1	Environmental Ethics: Where Can We Go From Here? Timothy C. Weiskel ENVR E-120 – Session 15 19 January 2006
2	The ethical question is really not: Where Can We Go Form Here?
3	The ethical question is really not: Where Can We Go Form Here? But rather: Where Should We Go From Here? [ What follows is a personal assessment of the most urgent issues in environmental ethics today. ]
4	Why is this the question?
5	In other words: What are the obligations of knowledge?
6	“…think straight…” For environmentalist, it is important to “think straight” in order not to be distracted from the three key ethical issues that most ominously threaten both our local and global environment. These are: the generation and proliferation of forms of ionized radiation (in atomic weapons, DU weaponry, nuclear fuel, nuclear waste, etc. ); the evolution and diffusion of novel microbes and familiar pathogens in more virulent forms; and the transformation of the global climate regime. Addressing these issues should be the primary concern of those committed to environmental ethics.
7	"So," So, let’s consider the environmental ethics dimensions of each of these issues in turn. First, the generation and proliferation of forms of ionized radiation (in weapons, DU weaponry, nuclear fuel, nuclear waste, etc.);
8	Much attention is being given to Iran these days…
9	""Under no circumstances," "Under no circumstances, and at no point, can Israel allow anyone with these kinds of malicious designs against us [to] have control of weapons of destruction that can threaten our existence," Olmert said at a Tuesday news conference.
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11	But how is the nuclear issue in the Middle East properly understood?
12	"How can you sign a..." How can you sign a non-proliferation treaty when you have never publicly admitted that you have nuclear weapons?
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16	What about the U.S.? In Britain, at least, the energy issues are openly debated and discussed. What is happening in the United States?
17	US: Public denunciation & Private enthusiasm The US has been vocal in its criticisms of Iranian nuclear research initiatives. But there is considerably less open discussion about the future of US nuclear intentions. Listen, for example to, David Kestenbaum’s report entitled: "U.S. Drafting Plan for Nuclear Energy Use," NPR - All Things Considered, (29 December 2005). http://ecojustice.net/2005-ENVRE120/Session-15/Audio/20051229-NPR-ATC-Nuclear-Plans-Index.htm
18	Independent of their disastrous energy cost, nuclear waste issues and potential accidents, “peaceful” nuclear plants create ready-made targets for terrorists, even more logical and lethal than using planes as guided missiles.
19	How many more warnings do we expect to receive before a potential “dirty bomb” incident? Will this afternoon’s warning seize the public imagination? Or will we be lulled back into complacency by our cultural sense of American “exceptionalism” – things won’t happen to “us” because we are exceptions to all rules?
20	According to The Reverend Coffin: The Reverend William Sloane Coffin, Jr.
21	What of the other 2 Major Issues? Our second enduring environmental ethics dilemma concerns: the evolution and diffusion of novel microbes and familiar pathogens in more virulent forms;
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23	"Some of these problems seem..." Some of these problems seem entirely “new to medicine.” In Antarctica and even in Alaska new life-forms are being found "Frozen Micro-Organism Raises Hopes of Martian Life," WBUR - On Point, (24 February 2005).
24	What does this mean for our “wild” friends who migrate?
25	"It is instructive to look..." It is instructive to look at the migrating birds in connection with the patterns of human disease. What do we find about where and how birds migrate? (If you can, please take the opportunity to watch the DVD of the documentary movie, Winged Migration. See what you can learn about the interdependence of organisms in a complex ecosystem.) Are there other surprises in store for the human community?
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30	"Can You See" Can You See What’s Coming Next? click the map & explore the BBC interactive set of maps at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/world/05/bird_flu_map/html/1.stm
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35	"But…." But…. Consider: BBC Newshour "Turkey - Bird Flu Mutation," BBC Newshour - 2000, (12 January 2006 20:00 GMT). http://ecojustice.net/2005-ENVRE120/session-15/audio/20060112-BBC-Flu-Mutation.mp3 This is why the world community seems now to be acting swiftly… "$1.9bn pledged for bird flu fight," BBC News Online, (18 January 2006). Donor countries meeting in China have pledged $1.9bn to fight bird flu worldwide, much more than was expected. The World Bank requested $1.5bn to fight the virus, which has killed almost 80 people. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Beijing. http://ecojustice.net/2005-ENVRE120/Session-15/Video/20060118-BBC-China-Bird-Flu-Pledge-Index.htm
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37	"Remaining question:" Remaining question: Will the human community act as a moral community in the face of an imminent microbial threat?
38	"Conceivably," Conceivably, the human community has the capacity to recognize a collective threat that is “bigger” than itself, and it will make the effort to respond as a “moral community.”
39	"But will the human community..." But will the human community have the capacity to act as a moral community to respond to a species wide microbial threat?
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41	Our Third Major Ethical Issue: What about our third major dilemma in environmental ethics? the transformation of the global climate regime. How is the humanity reacting to this – the most pervasive and difficult dilemma ever faced by the human community?
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46	While many scientists are financed by nation-states, they are appealing to us to recognize and celebrate our larger loyalties as ecocitizens in a dynamic and evolving ecosystem.
47	Climate issues, like those of ionized radiation and pandemic viral infections, point to the urgent need for us to develop new loyalties in the human community. In our day, some scientists have led the way in this moral transformation. They have begun to identify with and speak for the Earth community.
48	"So," So, whether or not we survive will depend upon whether we can develop a global environmental ethic to guide the formation of public policy in this country and around the world. The patterns of past behavior may not be encouraging and the trend in current behavior may seem downright discouraging.
49	"BUT the prospect for our..." BUT the prospect for our future behavior will depend on forging a new and effective environmental ethic that reflects a scientifically informed theory of community, system, authority, change, agency and time. I have every confidence that -- after this course -- you will be able to do this in order everywhere and always to:
50	"substitute the consumption of non-renewable..." substitute the consumption of non-renewable resources with renewable ones; reduce the consumption of renewables to at or below their rate of renewal; enter nothing into the waste/nutrient stream that cannot be "eaten" safely by another organism (ie. close the materials loops);
51	"allocate the fruits of production..." allocate the fruits of production in a more rather than less just and equitable fashion. Only this strategy will be socially sustainable; measure and monitor environmental conditions affecting the safety, health and welfare of all species; (bar-headed geese included…) educate and inform the public about the circumstances it must confront and the "footprint" it generates in the wider environment;
52	"entitle and empower local communities..." entitle and empower local communities to manage their resources sustainably; cajole, exhort and convince those who do not follow these precepts to mend the error of their ways;
53	"And…" And… expose, denounce, condemn and seek to punish those who consistently and intentionally violate these precepts of responsible ecocitizenry -- including those who otherwise wish to present themselves as perfectly "respectable" public leaders. (this may prove embarrassing or socially risky, but it is necessary to achieve the changes that are needed for survival. )
54	“The U.N. has not failed the world. The world has failed the U.N….” The Reverend William Sloane Coffin, Jr.
55	"A good test of how..." A good test of how are sensibilities are evolving can be seen in a picture like this. There was once a time – in the living memory of most of us – when such a picture inspired pride and a sense of an important job well done. Now, however, it seems hopelessly out of date and sadly beside the point.
56	"We need," We need, instead, to recognize that there are more important tasks that demand our attention in devising and enacting a new kind of ethic for the global community. The goal should not be further chauvinistic space travel but rather a commitment to achieve planetary survival. We already live on the largest inhabitable “space ship” in the known universe. Yet our policies and behavior are in the process of destroying our own life support systems. This marks a failure of moral imagination.
57	"Received religious traditions or a..." Received religious traditions or a blind faith in national priorities will not be sufficient to save us. In fact, no forms of cherished “exceptionalism” will exempt us from biogeochemical processes to which we are subject in this complex ecosystem. To survive, a new kind of environmental ethic will need to be devised for all of humankind.
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59	…because, our current, default strategy – that of corporate driven continuous growth -- is simply not survivable on a finite planet. The brutality of dominance required for continued corporate globalization cannot be sustained.
60	We need to move beyond the juvenile growth phase of “western” development to devise sustainable strategies for collective, global survival. In this, the guiding moral vision of those in the Global South needs now to be acknowledged and embraced.
61	Environmental Ethics: Where Can We Go From Here? Timothy C. Weiskel ENVR E-120 – Session 15 19 January 2006