Ethics of Conservation & Environmental Protection

Introduction to Laws for Sustainability - Unit 2B Ethics of Conservation & Environmental Protection

The Great Switch – A Quick & Dirty Summary: Political Party Evolution

American Civil War ($April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865$)

• Republican Party (Founded in 1854)

  • Initially quite liberal.

  • Controlled the government and used its power to protect former enslaved people.

  • Supported Reconstruction Amendments.

  • Won the loyalty and vote of America’s Black population after the war.

  • Post-War Shift: Northern politicians and industrialists focused on making money, with a prevalent sentiment among the predominantly white nation that "we’ve done enough." This led to a cessation of efforts to reform Southern states.

• Democratic Party (Founded in 1828)

  • Staunch conservatism.

  • Committed to Thomas Jefferson’s agrarian society; viewed the central government as an enemy of individual liberty.

  • Mostly located in Southern states, fought to keep slavery.

  • After the war, the South was left to white Democrats and their oppressive policies towards Black citizens. Southern states voted Democratic for $44$ years.

The Great Depression ($1929 – 1939$)

• Republican Party

  • Continued to be dominated by wealthy businessmen, advocating a "hands-off" business approach.

  • President Herbert Hoover (Republican) opposed government intervention.

  • Opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt's (FDR) government, seeing it as harmful to the federalist foundation of the nation.

• Democratic Party

  • FDR campaigned on promises of government intervention, which led to his victory in the $1932$ election.

  • This period marked a major shift in party ideologies.

The Civil Rights Movement ($1954 – 1968$)

• Racial Issues Transition: Race became less of a party concern and more of a regional issue.

  • Northern Democrats and Republicans generally supported the Civil Rights Movement (CRM).

  • Southern Democrats and Republicans generally opposed the CRM.

• Democratic Party

  • Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) signed the Civil Rights Act into law.

  • Black voters switched their allegiance to the Democratic Party, seeing them as advocates.

  • Into the $1960$s and $1970$s, Democrats proceeded with reforms in areas like abortion and school prayer.

  • White Democrats Switch: Many white Democrats became disillusioned, disliking the extent of Democratic intervention in people's rights.

• Republican Party

  • Republican candidate Barry Goldwater publicly opposed the new Civil Rights law, arguing that the federal government was becoming too powerful and exerting too much control.

  • Many white Democrats switched to the Republican Party.

Two Schools of Thought: Conservation & Environmental Protection

This is a changing context, and these concerns are not necessarily party-specific.

1. Utilitarians/Conservationists (e.g., Gifford Pinchot - Republican)

   • Advocate for using resources sustainably.

   • Believe nature serves humans.

   • Look at the economic value of land.

   • Value the preservation of resources.

   • Considered a vital part of a democratic society.

2. Preservationists (e.g., John Muir - Republican)

   • Advocate for preserving wilderness as it is.

   • Believe nature has inherent value.

   • Believe land has value beyond economic considerations.

   • Value the preservation of resources.

   • Considered a vital part of a democratic society.

   • Core tenets of Preservationism:

     • Inherent value of nature.

     • Value beyond economic utility.

     • A response to economic exploitation of resources.

     • Embodied by John Muir’s iconic trip to Yosemite with Theodore Roosevelt.

Key Figures in Conservation and Preservation

John Muir (Father of our National Parks)

• America’s most famous and influential naturalist and conservationist.

• Fought to establish Yosemite National Park.

• Influential writer and founder of the Sierra Club.

• Ethical Considerations Example Quote:

  • "Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed… Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests… God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools -- only Uncle Sam can do that."

Theodore Roosevelt (Father of the National Park System)

• Famed outdoorsman, Governor of New York, and President of the U.S.

• Believed: "You cannot improve upon it. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it."

• Signed the Newlands Reclamation Act of $1902$ and the Antiquities Act of $1906$. Also created Grand Canyon National Monument.

• Known as a "Trust Buster" for breaking up monopolies.

• Recognized the political power of conservation.

Gifford Pinchot (Father of American Conservation)

• First professional "forester" and Chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry.

• Restructured and professionalized the management of national forests.

• Increased the area and number of national forests.

• Author of A Primer of Forestry.

• Later served as Governor of Pennsylvania.

• Conservationism – The "Wise Use" Movement:

  • Pinchot's philosophy had three elements:

    1. Development: Using natural resources for human benefit.

    2. Prevention of Waste: Using resources efficiently and avoiding unnecessary depletion.

    3. Benefit of the Many: Ensuring resources are managed for the long-term good of the broadest possible population (for as long as possible).

  • Aimed to extend principles of forestry to all resources.

  • Recognized "public good" as an important goal.

Aldo Leopold ($1887-1948$)

• A forefront figure in the conservation movement.

• Author of A Sand County Almanac ($1949$).

• Respected scientist with the U.S. Forest Service and an avid hunter.

• Leopold’s ethic is holistic rather than individualistic, emphasizing the well-functioning of the whole ecosystem over the moral value of an individual creature.

• Defined a new relationship between people and nature: the biotic community.

• Set the stage for the modern conservation movement.

• Believed society is always evolving, beyond original concepts.

• Identified tension over ownership of resources, noting that resource conservation is often inconsistent with traditional property rights concepts.

• Argued that economics cannot determine all land use.

• Three Ethical Elements of Leopold’s Land Ethic:

  1. Between Individuals.

  2. Between Individuals and Society.

  3. Between Society and the Land.

• "Thinking Like a Mountain"

  • A concept based on Leopold’s experience in the Forest Service, witnessing the killing of a wolf (which he called the "green fire").

  • Illustrates the trophic cascade principle: the removal of one part of the biosphere can create a domino effect.

    • Example:

      • Remove a wolf $<br>ightarrow$ More deer $<br>ightarrow$ Less vegetation $<br>ightarrow$ More erosion $<br>ightarrow$ Degraded rivers.

Birth of the Modern Environmental Movement

• Post-War Expansion: In the post-World War $II$ period, major industrial sectors (primary metals, automotive, chemical, timber, energy) expanded considerably.

• Lack of Regulation: Still few laws or regulations existed on waste management.

• Limited Understanding: Little understanding that the environment (through its pollution) could cause harm; some contamination was tolerated.

• Well-Publicized Incidents: A series of incidents drew the public’s attention to:

  • Poor air quality (e.g., Noon in Donora, $1948$).

  • Water pollution (e.g., Cuyahoga River Fire, $1969$; City councilmen inspecting oil pollution in Cuyahoga River, $1964$).

  • Toxic chemical wastes.

Risk Management as a Basis for Environmental Policy ($1960$s-)

Rachel Carson and Silent Spring ($1962$)

• Watershed Moment: The publication of Silent Spring in $1962$ by Rachel Carson ($1907-1964$) was critical.

• Key Exposure: Exposed the impact of widespread and indiscriminate use of pesticides, particularly DDT, on humans, animals, and ecosystems.

• Impact: Led to a ban on the use of DDT in the U.S. and launched the modern environmental movement.

• Policy Shift: Changed environmental public policy from problem-solving (reacting to existing damage) to risk management (preventing problems).

• **"To the bird watcher… anything that destroys the wildlife of an area for even a single year has deprived him of pleasure to which he has a legitimate right."

• "Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song… Can anyone imagine anything so cheerless and dreary as a springtime without a robin’s song?"

• "Who has decided -- who has the right to decide -- for the countless legions of people who were not consulted that the supreme value is a world without insects, even though it be also a sterile world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight."

• Arguments of Silent Spring:

  • Strictly limit the use of pesticides, herbicides, and other dangerous agricultural and industrial chemicals.

  • Advocate for careful application and safe disposal when such use is necessary.

• Problems Highlighted:

  • Companies' common failure to test products' effects on humans and non-humans.

  • Users' frequent negligence in following instructions for applying agricultural chemicals.

  • Weakness and lack of enforcement of government regulations.

Federal Environmental Policy Timeline

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Established: $1970$ by President Nixon.

• Earth Day Created: $1970$.

• Timeline of Major Laws:

  • A Silent Spring published: $June 30, 1962$.

  • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): $January 1, 1970$ (unanimous in Senate, $375-1$ in House).

  • Clean Air Act: $December 31, 1970$ (unanimous in Senate, $372-15$ in House).

  • Clean Water Act: $October 18, 1972$ (unanimous in Senate, $366-11$ in House).

  • Endangered Species Act: $December 28, 1973$ (unanimous in Senate, $355-4$ in House).

Major Environmental Organizations Founded (Post-1970)

• $1970$: Center for Science in the Public Interest, Citizens for a Better Environment, Environmental Action, Friends of the Earth, The League of Conservation Voters, The Natural Resources Defense Council.

• $1971$: Greenpeace, Public Citizen.

NEPA: Legal Basis for U.S. Environmental Policy

• National Environmental Policy Act of $1970$ (NEPA):

  • Established a U.S. national policy promoting the environment.

  • Established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

  • Set a national goal to create and maintain "conditions under which [humans] and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans" (NEPA, $1970$, p.$35$).

  • NEPA is congruent with the goals of the Brundtland Report.

  • Set up procedural requirements for all federal government agencies to prepare environmental assessments (EAs) and environmental impact statements (EISs).

Command-and-Control Methods and Successes

• NEPA set general goals; in the $1970$s and $1980$s, many laws established prescriptive methods for controlling risks from chemical exposure, known as "command-and-control" methods.

• The U.S. EPA releases its Report on the Environment every four to six years.

  • Reports indicate human exposure to toxic chemicals decreased compared with the late $1980$s.

  • Many other indicators of environmental quality (visibility, drinking water quality, biodiversity of streams) show increases.

  • These are considered success stories of the risk management approach to environmental quality.

Summary of Major Environmental Laws and Agencies

• Federal Administrative Agencies that Influence Environmental Policy

  • (Not specified in detail in the provided text, but implied by EPA, Forest Service, etc.)

NJ Environmental Policy Timeline

• America’s first Earth Day: $April 22, 1970$. Also saw the creation of the NJDEP (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection).

• The Wetlands Act of $1970$: Mandated NJDEP to inventory, map, and regulate development in coastal wetlands.

• Solid Waste Management Act & Solid Waste Utility Control Act: $1970$.

• Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA): $1973$. NJDEP regulation of major development in Bay & Ocean Shore segments of coastal zones.

• Water Pollution Control Act: $1977$. Implementation of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and regulation of pollutant discharges into state waters, including a permit system.

• Additional Legislature:

  • Environmental Rights Act - $1974$

  • Pinelands Preservation Act – $1979$

  • Water Supply Management Act – $1981$

  • Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act – $1987$

Case Study: Battle To Save The Great Swamp

• Proposal: Port Authority proposed the World’s Largest Jetport, covering $10,000$ acres of Morris County.

• Conflict: A $9$-year fight ensued, eventually settled by Congress.

• Resolution: Taken up as a political battle, resulting in the Great Swamp being designated a National Wildlife Refuge.

• Activists: Driven largely by local residents, particularly women.

Role of Environmentalism Today

• Diversity: Is the movement diverse enough?

• Democracy: Is it a vital part of democracy?

• Important Issues: What issues are important today (e.g., fracking, oil drilling, mining, climate change, hydro-electric dams)?

• Political Implications:

  • Has become polarizing, though historically not partisan.

• Conditions: Are conditions similar to the past (late $19$th century, mid $20$th century)?

• Sustainability: What does sustainability mean in today’s society?

Characteristics of the Environmental Movement

• Reactive: Often reactive to existing conditions.

• Enlightened Thinking: A result of "enlightened" thinking.

• Elite Product: Historically a product of the educated elite, largely promoted by rich white men (e.g., archaeology).

• Evolution of Thought: Evolved to see benefits for society as a whole, addressing past failures to understand inequity.

• Systemic Issues: Aims to fix a "rigged" system where benefits flow to a few at the expense of the many.

• Resource Preservation: Seeks to save resources for the average person.

Discussion Prompts (Indicative of further lecture content/class interaction)

• What would make you protest? Why? How far would you go?

• Examples of Environmentalist Movements in Modern America, including Fracking/Oil Drilling/Mining/Climate Change/Hydro-electric Dams.

• Where do you stand on these issues, and why? How would you defend your position?

• Religious/Spiritual Underpinnings of Environmentalism.

• How do you see these positions in society today? Provide examples and pros/cons.

• Where should society go regarding environmental issues?

Upcoming Readings

• Common Law Environmental Remedies ($\approx 12$-Min Read Time)

• Public Trust Doctrine Manual ($\approx 1$ Hour Reading Time)

• Dune Access Post-Sandy ($\approx 5$-Min Read Time)

• The Green Miles Kentucky Mountaintop Removal and Restoration ($\approx 30$-Min Read Time)

• (Note: Check descriptions; sometimes it’s not the entire document.)