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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... plant , and animal life . For 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 ...
... plant and animal species ( with the exception of ocean fish populations ) . In each domain — notably the fisheries- it is difficult to disentangle climatic impact from the perva- sive actions of humankind . Not until larger climatic ...
... plant species responded to natural rises of temperature in earlier climatic changes . But the Panel's reporters make it abundantly clear ( Melillo et al . 1990 ) that no simple response can be deduced from such evidence . Significant ...
... plants can save money while , on the side , reducing emissions of greenhouse gases . This , again , supplies a here - and - now reason for these measures . Some argue that a policy heavily weighted towards avoidance can be justified on ...
... plants , who lack the capacity for feeling . Perfectionists equate the human good with states such as knowledge and achievement , which they value apart from any connection to happiness . At the deepest level , many perfectionists ...
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 |