Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, & Sustainability
Thomas Malthus
 An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798-1826; 6 editions)
 Population will grow until disease & famine hit (Malthusian Catastrophe)
Living in an Exponential Age
 ~7.0 bil. – world pop.
- 300 mil. in U.S.
 ~1.3% growth rate (yr)
- 88.4 mil. per year, 242,192 per day
 Potential Problems?
- Loss of Biodiversity
- Loss of Arable (crop) land
- Deforestation
- Loss of Non-renewable resources
- Climate Change
Environmental Science
 Connectedness of life
 How nature works
 How we affect environment & it affects us
 How to deal w/ environmental problems
 Advise politicians
 It’s NOT Environmentalism
Sustainability
 Ability of Earth’s natural systems, Human culture & economies to survive & adapt to changing
environmental conditions indefinitely
 2005 U.N. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (4 yr study, 1,360 experts, 95 nations)
- Human Activity is degrading 62% of Earth’s natural services
 Natural Capital
- Ecosystem Services (aka Natural Services)
 Air & Water Purification
 Food Production
 Prevent Disasters
 Pest Control
- Nutrient Cycling Natural Resources
 Renewable
 Sun, wind, waves, soil, trees, geothermal, wildlife
 Maximum Sustainable Yield
o Highest rate resource can be used w/o reducing supply
 Non-renewable
 Petroleum, coal, natural gas, minerals
 Renewable Exploitation
 Tragedy of the Commons (Garrett Hardin)
o Solutions to ‘Commons’
 Use at rate below sustainable yields
 Gov’t limit use/harvest
 Regulate access
 Private Ownership
 Non-Renewable Resources
 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or Find Replacement
How did we get here?
 12,000 yrs ago: hunter & gatherers
 Three major events
- Agricultural revolution
- Industrial-medical revolution
- Information-globalization revolution

Ecological Footprint
- Amount of land & resources needed to produce all our goods & get rid of all our wastes
 Economic Power
- GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
 Goods & services produced within a country in a given year
 Per capita = divided by population
- Per capita GDP PPP = GDP + purchasing power parity
 Amount of goods a country’s citizen could buy in the U.S.
 Two Classes
- Developed Nations
 U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Europe
- Developing Nations
 China, India, all others
 Affluent China
- Leading consumer of…
 Wheat, rice, meat, coal, fertilizers, steel, cement, TVs, cells, fridges
- 2nd largest consumer of oil (U.S.)
- Two-thirds of most polluted cities
- Projections, by 2020…
 Largest car consumer & producer
 Leading economy (GDP-PPP)
 Effects of Affluence
- Bad
 High levels of consumption
 Unnecessary waste of resources (TV, cell phones, cars)
- Good
 Technological funding
 Cleaner environment – air, water, food, sanitations
 Prices Don’t Include Natural Capital Value
- Companies receive tax breaks & subsidies; don’t pay for environmental costs
- Goods & services do not include environmental costs (keeps prices low)
 Subsidies
- Assistance paid to companies to keep costs down, promote hiring workers, keep industry profitable
- Welfare, student loans, housing loans, farm subsidies (gov’t pays farmer to plant crop)
- Coal Subsidies
 Since 1984, $1.8 billion available to coal industry for research leading to reduction in air
pollution from coal combustion
 Another $800 million per year goes to them for further research & development
- Timber Subsidies
 ’92-’97 – Forest Service spent $387 million in tax $$ to make roads for companies to log
public owned forests
- Mining Subsidies
 $500 mil to $1 bil in minerals a year taken from public lands, no taxes/royalties paid ($245
billion total)
 Mining has polluted 40% of watersheds in the West
 Lets companies buy public land for $5 or less per acre
Pollution
 Point-Source Pollution – Traced to a single spot (factory, smokestack, sewage pipe)
 Non-point Source Pollution – Diffuse source, hard to pinpoint (runoff from farms, forests, roads)
 Biodegradable – can be broken down by natural means
 Nondegradable – can’t be broken down
 Pollution’s Effects
- Disrupt/degrade life-support systems
- Damage wildlife, human health, property
- Nuisances – bad tastes, sights, smells, & noise

5 Major Causes
- Poverty
- Population Growth
- Affluence & Unsustainable Resource Use
- Excluding environmental costs from market prices
- Trying to manage nature w/o knowing enough about it
 Pollution Solutions
- Output Pollution Control (aka pollution cleanup)
 Clean up after produced
- Input Pollution Control (aka pollution reduction)
 Reduce/ eliminate production
Nature’s Sustainability
 Reliance on solar energy
 Nutrient cycling
 Biodiversity
 Population control
Legislative Process
 Bill drafted (by anyone)
 House/Senate member take it to respective subcommitee & changes made
 Full committee makes changes/votes
 Full Senate/House vote
 Senate/House committee work out differences
 Senate/House vote again
 If approved, goes to President
- Signs bill (approve)
- Vetoes bill (reject), which can then be overturned by 2/3 majority of House & Senate
History of Environmental Movement
 Pages S31-38 in back of book
 The Tribal Era (pre 1600s)
 The Frontier Era (1607-1890)
 Early Conservationists (1832-1870)
 Current Era (1870-today)
Aldo Leopold
 The ‘Land Ethic’ – Humans & ‘land’ are members of same community; therefore we should treat land in
ethical manner
 A Sand County Almanac
 Leader of Environmental & Conservation movements – 20th century
Gifford Pinchot
 The ‘Conservation Ethic’ – Advocated using natural resources, but exploiting them wisely, for the greatest
good for the greatest number for the longest time
- Planned resource use and renewal
 First chief of U.S. Forest Service
John Muir
 The ‘Preservation Ethic’ – Advocated preserving unspoiled nature, for its own sake and for human
fulfillment
- Leave land untouched
 Founded the Sierra Club