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Armstrong, Frank
Water Apportionment in Georgia: Economics, Ecology, Equity, and Future Generations
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A significant drought, interstate water conflicts, and burgeoning growth have led Georgians to think seriously about their once plentiful water supply and how it should be allocated to satisfy economic, ecological and societal needs. This paper presents an overview of Georgia water law nested within the concepts of Federalism and the potential impact of the Public Trust Doctrine on water governance in Georgia.
Askew, Wallace
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Bender, Sherri
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Bratton, Susan
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Choi, Joon Won
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Christoph, Erica
Historic Preservation v. Human Health: Issues Raised by the Presence of Lead Paint
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The federal government has established its interest in both protecting public health and preserving the historic built landscape of the country. What is less clear, however, is the manner in which the government should mitigate the problems that arise when these interests conflict, as they do when the danger of lead-based paint is weighed against the historical integrity of many of the homes in which it is found. While certain ethical frameworks, especially environmental justice perspectives, indicate that public health should trump historic preservation, the concrete realities of dealing with lead paint in historic homes actually suggest that in the majority of cases neither concern must be sacrificed. Through a careful analysis of historic homes -- one which recognizes varying risks of lead poisoning from architectural features that themselves carry varying levels of historical significance – the interest of public health can be served in tandem with the interest of historic preservation.
Coale, Harwell
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Cogswell, Gini
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Cowell, C. Mark
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Crescenzo, Daniel L.
“The Principle of Naturalistic Preservation: A Guide to Moral Interaction with Ecosystems”
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Aldo Leopold famously argued that we are plain citizens of the biotic community, and that our relationship with this community is therefore an ethical one. In this paper I propose a normative principle to guide our interactions with ecosystems in accordance with Leopold’s ecocentrism: the principle of naturalistic preservation. According to this principle, actions which tend to preserve the coevolved dynamic relationships between organisms and their environment within a given ecosystem should be promoted, and those which do not should be discouraged. In order to demonstrate what this principle would look like in action, I examine a hypothetical proposal to introduce mountain lions (Puma concolor) into southwestern North Carolina in order to control wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations. I conclude that it would be right to do so according to the principle of naturalistic preservation. I also discuss more generally some practical implications of following this principle and why it only applies to human beings as causal agents.
Draney, Michael
Ethical Obligations Toward Insect Pests
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Fedewa, Luke
Do Herps Need Ethics?
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Does environmental ethics have a place in herpetofaunal conservation? Global conservation of reptiles and amphibians, or herpetofauna, is one of the many environmental problems that needs to be addressed by burgeoning human populations. The increasing number of anthropogenic interactions and the underlying social and cultural perceptions threaten amphibians and reptiles throughout the world. Environmental ethics may provide the objective tools to determine what we ought to do regarding the myriad of moral conflicts involved in herpetofaunal conservation. Three categories of environmental ethical theory (ecofeminism, animal rights/welfare, and biocentrism) were applied to three herpetofaunal conservation problems (habitat destruction, unsustainable use, and environmental pollution) to elucidate the efficacy of applying environmental ethics toward herpetofaunal conservation.
Frasz, Geoffrey
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Garrison, Dawn
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Greene, Robert
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Guiney, Jennifer
The State of Recycling in Gwinnett County, Georgia
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Gwinnett County, Georgia is consistently one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. In the 1980s, as the county realized the implications of this growth on its resources, it began to find ways to mitigate the negative effects of the booming population. One of the ways it sought to achieve this growth was through recycling. This paper discusses recycling in the past, present, and future. It also discusses those areas that do not recycle and why. This paper emphasizes how other areas, especially those with a predictable future of heavy growth, would be wise to observe how the county’s leaders and its citizens handle the impacts of increased amounts of solid waste.
Hamazaki, Toshihide
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Herbert, Stephanie
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Herles, Cecilia
Muddying the Waters Does Not Have to Entail Erosion: An Ecological Feminist Perspective Examination of the Logic of Purity
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Higbee, Wendy
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Johnston, Lucas F.
From Biophilia to Cosmophilia: Critique and Proposal
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“Biophilia” is a term coined by Edward O. Wilson in his book by the same name. The basic premise of the book is that life exhibits a natural affinity for life. It seeks to evoke a respect for nature and a new foundation for ethics based on the adaptive advantages of ecosystem preservation. The theory has many supporters, as it fits in nicely with evolutionary heory and makes a great deal of common sense. Wilson, Stephen Kellert, and others are driving research on the biophilia hypothesis, demonstrating cross-cultural human affinities for certain types of animals, and for certain types of terrain, among other things. The main crux of the argument is that preservation and appreciation of life and other lifelike processes is a self-serving endeavor. In other words, the primary reason that humans should seek to preserve the environment is that it provides a competitive advantage in the struggle to pass along their own genetic material. Values, in this case, are found in nature only to the extent that nature contributes to human survival. Richard Dawkins, in discussing the importance of genetic determinants of behavior and cultural development calls this behavior “selfish.” As Kellert puts it, biophilia suggests a “self-interested basis for a human ethic of care and conservation of nature, most especially the diversity of life.” Moral reasoning, in this case, is a direct result of evolutionary processes, not some metaphysical formulation of intrinsic worth. Wilson agrees that “the constructs of moral reasoning…are the learning rules, the propensities to acquire or to resist certain emotions and kinds of knowledge. They have evolved genetically because they confer survival and reproduction on human beings.” Ethics is merely the human name for the approach/avoidance responses that are partly inherited, partly learned, and completely biologically based. Kellert claims that there are nine ways of valuing the natural world: utilitarian, naturalistic, ecologistic-scientific, aesthetic, symbolic, humanistic, moralistic, dominionistic, and negativistic ways of valuing. For example, symbolic value in this case would be described as facilitating imaginative and communicative thought. Naturalistic value would describe the satisfaction derived from exposure to unspoiled wilderness.
Keller, David
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McDevitt, John
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McDuffie, David
Process Theism, Environmental Ethics, and a Christian Theology of Ecology
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McGowan, Maureen
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Merrill, Margaret
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Moody, Gwyneth
Assessing the Environmental Literacy Requirement at the University of Georgia
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Musselman, Joan S.
Ethical Considerations for Palm Oil Production in Malaysia
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The production of palm oil in Malaysia is too costly to justify its continuation. The product of the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis), palm oil, is widely grown in Malaysia for use as oil for cooking and as an additive in processed foods, especially in many non-food products such as biofuels. These palms typically are grown in large plantations, primarily on coverted peatlands and forests of dipterocarps and mangroves. On the positive side, palm oil plantations provide coveted jobs in otherwise impoverished areas and a large source of income for the Malaysian government. On the negative side, palm oil plantations cause deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and adverse effects on indigenous populations. I argue from an ecocentrist perspective that sustainable palm oil production in Malaysia is a myth. I advocate not only for an immediate cessation of large-scale palm oil production but also restoration of peatlands and rainforest areas. The loss of jobs and income in the short term are offset by value gained from increased biodiversity and sustainability.
Neill, Warren
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Oetter, Douglas
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Pate, Matthew
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Payne, Phillip
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Rowell, Allen
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Snelgrove, Chelsea
Holism and the Possibility of Environmental Ethics
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Environmental ethics depends upon the extension of ethical consideration beyond the human/nature division. A holistic view of the ecosphere could serve as the basis for such an extension. This essay considers two holistic views: the land ethic of Leopold and Callicott; and the deep ecology of Naess, and Devall and Sessions. These views propose some ecological unit larger than the individual human as the proper locus of moral considerability. I argue, rather, that holistic views are an inadequate basis for ethical deliberation because they fail to provide a means for arbitrating between the incompatible interests of individuals or smaller groups.
Straehla, Laura
Toward an Ecosophy: Historic Preservation and Deep Ecological Norms
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I believe that, using deep ecological norms, historic preservation can be used as a vehicle to develop a personal environmental ethic, an ecosophy. Naturally, not all deep ecology writings support this thesis, nor do all works done in the name of historic preservation promote an ecosophy. I believe, however, that a movement that connects humans to their habitat – historic preservation – is one that can assist in a quest for connection to the larger environment – an ecosophy. As the founder of the deep ecology movement, Arne Naess believes everyone must come to an ecosophy in their own way. This paper explores one way to increase this possibility through deep ecology’s two intuitive norms: biocentric equality and self-realization, via the vehicle of historic preservation. It may seem unclear how historic preservation can lead to an ecosophy. How can an environmental ethic that has as its norms biocentric equality and self-realization be related to bricks and mortar? How can an ethic that proscribes increasing wilderness and living closer to nature be gained through preservation of the human habitat? A closer study of deep ecology and historic preservation shows the parallels that exist between the two.
Vancura, Joseph
The Carrot or the Stick?
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A Look at Incentive-Based and Command-and-Control
Environmental Laws Implementing RCRA Subtitle D
This paper provides an examination of two general types of environmental laws and possible methods of implementation, while addressing the ethical issues which invariably arise when tackling environmental crises. The paper begins with an explanation of the two most common types of environmental law schemes, command-and-control and incentive-based implementation. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards promulgated under the Clean Air Act serve to demonstrate implementation of the command-and-control type of system. Supporting this analysis is a brief synopsis of the clean air and transportation crisis currently existing in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The Clean Air Act then serves to offer examples of incentive-based systems, through the threat of loss of federal funds and changes in living standards. The discussion concludes with a brief look at how rationality and self-interest affect individual decision-making. In order to better understand the ethical concerns surrounding choices in environmental law schemes, Part II delves into the history of Subchapter D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), including the reasons for its passage and the benefits expected to arise, taken directly from the statutory language. This is followed by a complete explanation of the statutory compliance requirements, which address such issues as open dumps and solid waste management plans; additionally, a distinction is drawn from Subchapter C, which addresses waste disposal. The heart of the paper begins with a discussion and explanation of the two types of schemes as applied in different communities in Georgia: the pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) incentive-based plan implemented in Athens-Clarke County (ACC) and the command-and-control mandatory recycling program used in Union City. The PAYT system, a form of variable rate pricing, charges a fee to the consumer based on the amount of refuse generated, calculated either as a function of the weight of the waste or of the volume of waste. The ACC system, in place since Fall of 1995, uses a hybrid of four methods in conjunction with a facility to process recyclable materials and sell the end-product. The Union City program is a simple mandatory recycling law with financial penalties for noncompliance. Both these systems are examined in detail. In Part III, I have attempted to take this information and draw conclusions regarding the appropriateness of each scheme for reaching stated objectives. The results of each program are outlined, in terms of volume of waste reduction, economics, and consumer participation. Both communities saw a significant drop in volume of waste landfilled with a correlating increase in level of recycled materials. Similar advances were made in terms of economic savings and community participation in the programs. Based on these results, ethical concerns are addressed in three areas: paternalism and the need to address the issue of self-serving actions with broad-reaching consequences; majoritarianism and the concept of unrepresented minority viewpoints; and teleology, or the ends justifying the means. Practical concerns are also addressed, such as the costs of monitoring compliance, creation of perverse incentives, enforcement, community size, public buy-in, and community values. All these factors are considered in developing an answer to the question of implementation plans. In brief, the command-and-control policy appears most appropriate on a national or relatively large scale, with the incentive-based system becoming more preferable as specific factors change, such as the size of the community, probability of buy-in, and the environmental values of the population.
Wehlau, Doris
Historical Background and Today's Relevance of the Book "Forest Aesthetes" by Heinrich von Salisch
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Zwerling, Eric
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