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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... environmental scholars and corporate researchers , this book offers an ethical analysis of possible responses to the prob- lem . Their analyses of the scientific and technological data and the ethical principles involved in determining ...
... environmental studies , and researchers from the corporate sector . The methodology adopted ensured an interdisciplinary- as opposed to just a multidisci- plinary - result . Rather than each team member producing a specialized ...
... environment " valued for itself . " The first two principles confine ethical standing to humans and examine the impact of global climate change upon humans in ever - extending ranges of inclusiveness . This approach accords with that of ...
... environment is not yet in the vocabulary , and nature is most often associated with natural law rather than the environment , let alone an atmospheric problem like global warming . This is a new challenge that theologians are just ...
... environment as having intrinsic value or ethical standing , with the Eastern and aboriginal traditions tak- ing a strong position on this point . The Western religions of Judaism , Christianity , and Islam are more human centred , but ...
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 |