Ethics & Climate Change: The Greenhouse EffectWilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1993 M08 19 - 199 pages Faced with the prospect of global warming, the anticipated rapid rise in global air temperatures due to the release of gases into the atmosphere, we have two choices of how to respond: adaptation or avoidance. With adaptation we keep burning fossil fuels, let global temperatures rise and make whatever changes this requires: move people from environmentally damaged areas, build sea walls, etc. With avoidance we stop warming from occurring, either by reducing our use of fossil fuels or by using technology such as carbon dioxide recovery after combustion to block the warming effect. Yet each strategy has its drawbacks—adaptation may not be able to occur fast enough to accommodate the expected temperature increases, but avoidance would be prohibitively expensive. An ethically acceptable goal must involve some mixture of adaptation and avoidance. Written by a team of scientists, social scientists, humanists, legal and environmental scholars and corporate researchers, this book offers an ethical analysis of possible responses to the problem. Their analyses of the scientific and technological data and the ethical principles involved in determining whose interests should be considered point to a combination of adaptation and avoidance of greenhouse gas production. They offer assessments of personal, corporate, government and international responsibility and a series of recommendations to aid decision-makers in determining solutions and apportioning responsibility. |
From inside the book
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... approach proceeds by looking at the consequences of an act or policy : Good consequences count ethically in its favour , bad consequences against it . He begins by considering the consequences for " humans here and now , " moves to a ...
... approach . Rather than searching for the end with the best overall consequences , the rights approach makes central to ethi- cal analysis the constraints that respect for the rights of others imposes upon policy and action . Once again ...
... approach , Danielson proposes " individualization " in the face of complex social problems such as the greenhouse effect . As- suming that Canadians are morally motivated to respond responsibly to the challenge of global climate change ...
... approach to those who objected , the new model begins from the Brundtland Commission's ( World Commission on Environment and Development 1987 ) notion of " sustainable development , " which is in- creasingly being embraced by CEOs ...
... approaches to customer service by the major utilities . A simple example is a projected 50 per cent reduction in lighting energy consumption in all U.S. residences by replacing incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent bulbs ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
2 Ethical Principles | 23 |
3 Religious Responsibility | 39 |
4 The ArcticA Canadian Case Study | 61 |
5 Personal Responsibility | 81 |
6 Corporate Responsibility | 99 |
7 International Responsibility | 115 |
Efficiency and Ethical Considerations | 133 |
9 Energy Efficiency at Home and Abroad | 149 |
Conclusion | 165 |
About the Authors | 171 |
175 | |
187 | |
Other editions - View all
Ethics and Climate Change: The Greenhouse Effect Harold Coward,Thomas Hurka No preview available - 1993 |
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References to this book
The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the New Science of Astrobiology ... Peter D. Ward,Donald Brownlee No preview available - 2003 |