Managing Our Resources
Managing Our Resources:
Environmental Ethics Today
Jason Yarborough
SOC 120
Instructor: Robert Olson
June 5, 2010
Managing Our Resources: Environmental Ethics Today We, as the human race, can peer into the past and learn of days when the world seemed endless; to a time when our population was small enough, and our technology primitive enough that it seemed we would never run out of the natural resources that we so depended on. As time has worn on, slowly but surely the world has gotten smaller. Our numbers and technology have increased to the point that we now realize our resources are indeed finite. We have formed our existences around the resources we depend on. Here in the United States of America, more than anywhere else, we have come to depend on oil. A delicate balance exists between humans, our resources, and caring for the environment. As we look toward our uncertain future, we must nurture the balance between our wants and needs, and carefully examine the decisions we are confronted with concerning our environment. We must learn to live harmoniously with the earth, examining our moral obligations, that we may preserve the future of our unique planet. This is our only home. In the past, we have seen the results of misusing environmental resources. Species have been hunted to extinction. Others have barely recovered. Environments have been destroyed; landscapes marred. We have witnessed damage to our earth from the skies to the ocean depths. Let us now examine some of these events, their implications, and the moral obligation we have to prevent them. We have all heard of Easter Island. Most of us know about the beautiful stone sculptures, but it is interesting to note that this particular place is the most remote inhabited island. It provides us with an example of the consequences that result from mismanagement of resources where those resources are limited. The Rapanui people used the native trees of the island to move the
Environmental Ethics Today
Jason Yarborough
SOC 120
Instructor: Robert Olson
June 5, 2010
Managing Our Resources: Environmental Ethics Today We, as the human race, can peer into the past and learn of days when the world seemed endless; to a time when our population was small enough, and our technology primitive enough that it seemed we would never run out of the natural resources that we so depended on. As time has worn on, slowly but surely the world has gotten smaller. Our numbers and technology have increased to the point that we now realize our resources are indeed finite. We have formed our existences around the resources we depend on. Here in the United States of America, more than anywhere else, we have come to depend on oil. A delicate balance exists between humans, our resources, and caring for the environment. As we look toward our uncertain future, we must nurture the balance between our wants and needs, and carefully examine the decisions we are confronted with concerning our environment. We must learn to live harmoniously with the earth, examining our moral obligations, that we may preserve the future of our unique planet. This is our only home. In the past, we have seen the results of misusing environmental resources. Species have been hunted to extinction. Others have barely recovered. Environments have been destroyed; landscapes marred. We have witnessed damage to our earth from the skies to the ocean depths. Let us now examine some of these events, their implications, and the moral obligation we have to prevent them. We have all heard of Easter Island. Most of us know about the beautiful stone sculptures, but it is interesting to note that this particular place is the most remote inhabited island. It provides us with an example of the consequences that result from mismanagement of resources where those resources are limited. The Rapanui people used the native trees of the island to move the
References: Kuzmiak, D.T. (1991 Nov) The American Environmental Movement. The Geographical Journal, 157(3) Pp Arthur, J.L., Camm, J.D., Haight, R.G. Montgomery, C.A., Polasky, S. (2004 Dec) Weighing Conservation Objectives: Maximum Expected Coverage versus Endangered Species Protection. Ecological Applications 14(6) pp. 1936-1945 Taken June 5, 2010 from JSTOR database Meyer, S.M., Konisky, D.M. (2007 Mar) Adopting Local Environmental Institutions: Environmental Need and Economic Constraints 60(1) pp. 3-16. Taken June 5, 2010 from JSTOR database Turnbull, J