year.
2. Population growth places increased demands on natural resources and results in increased
waste.
3. However, population growth itself is not as critical as the ways in which populations
produce, distribute, and consume goods and services
B. Industrialization and Economic Development
1. Industrialized countries consume more energy and natural resources and contribute more
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Environmental Problems
pollution to the environment than poor countries.
2. The relationship between level of economic development and environmental pollution is
curvilinear, rather than linear.
a. Industrial emissions are minimal in regions with low levels of economic development,.
b. Industrial emissions are high in the middle-level development range as developing
countries move through the early stages of industrialization,.
c. At more advanced industrial stages, industrial emissions decline, because heavypolluting manufacturing industries decline and cleaner service industries increase and
because rising incomes are associated with a greater demand for environmental control
and cleaner technologies.
3. However, a positive linear correlation has been demonstrated between per capita income and
national carbon dioxide emissions.
4. In less developed countries environmental problems result from poverty and the priority of
economic survival over environmental concerns.
C. Cultural Values and Attitudes
1. Individualism
a. A characteristic of U.S. culture, it puts individual interests over collective welfare.
b. Individuals engage in countless behaviors that provide enjoyment and convenience at the
expense of the environment: long showers, use of dishwashing machines, recreational
boating, frequent meat eating, air conditioning, driving gas-guzzling SUVs, etc.
2. Consumerism
a. Consumerism—the belief that personal happiness depends on the purchasing of material
possessions—also encourages individuals to continually purchase new items and throw
away old ones.
b. Consumerism contributes to pollution and environmental degradation by supporting
polluting and resource-depleting industries and by contributing to waste.
3. Militarism
a. It is generally agreed that the number one polluter in the U.S. is the American military.
b. The U.S. military is responsible each year for the generation of more than one-third of
the nation’s toxic waste—an amount greater than the five largest international chemical
companies combined.
V. STRATEGIES FOR ACTION: RESPONDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
A. Environmental Activism
1. The U.S. environmental movement may be the largest single social movement in the U.S.
a. A Gallup survey found that one in five (21%) of U.S. adults say they are an active
participant in the environmental movement.
b. Environmentalist organizations exert pressure on government and private industry to
initiate or intensify actions related to environmental protection, design and implement
their own projects, and disseminate information to the public about environmental issues.
c. In a national survey of college freshmen, more than one in four (27.3%) said that
becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment was personally essential or
very important.
2. Online Activism
a. The Internet and e-mail provide tools for environmental activism.
3. Religious Environmentalism
a. From a religious perspective, environmental degradation can be viewed as sacrilegious,
sinful, and an offense against God.
b. The world’s dominant religions—as well as many people who identify with the
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‘spiritual’ rather than with established faiths—have come to see that the environmental
crisis involves much more than assaults on human health, leisure, or convenience.
4. Radical Environmentalism
a. The radical environmental movement is a grassroots movement of individuals and groups
that employs unconventional and often illegal means of protecting wildlife or the
environment.
b. Radical environmentalists believe in deep ecology: the view that maintaining the earth’s
natural systems should take precedence over human needs, that nature has a value
independent of human existence, and that humans have no right to dominate the Earth
and it’s living inhabitants.
c. The best known radical environmentalist groups are the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) who engage in “direct action” to inflict economic
damage on those profiting from the destruction and exploitation of the natural
environment, save animals from places of abuse and reveal information and educate the
public on atrocities committed against the earth and all the species that populate it.
d. An extreme form of environmental activism, ecoterrorism is defined as any crime
intended to protect wildlife or the environment that is violent, puts human life at risk, or
results in damages of $10,000 or more.
5. The Role of Corporations in the Environmental Movement
a. Some industries are joining the environmental movement due to pressure from
consumers and environmental groups, desire to improve their public image, genuine
concern for the environment, or concern for maximizing current or future profits.
b. In 1994, out of concern for public and environmental health, the CEO of Interface set a
goal of being a sustainable company by 2020—a company that will grow by cleaning up
the world, not by polluting or degrading it.
c. Corporate law can play a role in the environmental movement.
B. Environmental Education
1. One goal of environmental organizations and activists is to educate the public about
environmental issues and the seriousness of environmental problems.
2. Being informed about environmental issues is important because people who have higher
levels of environmental knowledge tend to engage in higher levels of pro-environment
behavior—for example, environmentally knowledgeable people are more likely to save
energy in the home, recycle, conserve water, purchase environmentally safe products, avoid
using chemicals in yard care, and donate funds to conservation.
3. A main source of information about environmental issues for most Americans is the media.
a. However, because the media are owned by corporations and wealthy individuals with
corporate ties, unbiased information about environmental impacts of corporate activities
may not readily be found in mainstream media channels.
C. “Green” Energy
1. Increasing the use of “green” energy—energy that is renewable and nonpolluting—can help
alleviate environmental problems associated with fossil fuels.
2. Solar power involves converting sunlight into electricity through the use of photovoltaic
cells.
4. Wind power, created through wind turbines, which turn wind energy into electricity, are
operating in 82 countries with the U.S. leading the way.
5. Biofuels are derived from agricultural crops.
a. Ethanol, one biofuel, is an alcohol-based fuel that is produced by fermenting and
distilling corn or sugar.
b. Only a small fraction of passenger vehicles are flexible fuel vehicles and many vehicle
owners are unaware that their vehicle can operate on E85 (an ethanol and gasoline
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Environmental Problems
mixture) or do not have access to gas stations that sell it.
c. Other problems associated with ethanol fuel is that increased demand for the corn used to
make ethanol results in higher food prices, and increased corn and/or sugar cane also has
adverse environmental effects, including increased use and run-off of fertilizers,
pesticides, and herbicides, depletion of water resources, and soil erosion.
d. Biodiesel fuel—America’s fastest growing alternative fuel—is a cleaner burning diesel
fuel made from vegetable oils or animal fats, including recycled cooking oil.
6. Hydrogen Power
a. Hydrogen, the most plentiful element on Earth, is a clean-burning fuel that can be used
for electricity production, heating, cooling, and transportation.
b. Many see a movement to a hydrogen economy as a long-term solution to the
environmental and political problems associated with fossil fuels.
7. Carbon Capture and Storage
a. Carbon emitted from coal plants can be captured at the smokestack and stored
underground.
b. Technology is new, developing and costly.
c. Encourages the continued use of fossil fuels.
D. Modifications in Consumer Behavior
1. Increasingly, consumers are making “green” choices in their behavior and purchases that
reflect concern for the environment.
a. Some choices cost more, such as organically grown food or clothing made from organic
cotton; some cost less, such as fuel-efficient cars.
b. Increasingly making these choices saves them money.
2. Consumers often consider their utility bill when they choose energy-efficient appliances and
electrical equipment.
3. Consumers can also choose to purchase “green power”—clean energy from nonpolluting
sources (e.g., wind and solar).
4. Green Building.
a. The U.S. Green Building Council developed green building standards known as LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
b. These standards consist of 69 criteria to be met by builders in six areas, including energy
use and emissions, water use, materials and resource us, and sustainability of the
building site.
E. Slow Population Growth
1. Population growth has a major effect on the environment.
a. providing contraception to women would greatly reduce worldwide emissions.
2. People don’t typically consider the environment in their reproductive decisions.
F. Government Policies, Regulations and Funding
1. Cap and Trade Programs, also known as emissions trading, is a free-market approach used to
control pollution by providing economic incentives to power plants and other industries for
achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants.
a. In a cap and trade system, a power plant can exceed its permitted level of emissions by
buying credits from a plant in the same region whose emissions are below what is
allowed.
b. Critics argue the system fails to achieve the lowest possible emissions because it does
not require all plants to use the best available technology to reduce emissions.
2. Policies and Regulations on Energy
i. In 2004, more than 20 countries committed to specific targets for the renewable
share of total energy use.
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3.
G.
H.
I.
ii. A number of states have set goals of producing a minimum percentage of electricity
from wind, solar, or other renewable sources.
iii The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $70 billion in spending and
tax credits for clean energy and transportation programs.
c. Taxes
i. Some environmentalists propose that governments use taxes to discourage
environmentally damaging practices and products.
ii. In the 1990s, a number of European governments increased taxes on environmentally
harmful activities and products (such as gasoline, diesel, and motor vehicles) and
decreased taxes on income and labor.
iii. Raising gasoline taxes in the United States is highly unpopular with voters and
consumers.
d. Fuel Efficiency Standards
i. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires a 40% increase in fuel
economy to 35 miles to the gallon by 2020; in 2009 Obama signed an order requiring
the Department of Transportation to enforce the new fuel-economy standards.
Policies on Chemical Safety
a. In 2003, the European Union drafted legislation known as REACH (Registration,
Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals) that requires chemical companies to
conduct safety and environmental tests to prove that the chemicals they are producing are
safe: if the company cannot prove that a chemical is safe, it will be banned from the
market.
i. The European Union has become a world leader in environmental stewardship by
placing the “precautionary principle” at the center of EU regulatory policy, which
requires industry to prove that their products are safe.
ii. In contrast, in the United States, chemicals are assumed to be safe unless proven
otherwise, and the burden is put on the consumer, the public, or the government to
prove that a chemical causes harm.
International Cooperation and Assistance
1. In 1997, delegates from 160 nations created Kyoto Protocol—the first international
agreement to place legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions from developed
countries.
a. The U.S. (which produces one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions) withdrew from the
Kyoto negotiations in 2001; the U.S. and Australia are the only industrialized nations
who refused to join.
b. In 2009 the U.S. agreed to the voluntary Copenhagen Accord.
Sustainable Economic Development
1. Achieving global cooperation on environmental issues is difficult, in part, because developed
countries (primarily in the Northern hemisphere) have different economic agendas from
those of developing countries (primarily in the Southern Hemisphere).
a. The northern agenda emphasizes preserving wealth and affluent lifestyles, whereas the
southern agenda focuses on overcoming mass poverty and achieving a higher quality of
life.
2. Development involves more than economic growth; it involves sustainability— the long-term
environmental, social, and economic health of societies.
3. Sustainable development involves meeting the needs of the present world without
endangering the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
The Role of Institutions of Higher Education
1. Colleges and universities that are committed to environmental sustainability engage in a
variety of practices, such as encouraging bike use on campus, using hybrid and electric
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Environmental Problems
vehicles, establishing recycling programs, using local and renewable building materials for
new buildings, involving students in organic gardening to provide food for the campus, using
clean energy, and incorporating environmental education into the curricula.
VI. UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
A. Environmental Problems are Linked to Global Issues
1. Climate change is not the problem, humans demanding more than the earth can provide is the
problem.
2. Many Americans believe in a technological fix.
3. Global corporations and powerful governments have ability to impose meaningful
regulations.
a. There is significant opposition to such efforts in the U.S.
4. A sustainable environment has far-reaching effects such as decreasing conflict.
ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS
STUDENT PROJECTS
Greenwashing
Request students to find an example of a corporation using the strategy of “greenwashing.” They may
find such an example by looking at advertisements in magazines, televisions, or billboards or by looking
at the labels on products. Ask students to investigate the environmental impact of the corporation’s
policies and practices. Instruct the students to submit a paper comparing the greenwashing image of the
corporation with the corporation’s environmentally damaging policies and practices.
Waste
Have students put all of the trash they generate for one week in a bag and bring it to class (or take a
picture of it if you don’t want to have so many trashbags in a classroom). Have them catalog the contents
of their trash. What is the cause of the majority of our waste? Use this as a way to have a conversation
about how the amount of waste has increased over the past 50 years.
Public Perceptions of Global Warming and Climate Change
Request the students to interview at least three people about their views of global warming and climate
change. Instruct students to ask their interviewees whether they believe climate change is occurring or
not, and if so, what they think the causes are. Instruct students to write an essay that summarizes the
views of their interviewees.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Environmental Footprint
In class, use an internet connected projector to navigate to http://www.breathingearth.net/. As a class,
explore the maps here and what kind of impact we are having on our earth. Use the website to engage in
a class discussion about the source of environmental stress and where impacts are felt.
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Improving Environmental Sustainability on Your College Campus
Divide the students into small groups and have each group make recommendations for how to improve
environmental sustainability on their college campus. Have the students share their ideas with the class
and, if desired, select representatives to present their suggestions to campus administrators.
Willingness to Improve the Environment
Divide the class into small groups and request each group to discuss the following question: Do you think
that most citizens of the United States are willing to sacrifice their economic well-being and change their
lifestyle in order to improve and protect the environment? Instruct each group to compile two lists: (1) a
list of what they think citizens would be willing to do and (2) a list what most people should do but
would not be willing to do and the reasons for their unwillingness. Have each group share their ideas
with the class and engage the entire class in a discussion of what might be done to improve
environmental attitudes in the U.S.
Sustainable Community Design
Divide students into small groups and request each group to design a sustainable community. Instruct
students to think about how the community would be set up, what kinds of businesses and transportation
would be included in the community. Have each group share their ideas and engage in a class discussion
of how to create sustainable communities.
Reducing Students’ Environmental Footprint
Divide students into small groups and request each group to brainstorm things they can do in their
everyday lives to reduce their environmental footprint. Each group should compose a list of actions that a
spokesperson then can share with the class.
INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS
Environmental Defense Scorecard
Instruct students to go to the “Scorecard” page of Environmental Defense at the following address:
www.scorecard.org
Request the students to enter their zip code and find out what pollutants are being released in their
community and who is responsible. Then have them find information about the effects of these pollutants
on their community.
Environmental Defense
Instruct the students to go to the website of Environmental Defense at the following address:
www.edf.org
Request the students to click on a particular environmental problem and find information regarding the
causes and effects of the problem and what is being done or can be done by the government and by
individuals to help solve the problem.
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Environmental Problems
Ecological Footprint
How much space do you need? Many of you live in dorm rooms right now that are small when compared
to the average American’s living space. Do you think you will continue this lifestyle when you get
older? Research the Tiny House Movement (start here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-toknow/culture/living-large-a-look-inside-the-tiny-house-movement/2522/) and write an essay illustrating
what your smallest possible house would look like?
Bioinvasion
Request the students to search for information in the library or on the Internet regarding the problems of
bioinvasion that have affected the United States. Then have the students report on a particular
environmental problem in their state that is due to bioinvasion. The students should include in their
reports the source of the invasion, how it was transmitted to the United States and their state, the costs of
the bioinvasion to their community, and what can be done to reduce the problem.
Religion and the Environment
Request each student to select a different religious faith and use the Internet to investigate the messages
within that faith regarding the relationship between humans and the environment. Instruct each student to
write a short report on their findings and bring it to class. Each student should report their findings to the
class. Students can then engage in an analysis of the similarities and differences between the views of the
environment taught by different religious faiths.
Wind Energy
Have students watch a short video about wind farms at
http://college.cengage.com/sociology/shared/videos/template24.html. How would they feel
about having a wind farm near their home? What is the impact on the environment?
VIDEO SUGGESTIONS
Sustainable Communities
This video explains and shows examples of sustainable communities. It discusses the questions that need
to be addressed when creating sustainable communities, such as the quality of the architecture,
transportation, resident safety, and access to health, recreation and retail.
Discussion Questions:
1) What are the key features of sustainable communities?
2) How does your own community (or the local community) compare to the sustainable communities?
3) What are the advantages and disadvantages of sustainable communities?
Moyers on America: Is God Green?
Bill Moyers and his journalist team investigate the views of the environment held by conservative
evangelicals. Some of the individuals in the video work to protect the environment as part of their moral
obligation to God whereas others believe such stewardship is not necessary. The video shows the
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conflicting views of the two groups and discusses political and environmental implications of their
beliefs.
Discussion Questions:
1) What are the main points of each perspective shown in the video?
2) What are the implications of each perspective?
Erin Brockovich
This movie is a dramatization of the story of Erin Brockovich’s fight against an electric company for
polluting the water supply of a local poor community that resulted in severe illnesses among many of the
residents. The movie shows the process through which Brockovich acquires information and evidence
against the company and the lawsuit that ensues.
Discussion Questions:
1) How was the case built against PG&E in this movie?
2) What responsibility do companies have to protect society? What is the role of the government in
regulating companies to assure that they are not endangering the residents of local communities?
Going Green: Real-World Solutions for the Environment
This video is a compilation of 12 short videos that document different ways individuals, governments and
businesses are working to protect the environment.
Discussion Questions:
1) What kind of actions are being taken to protect the environment?
2) How effective are these actions at protecting the environment?
3) What could we do to encourage more people/governments/businesses to participate in these actions to
protect the environment?
An Inconvenient Truth
This documentary by Al Gore about climate change and global warming launched the most recent round
of public debates about the impact humans have on the environment.
Discussion Questions:
1) Do you agree that human activity is contributing to climate change by its emissions of greenhouse
gases? What scientific evidence is there to support your opinion?
2) What specific actions might you, personally, take in response to the findings in the film?
3) What kinds of policies changes might help remedy the issues addressed in the film?
RELATED SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Deforestation: The Rainforest Alliance (www.rainforest-alliance.org) works to ensure biodiversity by
advocating for policies and practices that preserve the flora and fauna of the world’s forests, particularly
in developing nations.
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Environmental Problems
Alternative Fuels: There are lots of people and organizations getting involved in the search for alternative
fuels. One of the most innovative comes from the Live Lightly Tour. Watch their video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge_uLJefA_A
SOLVING SOCIAL PROBLEMS
The amount of meat consumed in first world countries places a tremendous strain on the environment.
This has inspired many people to become vegetarian. However, in a culture that celebrates meat eating,
such as the U.S., making this kind of lifestyle change could be difficult. Watch the following video
(http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/graham_hill_weekday_vegetarian.html). Do you think you could be a
weekday vegetarian? What are some other creative compromises for preserving our environment
responsibly? The Student Environmental Action Coalition (www.seac.org) has a number of ways for
students to get involved on their local campuses and in their broader communities.
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