Intro to Environmental Studies Midterm

Environment

all the living and nonliving things around us

• Animals, plants, forests, farms, etc.

• Continents, oceans, clouds, ice caps

• Structures, urban centers, living spaces

• Social relationships and institutions

environmental studies

the study of how the natural world works and affects humans

• how human social behavior affects the natural world

what is the motivation behind environmental studies?

to understand our interactions with the environment to creatively solve environmental problems

induced intensification

food production has intensified as a result of the “Green Revolution”

the IPAT model

I = P  x  A  x  T

Total impact (I)

results from population, affluence, and technology

Population (P)

individuals need space and resources

Affluence (A)

Technology (T)

increased exploitation of resources, but also pollution controls and renewable energy

Neo-Malthusians believed what was most influential on the environment?

population

Barry Commoner believed what was most influential on the environment?

technology

Proponents of Environmental Kuznets Curves believed what was most influential on the environment?

affluence

affluence (wealth)

built on unsustainable levels of resource consumption

Forest Transition Theory

a model that predicts a period of deforestation in a region during development, followed by a return of forest when the economy changes and population out migration and/or becomes conservation-oriented

what is Barry Commoner argument?

• technology has the greatest impact on the environment, as seen in our use of fossil fuels, pesticides, etc.

• technological, and above all, social development would lead to a natural decrease in both population growth and environmental damage

burning man example

burners are supposed to bring everything needed to build the community and survive in the extreme desert conditions without a trace left behind — human waste and all

burning man example approaches

• Organizers → become carbon negative by 2030.

• US Bureau of Land Management → limit to 80,000 participants

four factors that affect population size

• immigration

• natality (births)

• mortality

• emigration

total fertility rate

average number of children born to one person with a uterus during their lifetime

replacement fertility

TFR that keeps the size of a population stable

• for humans = 2.1

four factors that lower fertility rate

• education

• contraception

• cultural messages

• top-down programs

the commons

a good or resource available to all

prisoners dilemma chart

• both prisoners stay silent = both walk

• one of the prisoners rats the other out = other goes to jail

  • and vise versa

• both prisoners fess up = both go to jail

prisoners dilemma def.

• incentive to break the rules with the thought that others will cheat 

• tendency to make decisions in pursuit of your own interests

garrett hardin advocated for what?

privatization of “the commons”

hardin’s assumptions

• human nature leads to exploitation of natural environment

• people are greedy and will always operate out of self-interest

• Malthusian

• people don’t communicate with one another

Malthusian

human population grows more rapidly than food supply until famines, war, or disease reduces the population

tragedy of the commons → Institutions

rules and norms governing collective action, some unofficial and social norms, that guide peoples’ expectations of behavior to protect a common property

tragedy of the commons → common property

goods/resources whose characteristics make it difficult to fully enclose/partition but that can be managed through customs and rules in addition to regulation but not in the form of exclusive private ownership – Group ownership

elinor ostrom critique of ‘tragedy of commons’

societies (even in commons) most often generate rules for use of commons – this is what it means to be living in society

elinor ostrom argued for…

polycentric governance

polycentric governance

system of governance in which many centers of decision making authority are needed to cover the full range of governance tasks

commons management → boundaries

specific area/population/territory in which people have specified rights to use

commons management → proportionality

costs and benefits should be equalized to individuals – compensation for costs that are incurred to benefit the group

commons management → collective choice

rules for management are made or commented upon by the resource users themselves

commons management → monitoring

behavior of resource users must be in some way monitored and cost of monitoring must be borne fairly throughout the group

commons management → sanctions

consequences for offenses must be imposed on violators, and these should be graduated to encourage voluntary compliance

commons management → conflict resolution

mechanisms in place to resolve conflicts between resource users (mediation, small council, etc.)

commons management → autonomy

must have at least some autonomy from higher or non-local authorities

bycatch

fishermen sometimes catch and discard animals they do not want, cannot sell, or are not allowed to keep

marine mammal protection act

• prohibits—with certain exceptions—the “take” of marine mammals.

• directs commercial fisheries to reduce incidental mortality/serious injury of marine mammals to insignificant levels

endangered species act

• prohibits—with certain exceptions—the “take” of those species/the destruction/adverse modification of critical habitat designated for those species

• requires all federal agencies to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out are not to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species

magnuson-stevens act

requires that conservation and management measures shall, minimize bycatch, and to the extent bycatch cannot be avoided, minimize the mortality of such bycatch

what is cap & trade?

• tradable or transferable permits are distributed that allows entities to “emit”

• permits are allocated and then “Capped”, creating a marketplace to either buy or sell the right to “emit”

economy

social system that converts resources into goods and services

goods

material commodities made for and purchased by people or groups of people

services

work done for others

Invisible Hand

if people pursue economic self-interest constrained by private property rights → will benefit society

Neoclassical Economics

Examination of consumer choices → explains market prices based on preferences for units of commodity

cost-benefit analysis

• Decision making tool in economics

• Comparing the cost of a proposed action with the estimated benefits

• Problem arises when not all costs or benefits can be easily seen, defined, or quantified…

assumptions of neoclassical economics

• resource substitutability

• no external cost (externalities)

• discounting

• growth is necessary

resource substitutability

• Neoclassical economics assumes all resources (natural and human) are largely substitutable or interchangeable

• Market imposes no penalties for resource depletion

• Earth and resources are finite

no external cost (externalities)

all costs and benefits of use of a resource are borne by those exchanging the goods or services (i.e. built into the price of the good/service)

discounting

• Granting an event in the future less value than one in the present

• Meant to reflect human behavior/preferences

growth is necessary

growth is essential for maintaining social order → everyone will get richer if we have more total money

two ways growth happens…

1. Increase in inputs into the economy (labor and resources)

2. Improvements in efficiency due to better technology and methods (more efficient = fewer inputs)

market failure

individual incentives for rational behavior do not lead to rational outcomes for the group

political economy

stresses the way politics and economics are merged throughout history and the way human interactions with nature are mostly mediated through work, labor, and the economy

surplus value

the difference between the amount raised through a sale of a product and the amount it cost to manufacture it

primitive accumulation

reaction to increasing competition →

• find cheaper labor & resources elsewhere

• a continuing cycle of finding new places/frontiers to kick-start capita

first contradiction of capitalism

• overproduction or under-consumption (or combination)

• workers/laborers are supposed to be the consumers of the products, but because they are paid the minimal amount to ensure surplus $, they often can’t afford the products they are making

second contradiction of capitalism

capitalism disregards the environment upon which it depends as raw material

spatial fix

the process of geographical expansion and development as a solution to the crisis of capital over-accumulation

globalization

how trade and technology have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place

climax vegetation

what plants would theoretically grow in an area over time based on the climate and soil conditions

disturbance

unusual but natural events that dramatically alter or eliminate the vegetation

succession

gradual return and restoration of the climax vegetation after a disturbance

deforestation associated with…

• Expansion of human industry

• Agricultural expansion 

  • beef, soy, palm oil are largest contributors to deforestation

• Urban sprawl

deforestation secondary effects from…

• climate change

• atmospheric pollution

  • acid rain

three important facts for future of trees

• Forest cover declining globally

• Net rate of deforestation may be decreasing

• Some places are reforesting

trees → population & markets

• Induced ag. intensification – increased population pressure

• Substitution in the market economy - new sources (for fuel, building, etc.) for old ones

• Urban employment takes people out of rural areas – allowing secondary succession

Forest Transition Theory

changes a forest experiences when its stops shrinking and starts expanding

problems with forest transition theory

• can be used to justify deforestation

• forest transition can still represent a significant loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services

• forest transition has not been happening in all countries

trees → political economy

deforestation is a symptom of inevitable crisis of capitalism

Maximum Sustainable Yield

achieving maximum amount of extraction without depleting resource between harvests

ecosystem based management

• aims to minimize impact on ecosystem and processes

• involves protecting some areas, restoring some areas, harvesting in others

problems with ecosystem based management?

• Can be less productive and make products more expensive

• Hard to get right so must be adaptive

ethics

the discipline that is concerned with what is good and bad, right and wrong

instrumental (utilitarian) value

to value something for its pragmatic benefits by using it

intrinsic (inherent) value

to value something for its own sake because it has a right to exist

instrumental (extrinsic) value

something’s value deriving from its usefulness to something or someone else

intrinsic value

something’s value deriving only from its existence, not depending on its usefulness to something or someone else

environmental ethics

application of ethical standards to relationships between human and nonhuman entities

The Dominion Thesis

• Humans as sole earthly creatures created in God’s image

• Given dominion over the living things of the Earth and must ”Subdue” nature

Stewardship

Responsibility to care for and protect the natural world

John Locke

the right thing to do is turn nature into personal property and making it valuable → applying your own labor to some piece of nature makes it yours

utilitarian ethic

value of nature is determined only by its usefulness to humans

Grifford Pinchot

Conservation

Conservation

the sustainable and efficient use of resources intended to provide “the most good for the greatest number”

• utilitarian and anthropocentric ethic

john muir

Preservationist

Preservationist

argued against human exploitation of natural places that he considered ”wilderness” – these places should be protected from human use

ecology

the study of interconnections between organisms

Aldo Leopold

“father” of ecology

the land ethic

• viewing ecosystems as objects of ethical attention rather than just as property

• viewing ourselves as part of a community that includes all the natural things around us, not just people

Anthropocentrism

belief that only humans have intrinsic value

Biocentrism

belief that some nonhuman life has intrinsic value

Ecocentrism

belief that whole ecological systems have value

Animal Liberation

1970s social movement aimed at freeing animals from human use

Animal Rights

in some cases less radical → granting moral consideration to animals and acknowledging possible suffering