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
Results 1-5 of 57
... example , by our use of oil and coal to fuel cars and produce electricity we are adding some three billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year . This is like adding new panes of glass to the greenhouse . And scientific modelling ...
... example of the new approach . Another is the inclusion within the decision - making process of those who on the old model would have been adversaries ( e.g. , environmental groups . ) In this way an expanded notion of the stakeholder is ...
... example , money spent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions has the opportunity cost of reduced investment in non - greenhouse - related R & D and capital , debt reduction , and lower consumption . ) Such costs could prove harmful to ...
... 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 . Residents would save money , and the utilities would realize higher ...
... example , it has been quite small , with some areas showing cooling ( Karl , Baldwin , and Burgin 1988. ) Over Greenland and northeastern Canada , surface air temperatures jumped suddenly in the 1920s and thereafter cooled , right to ...
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 |
Common terms and phrases
Popular passages
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 |