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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... volume contains the full academic result . A companion volume , also published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press , has been written by Lydia Dotto for public policy decision makers , corpo- rate executives , non - governmental ...
... volume . All team members feel indebted to Gerry for her role in making this project intellectually and personally rewarding . Thanks are also due to Terry Teskey for her careful copyediting of this volume to ensure that it reads with a ...
... volume then , in chapter 6 , turns to the question of corporate responsibility . Written by industry researcher Wayne Stewart , with assistance from Peter Dickey , this chapter challenges the commonly held notion that " the business of ...
... volume turns in chapter 8 - Cornelis van Kooten's study of effective economic mechanisms for dealing with global climate change . The chapter begins by considering the opportunity costs involved in averting global climate change . ( For ...
... volume do not accept that ethical conclusions can be based on a cost / benefit , economic value assessment of the kind economists produce , we do contend that economic values occupy a central place in consideration of responses to the ...
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 |
Common terms and phrases
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 |