Main post min 250 words, reactions min 100 words per each
What is your outlook on the environment?
Read Chapter One (pages 3-28) of Boundaries (attached). This text discusses a range of different environmental ethical perspectives (also called environmental worldviews or moral sphere), including anthropocentrism, utilitarianism, sentientism, biocentrism, ecocentrism, and deep ecology.
In your discussion post this week, answer these questions:
- Which environmental worldview do you agree with the most, and why?
- What personal beliefs and experiences have informed your choice of worldview?
- Has your worldview changed over time? If so, what has caused it to change?
- Is there anything that you think would be likely to change your worldview again in the future?
Read this National Geographic article (Links to an external site.) about the problem of increasingly severe forest fires around the world. Based upon your environmental worldview, what are your thoughts about the challenge and how it might be addressed?
Select another environmental issue – local, regional, or global – that has been in the news recently. (Hint: If you can’t think of any, try a search at Google News (Links to an external site.).) Briefly explain the issue. Again, based upon your environmental worldview, what are your thoughts about this issue and how it might be solved?
Reaction to post #1:
Hello everyone,
After reading the Boundaries text, I was torn between sentientism and deep ecology. I am vegan, and the reason I live this lifestyle is because I truly care about all animals, I believe they all deserve to be treated as beings, and not things. Sentientists also have compassion for every sentient being any being capable of experiencing, particularly experiencing suffering or flourishing. Roughly speaking, thats human and non-human animals, but other types of being could conceivably be sentient too (Sentientism: Evidence, reason and compassion, n.d.). For this reason, initially I was leaning towards sentientism however, deep ecology seems to be a philosophy I completely agree with because it encompasses all living beings regardless of whether or not humans benefit from them. Deep ecology, like Paul Taylors biocentrism, proposes that all creatures are equal in intrinsic valuea kind of species egalitarianism (Gudorf, C. E. 2010). The principal, radical relationality is a cool concept that in simple terms means we are our relationships. I enjoy the idea of all livings things, including humans, being equal and apart of a global ecosystem. We have learned that the elephants existence is important in order for other species and plants to exist. If I understand deep ecology correctly, all things rely on each other it is not just one specie that is superior and everything else just exist for no specific purpose. The wildfires, especially in the west have increased significantly. Based on deep ecology, the burning of the trees is an issue because the trees are just as important as anything else, they serve a purpose. The loss of these dominant trees is a significant problem, since they provide vital habitat for threatened animal species such as the sooty owl, the giant burrowing frog, and a fluffy arboreal marsupial called the greater glider (Wildfires have spread dramaticallyand some forests may not recover, 2020). When any plant dies off, there are certain species that suffer from the loss, certain interactions between species are halted and this is a domino effect globally, everything has its place and purpose. Specifically looking at a local environmental issue here in Colorado, through the lenses of deep ecology, the air quality is affecting all. Colorado has some of the worst ozone pollution of anywhere in the US. In 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency reclassified the Denver area as a “serious” violator of federal air quality standards (Vlamis, n.d.). The air quality affects humans, there are respiratory issues increasing and the animals are also experiencing health issues from the pollution. Humans and animals are not the only things affects, plants also suffer when the air quality is compromised, for example, their growth may be stunted or they can become destroyed completely. Based on my environmental worldview, the air quality in Colorado is due to pollutants caused by humans, we need to focus our efforts using sustainable sources, reducing our energy consumption and to ultimately move away from fossil fuels.
Thank you,
Sarah
Reference:
Gudorf, C. E. (2010). Boundaries : a casebook in environmental ethics, second edition. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com Created from ashford-ebooks on 2018-11-15 10:02:47.
Sentientism: Evidence, reason and compassion. (n.d.). Sentientism. Retrieved December 12, 2021, from https://sentientism.info/ (Links to an external site.)
Vlamis, K. (n.d.). People are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but the air pollution is so bad, its forcing many to stay inside. Business Insider
Wildfires have spread dramaticallyand some forests may not recover. (2020, January 30). Science. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/extreme-wildfires-reshaping-forests-worldwide-recovery-australia-climate
Reaction to post #2:
The environmental worldview that I agree with the most is extended biocentrism, which is life-centered ethics, but I would include lakes, streams, mountains, and other non-life-centered natural resources as well (Gudorf, 2010). I believe that we have a responsibility, both ethically and morally, to be good stewards of Earth and that we should not waste our natural resources. As humans, we should strive for economic growth that is friendly to the environment because the success of us as humans, now and in the future, rests on how well we do in managing Earths natural resources today. I am not opposed to using natural resources, whether mining, drilling, or logging, but I believe that these activities can be done to minimize the impact on our natural resources. My worldview has changed over the past ten years, I have come to appreciate the outdoors and all that it has to offer plus I now have grandchildren and I am more aware of what kind of world we are leaving them.
Wildfires play a role in changing ecosystems; some believe it is natures way of regenerating the forest. The issue according to Pickrell (2020), is that wildfires are now occurring longer into the year, destroying forests much more often than they used to. The author states that climate change plays a big role in this problem, the air temperature is getting warmer and drying out the forests that much faster (Pickrell, 2020). Believing in biocentrism, the extended wildfire season is a problem that needs to be fixed. One short-term solution might be banning all outdoor fires, off-road vehicles, chainsaws, and cigarettes in dry areas, possibly even shutting off these areas to humans altogether during the dry periods.
Zebra mussels are an invasive aquatic species that is extremely destructive to lakes and streams by removing nutrients from the water, essentially killing off the good mussels (Wyoming, 2021). The zebra mussels are impossible to get out of a lake once they are introduced. I believe that boat owners need to maintain their boats after pulling out of a lake, they should make sure the trailer and underside of the boat are free from seaweed and other debris and the drain plug must be pulled and the motor drained, as zebra mussels can move from one lake to another simply by hitching a ride. We are stewards of our lakes and streams, we need to keep them as pristine as possible for generations to come.
References
Gudorf, C. (2010). Boundaries: a casebook in environmental ethics (2nd ed.). CSU Global. https://frostlor-cdn-prod.courses.csuglobal.edu/lor/resources/src/18ab5cbe-031d-3099-adb6-eba3878d41da/BoundariesACasebookinEnvironmentalEthicsSec—-chapter1.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Pickrell, J. (2020). Wildfires have spread dramatically and some forests may not recover. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/extreme-wildfires-reshaping-forests-worldwide-recovery-australia-climate (Links to an external site.)
Wyoming. (2021). Zebra mussels were found in several Wyoming pet stores. Wyoming Game and Fish Department. https://wgfd.wyo.gov/News/Zebra-mussels-found-in-several-WY-pet-stores
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