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. |
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... countries , such as in developing nations ) , and arrives at the most radical principle by extending concern to the environment " valued for itself . " The first two principles confine ethical standing to humans and examine the impact ...
... developing countries ? Such rights - based ethical analysis is shown by Hurka to produce complex results — a finding ... development parallels the re - reading of the traditions through feminist glasses that is currently going on ...
... developing countries , and ( 3 ) the allocation problem ( the at- mosphere as a shared scarce resource ) . The author's analysis , and espe- cially his detailed study of how to achieve justice in solving the allocation problem , is a ...
... developing countries , all three of Hurka's ethical principles will have been recognized ; namely , concern for ... developing countries . If the devel- oped countries help developing countries to leap over inefficient tech- nologies ...
... developing countries , the resulting reduction in greenhouse gas emissions may be completely overtaken by the added greenhouse gas emissions resulting from global population increase . The question of how to ethically respond to the ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
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 |
Bibliography | 175 |
Index | 187 |
Other editions - View all
Ethics and Climate Change: The Greenhouse Effect Harold Coward,Thomas Hurka No preview available - 1993 |
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The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the New Science of Astrobiology ... Peter D. Ward,Donald Brownlee No preview available - 2003 |