Environment and Society Exam 1

What is the definition of an environmental worldview?

Cultural belief system that answers the questions “what is nature”, “how should people interact with non-human species”, and “how should people treat the environment”

What are the different facets of a worldview (e.g., Master of Nature) and how do they compare?   

Master over nature – humans stand above nature, should be allowed to do whatever they want with nature 

Steward of nature – stands above nature and is responsible for environmental conservation, nature is not owned by steward but entrusted to them, owe responsibility to future generations 

Partner with nature – stands side by side with nature, humans and are nature equal and should work together for mutual benefits 

Participant in nature – part of nature on a spiritual level, active participant in nature, bond between self and nature very important 

What are the reasons for studying and researching environmental worldviews? 

Anticipate behavioral responses to policy change, including all stakeholders in discussions for legitimacy, more effective campaigns for change when considering multiple perspectives, fair representation and just processes needed to achieve greater sustainability  

What “crisis” did Malthus predict was inevitable? What was his proposed solution?  

Population growth would cause resource scarcity and cause environmental degradation. Proposed that women show moral restraint and that poor should not be helped 

How has scholarly thought about the causes of and solutions to population growth changed over time?

Went from believing population growth is a problem that causes environmental problems and resource scarcity, to thinking about population growth as a resource for innovation and the idea that there is not a lack of resources, just lack to access to them

Describe how the world’s population growth has changed over time.

 

Increased exponentially in period of industrialization, rate of population growth now slowing since 1960s 

Describe the environmental Kuznets curve.

Based on the assumption that development will have increasing impact on environment – once threshold of affluence is reached, economic transition and regulations lead to a decrease in environmental impacts 

What factors led to the dramatic decrease in population growth rates in Kerala, India?

Women’s empowerment related to higher rates of education and literacy

Population pyramids – why are they helpful? How should they be interpreted?

Show the sex and age distribution in a population. Help to show if population is increasing, decreasing, stable, and the rate. A slow decline is manageable but a rapid decline is likely to cause economic problems

Distinguish among the phases of the demographic transition model.

Stage 1 – high death rate, high birth rate; population stable 

Stage 2 – rapid decrease in death rate, birth rates remain stable; rapid population growth 

Stage 3 – death rates continue falling, birth rates decrease due to increased women’s rights 

Stage 4 – birth and death rates low and stable; population stable 

Stage 5 – birth rates continue to decline, death rates may begin to rise due to aging population; population decline 

Who was Amartya Sen and what did he study?

Economist who analyzed historical famines and found that the problem was not a lack of resources, but rather a lack of access to resources

Which of the following environmental problems is better suited to address solutions derived from the Coase theorem: a) land-use disputes on adjacent parcels of private property; or b) reducing water pollution across a region (explain)? 

Land-use disputes of adjacent parcels. Coase theorem indicates that externalities can be controlled through contracts and bargaining. It works best when there are clearly defined property rights  

Review the market mechanisms available for environmental policy. Which require the most far-reaching levels of state enforcement? Which one is most consumer driven?   

Taxes/subsidies and Cap and Trade require most government enforcement. Green consumption is most consumer driven 

What are the arguments for versus against monetizing ecosystem services?

Pros: gives nature concrete value, levels playing field for regions with lots of wealth in nature 

Cons: value of nature controlled by market, what if technology can provide same services 

How does the ecologically complex nature of a river (or any similar “piece” of nature, for that matter) make it difficult, if not impossible, to value in monetary terms?

It is difficult to put a monetary value on the cultural ecosystem services provided by the piece of nature 

What can we learn from the market response model?

Scarcity causes consumers to buy substitutes or it leads to innovation and technology to find new sources and increased output 

Distinguish among the key land management agencies reviewed in class. How are their philosophies similar or different?

National park – manages national parks; first established for tourism, later for reasons like biological diversity 

Bureau of Land Management – sustains health, diversity, and productivity of public lands for use and enjoyment of present and future generations; functions include timber, mineral leasing and energy production, recreation 

US Forest Service – sustain health, diversity, and productivity of nation’s forests and grasslands to meet needs of present and future generations; timber, grazing, wildlife and dish, outdoor recreation, and watershed management 

US Fish and Wildlife Service – conserves protects, and enhances fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people 

Illinois Department of Natural Resources – manage, conserve, protect Illinois’ natural, recreational, and cultural resources 

For Hardin, what are the only two options for averting the Tragedy of the Commons? Which management option did Hardin advocate for, and why?

Coercion (government regulation) and privatization (markets). Hardin advocated for privatization because he believed that sharing resources leads to environmental problems

How did Ostrom’s ideas challenge Hardin’s?  

Ostrom argued that social collaboration can result in in sustainable use of common resources without needed state or markets 

What are the similarities and differences between top-down, bottom up and co-managed governance regimes?

Top-down: easier to obtain resources, doesn’t consider all stakeholders 

Bottom-up: difficulty obtaining resources, facilitates inclusiveness 

Co-managed: inclusivity in decision-making, resources provided by state-actors, but difficulty collaborated  

Distinguish among the following ethical theories

• Conservation – applying greatest good for greatest number to environmentalism 

• Preservation - nature should be left alone, protect wilderness from human impact  

• Animal liberation – extension of ethical consideration to animals  

• Utilitarianism – greatest good for greatest number 

• Deep ecology – must seriously examine relationship with nature to solve root problems

When was bipartisanship over environmental issues at its height in the 1970s?

Golden environmental Decade – clean air act, clean water act, endangered species act

What were Robert and Linda Bullard’s contributions to the environmental justice? movement? 

Brought attention to how race was connected to landfills and toxic wastes 

What is the significance of the precautionary principle? 

It is polluters’ responsibility to prove that their actions will not be causing harm, not the responsibility of those affected to prove they have been harmed

Define risks, hazards, and uncertainty.

Hazard – thing, condition, process that threatens individuals and society in terms of production or reproduction 

Risk – estimated likelihood that something will have a negative consequence 

Uncertainty – degree to which probabilities cannot be assessed

What is the naturalistic fallacy?

Assumes that because an ecosystem functions in a certain way, it should, something is natural therefore it is morally acceptable

How and when can our risk perception be biased?

Known vs unknown consequences (uncertainty) 

Choice: voluntary (underestimated) vs unvoluntary (overestimated)  

Control: trusted source (underestimated) vs non-trusted source (overestimated) 

Observability: observable (underestimated) vs unobservable (overestimated) 

Latency: delayed effect (underestimated) vs immediate effects (overestimated) 

Potential for catastrophe: common (underestimated) vs rare (overestimated) 

What are the key dimensions of environmental behavior? 

Small but important individual actions, knowing drivers of behaviors to develop effective methods of change, spans private, public, and social domains

Define social norms and explain how people might respond to normative information?

The shared expectations of how people behave in a group or society, descriptive (what a typical person is doing) and injunctive (what people think someone should do) go with ingroup (people like themselves), judge or consider outgroup behaviors as wrong

What are structural fixes?

Changing something about the environment by using policy to create new incentives (public transit)

How are values different than attitudes or norms

Values are hard and slow to change and personal to yourself, attitudes are positive or negative, norms are society thinks “should be done”,

To what extent does knowledge influence behavior? 

It doesn’t do much to change behavior  

Describe the cognitive hierarchy model.

Describes the drivers of behavior, behaviors – norms – attitudes and beliefs – values, built on values which are slow to change 

Identify the four key principles for promoting behavior change according to Schultz

a. education alone does not typically result in increased conservation behaviors 

b. human thinking is biased and promotes short sighted responses  

c. people in the western world generally perceive themselves as separate from nature  

d. social norms have powerful effects on behavior  

Know the steps in the cognitive hierarchy model.

Quick to change / Base (top) - Behaviors > Norms > Attitudes > Values – tip (bottom) / slow to change 

Aldo Leopold

Land Ethic, moral extensionism,  ecocentric holistic worldview, ecological concerns before human concerns 

Elinor Ostrom

Critique of the Tragedy of the Commons, claims it is not true because people communicate and can organize and regulate the commons, common property managed through institutions

John Muir

preservation, nature should be left alone, Sierra Club, opposed Hetch Hetchy reservoir 

Amartya Sen

analyzed historical famines and showed limited associations with food shortages, resource scarcity is caused by access and capability no availability

Robert Bullard

foremost scholar in the Environmental Justice movement after Warren County, Toxic Waste and Race in the United States 

Gifford Pinchot

conservation, utilitarian, nature to be used for the good of people, multiple use and sustained yield, for Hetch Hetchy reservoir

Arne Næss

deep ecology, environmental crisis arose from problematic attitudes towards nature, against utilitarianism 

Thomas Malthus

population growth is the main driver of environmental degradation because it creates resource scarcity 

Who are some figures associated with early-1900s anti-pollutionism?

Teddy Roosevelt – pro environmental president 

Alice Hamilton – founded toxicology discipline 

Jane Addams – fought for better sanitation in Chicago 

Upton Sinclair – Book The Jungle and Pure Food and Drug Act 

How has the role of environmental nonprofits changed over time?

Turned into professional groups that lobby for policies and are involved in politics, critics cite white affluential leaders and exclusion of environmental justice issues