Sustainability ethics requires representative political processes to move from being remotely influenced by outside ecological-environmental NGOs (usually through shaming campaigns) to being more inclusive in the direct representation of environmental and ecological interests in the decision-making process. The problem currently can be summarized by the following question... How does a population with no physical ability to speak, or otherwise represent itself, ensure an equitable amount of consideration and due processes in making decisions that first and foremost effect human populations? Until humans can figure out a way to speak with ecosystems and animals about what is best for them, the long-term cost of ignoring the fundamental needs of these silent stakeholders will tend to be inequitably and catastrophically high.
Please watch the following video: 2:31
PRESENTER: The geologic record shows numerous, massive extinction events throughout which life on earth has continued and thrived. Some of them originated from asteroid belt impacts; some of them from massive volcanic eruptions. However, the interesting thing is that those species that were sitting on top of the food chain were the ones that did not fare very well. So just in the same way that survivability of the dinosaurs would have depended on them having developed a space program that would have kept asteroids from impacting the earth and drastically changing their ecosystem, the question of sustainability-- it's also a question of survivability of the human species on the long term. The question of survivability is one that requires for us to think about the effect of our decisions on future generations, on their access to resources, on their economic obligations, on social continually, and a number of other factors that affect us on the very long run. From the ethics standpoint, these can be summed up into two fundamental questions. What makes life survivable, and what makes the human condition livable? The first question, what makes life survivable, comes with a number of different social, technological, and scientific challenges, but what makes life livable is a much more complex question. It requires for us to ask questions as to the price of increased standards of living, and what comes with different social freedoms. It requires for us to ask questions as to how these improvements may be affecting certain populations more than others. It requires for us to continue to ask questions about equity and about equal distribution of resources. At its core, sustainable ethical questions have access and have equity, and how access to a particular set of resources will allow for communities to continue to grow and thrive.
Class Discussion Forum 9:
- If you were to travel back in time (via the Tardis) to the beginning of the industrial revolution, about 250 years ago, what would want those people working on new ways to exploit steam energy (from coal) to know about a future based on 250 years of fossil fuel usage?
- How would you go about making the argument to 1750s England and their British Colonies in North America that their actions then could cause significant challenges to the health of future generations?
- Would you try to argue with them that these were ethical obligations they needed to fulfill? What else could you say to try to convince them that they had to consider the future impacts of their actions?