Boudreaux: The Environmental Phillips Curves

Since the early 20th century the environmentalism movement has migrated from the struggles of consumers versus producers, or saving the planet as a whole as shown by Donald Worster in Nature’s Economy to a more socio-economic view based on urban growth and industrial health. Robert Gottlieb’s book Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement argues that as society goes so too does the environmental movement. As the emphasis on working environments and commercial goods we buy including food changes so too does the environmental movements. It did not matter whether it was large politically prominent environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club or the Audubon Societies or any other numbers of local grassroots

To understand where the motivation and passion to protect the environment was developed, one looks to the rapid deforestation of East Coast old-growth forests at the turn of the century. “As Gifford Pinchot expressed it, ‘The American Colossus was fiercely at work turning natural resources into money.’ ‘A

Environmental ethics has widely circled around human interactions with biotic ecosystems. Little voice has been given to city residents who are overexposed to environmental hazards. It is a subject rarely touched upon by mainstream environmentalist. Though conservation efforts receive much media attention and advocacy, environmental pollution in urban areas inhabited by minorities and the impoverished receive less attention despite it clearly being a grave injustice. It fact, it can be argued that minority and impoverished neighborhoods are deliberately targeted by corporations and governmental agencies because of the inherit vulnerability of the inhabitants. It is no secret that the impoverished in this country frequently live in areas characterized

In contrast, Guha compares deep ecology to the German environmental movement known as the Green program. He states that the Green has realised that the American economy has a direct negative effect on the Third World. This is due to the industrialization, militarization and the American history of subordination beginning with colonization. This has lead to a distorted distribution of resources in the world and as a result has increased the lower class population. The Green responds to this issue with the theory of a “no growth economy” through a re-evaluation of the consumerist ethic concerning self-limitation.

Jobs and protecting the environment, important or not? George Will wrote his essay, “What Price Clean Air?” to convey the message that most of the Navajo Nation run and work at the power plants in Arizona, but as the growing change in protecting the environment, those Native Americans are forced to alter their livelihoods. George Will directs his essay to the American people, to persuade them to help find a change. Using the best equipment and spending billions of dollars on new technology may be affected by the uncertain environmental movement. With ethos, logos, and pathos, George Will effectively uses the rhetorical devices to convey his argument about the social and economic damage brought on by the federal government.

The bizarre economy that we live in has affected us in many ways than our simple mind can fathom. After World War II there was massive push in innovation. Human were gifted with inventions like the Airplane, color T.V., polyvinyl cups, and precooked dinners. Nevertheless, these “gifts” came at an enormous cost. That cost was pushed onto the environment and people living in that environment. “The Market Economy” by Marge Piercy illustrates the movement in American aimed at bring attention to a global problem as well as an effort to save the planet along with the people living on it.

Nicholas Kristof wrote a compelling article titled “Our Gas Guzzlers, Their Lives”. In the article he is arguing that wealthier country’s greenhouse gas emissions are severely damaging life in many African countries. In fact Charles Ehrhart, a Care staff member in Kenya, states, “The negative impact of the West’s carbon emissions will overwhelm the positive effects of aid” (Kristof 580). So although we are trying to aid, it is our lifestyles that are damaging these peoples’ environment. Nicholas does a spectacular job presenting his case and giving evidence for his claims. Kristof produces an effective argument because of his stellar development of ethos, logos and pathos.

In the essay Lifeboat Ethics by Garrett Hardin and the essay A Challenge to the Eco-Doomsters by Walter Benjamin, there are many things I agree and disagree with. Both essays make very good points with facts to back them up. But I can’t help but side with Hardin on his essay Lifeboat Ethics. In this essay I am going to compare and contrast some of the similarities and differences between Hardin and Benjamin’s essays about the aid the United States provides to poor nations all over the world by reducing pollution, controlling population growth, and the dependency of economical imports and exports.

In “Compromise, Hell!” Wendell Berry argues that we should be less submissive when it comes to environmental destruction. As an essayist, novelist, and poet, Wendell Berry has written over 30 books and has won several awards for his writing. Berry starts his article by scolding the American population for

While environmental questions are frequently channeled through practical and economic prisms, it is also appropriate to consider our econolgy as a function of morality. The ethical dilemmas which contribute to our policies and our behaviors regarding the use of fossil fuels and our attention to global climate change are frequently overshadowed by more immediate concerns of survival or mere comfort.

Instead of focusing on the individual, “ecological economics invites us to picture ourselves not as isolated individuals but as housemates” (McFague 132). This model has two goals striving for sustainability and distributive justice which will allow for the earth’s resources to be sustained for future generations. McFague feels that the ecological economic system will provide an efficient system that will suit and support the needs of the world.

In order to fully survive, it is very crucial to constantly maintain the environment at a healthy rate. The main aspect that truly affects and drives our environment is the economy. The environment is always brought up within social political debates across the country as it is very difficult for Americans to come to a consensus since we have the right to speak our every thoughts. Two of the major political parties, Republicans and Democrats, are two completely different parties that constantly struggle to settle on the same position. In this essay, I will discuss the political parties’ beliefs about the environment.

So truly this proves that sustainability is a wicked problem as there is no way to win. From southern United States, to northern Canada, there is environmental injustice everywhere with no answer in sight. A point that was brought up in these three lectures is that there is nothing I, nor my peers can do. It is up to these people, the Inuit’s and Americans to stand up to their battle, and for us to support them. Especially in America where these people are facing these environmental problems, and yet are voting to worsen it. With most of the population being lower class, and having health issues, they are the people who voted against Obama Care, and voted in Trump who abandoned them after the first major hurricane (pers. comm., R. Bullard, October 26, 2017).

Living in a highly industrialized world that is ruled by capitalism, the concern for the environment often takes a back seat. Individuals or companies nowadays prioritize achieving optimal profit without putting into mind what their respective actions or productions may have an effect on the environment. They do not realize how important the role of our environment plays in the quality of human life. We can say that a good environment leads to a better quality life, while a bad environment could lead to a harmful and unproductive life. Now, it becomes unfair and unjust when the risks and costs of a company affect a certain group of people and on the opposite side of the spectrum another group of individuals enjoy the benefits without costs. The individuals that are affected badly are usually from Third World Countries where the distribution of risk and costs are not even (Low and Gleeson 1999). This is where Environmental Justice comes in. Environmental Justice mainly concerns the welfare of human beings (Low and Gleeson 1999). Talking about cities where capitalism surges from, it has been argued that these cities are ‘unfairly structured’ (Low and Gleeson 1999). Basically, what this is saying is that the wealthier you are, the better or cleaner the environment. On the other hand, if you are poor, then the environment around you will have more health risks. This kind of injustice or disparity is what adds fuel to the fire of environmental justice. In

Right from the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, there has been a fierce debate concerning how economic growth or development affects the environment or ecological setup of a country. The debate has its basis on whether it would be recommendable for a nation to concentrate on growing its economy while at the same time hurting or harming its ecological system. Naturalists like Pinchot Gifford, John Muir, Love Canal and Cuyahoga County always argued in favor of environmental preservation as opposed to concentrating all efforts towards developing the economy (Olmes 154; Miller 150-51). This paper will, therefore, discuss the struggle between economics and ecology specifically looking at particular events across the Twentieth Century. It will also attempt to explain the factors involved in the pursuit for change on the way people and the administration perceived the environmental conservation as opposed to economic growth.