Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

What Is the Environmental WisdomWorldview? Learning to Work with theEarthAccording to this view we are not in charge,should not waste the earth’s finite resources, andshould live more sustainably by mimicking the waysin which the earth has sustained itself for billionsof years.As we move out from the center of Figure 28-2, we seelife-centered and then earth-centered worldviews.One earth-centered worldview is called the environmentalwisdom worldview. Its major beliefs are summarizedin Figure 28-3 (right). In many respects, it isthe opposite of the planetary management worldview(Figure 28-3, left).According to this worldview, because we are notin charge of the biosphere, we should learn how it hasmaintained itself over billions of years and use whatwe learn to sustain ourselves and the biosphere intothe future (Figure 9-15, p. 174).This worldview includes the belief that the earthdoes not need us managing it in order to go on,whereas we do need the earth in order to survive. Accordingto this view we cannot save the earth because itdoes not need saving. What we need to save is the existenceof our own species and other species that may becomeextinct because of our activities.Sustainability expert Lester W. Milbrath asks us totry this thought experiment: “Imagine that, suddenly,all the humans disappeared, but all the buildings,roads, shopping malls, factories, automobiles, andother artifacts of modern civilization were left behind.What then? After three or four centuries, buildingswould have crumbled, vehicles would have rusted andfallen apart, and plants would have recolonized fields,roads, parking lots, even buildings. Water, air, and soilwould gradually clear up; some endangered specieswould flourish. Nature would thrive splendidly withoutus.” See Lester Milbrath’s Guest Essay on this topicon the website for this chapter.Others say we do not need to be biocentrists orecocentrists to value life and the earth. They point outthat the human-centered stewardship environmentalworldview also calls for us to value individuals,species, and the earth’s life-support systems as part ofour responsibility as the earth’s caretakers.What Is the Deep Ecology EnvironmentalWorldview? Thinking Deeply about OurResponsibilitiesThe beliefs of deep ecology call for us to think moredeeply about our obligations toward both humanand nonhuman life.Arelated ecocentric environmental worldview is thedeep ecology worldview, which consists of eight premisesdeveloped in 1972 by Norwegian philosopher ArneNaess, in conjunction with philosopher GeorgeSessions and sociologist Bill Devall. First, each nonhumanform of life on the earth has inherent value,independent of its value to humans. Second, the fundamentalinterdependence and diversity of life-formscontribute to the flourishing of human and nonhumanlife on earth.Third, humans have no right to reduce this interdependenceand diversity except to satisfy vital needs.Fourth, present human interference with the nonhumanworld is excessive, and the situation is worseningrapidly. Fifth, because of the damage caused by this interference,it would be better for humans, and muchbetter for nonhumans, if there were a substantial decreasein the human population.Sixth, basic economic and technological policiesmust therefore be changed. Seventh, the predominantideology must change such that measurements of thequality of life focus on the overall health of the environmentand all living things, rather than on the materialwealth of individuals and societies. Eighth, those whosubscribe to these points have an obligation directly orindirectly to try to implement the necessary changes.Naess also described some lifestyle guidelinescompatible with the basic beliefs of deep ecology. Theyinclude appreciating all forms of life, consuming less,emphasizing satisfaction of vital needs rather thanwants, working to improve the standard of living forthe world’s poor, working to eliminate injustice towardfellow humans or other species, and acting nonviolently.Deep ecology is not an ecoreligion, nor is it antireligiousor antihuman, as some of its critics haveclaimed. It is a set of beliefs that would have us thinkmore deeply about the inherent value of all life on theearth and about our obligations toward all life.What Is the Ecofeminist EnvironmentalWorldview? Give Women a FairChanceWomen should be given the same rights as menand treated as equal partners in our joint quest todevelop more environmentally sustainableand just societies.French writer Françoise d’Eaubonne coined the termecofeminism in 1974. It includes a spectrum of views onthe relationships of women to the earth and to maledominatedsocieties (patriarchies). Most ecofeministsagree that we need a life-centered or earth-centeredenvironmental worldview. However, they believe amain cause of our environmental problems is not justhttp://biology.brookscole.com/miller14635