Environmental Ethics Paper template.
Note: you need to use this template and KEEP all the section headings in bold. You may delete the instructions and everything in italics below each section heading.
Instructions:
· Choose ONE of the following questions to answer.
· Make sure you complete all four sections.
· Insert your own work into each section where it says ‘insert your work below’. Your work will automatically expand each section, so make sure you also write the numbers of paragraphs indicated.
· Double-space your answers.
· You need to use a minimum of three sources from your textbooks.
· Save the file as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
· Submit your file to the assignments drop box in D2L.
· Answering a question NOT on this list without the express approval of your professor will earn your paper an automatic 0 with no possibility of a re-do.
This paper is worth 100 points.
· A note on sources: This assignment is intended to be an assessment of how well you can read, analyze, and synthesize a contemporary moral problem we have NOT covered in class. Your textbooks are an acceptable source to complete this assignment, but you will likely need other sources as well. You MAY choose to cite other resources you find in D2L (if they exist). You must cite factual claims to verify them. Other kinds of sources won’t help your grade and they may decrease your grade if they are not reputable sources.
· A note on highlights in this document. Yellow highlighted parts you really need to pay attention to. Gray highlighted areas will be 4 of the 5 sections of the grading ru
ic. The 5th will be about using the template, giving citations, and overall quality of writing.
Choose ONE and only one of the following questions to answer.
· Support your answer with one ethical theory (utilitarianism, deontology, social contract theory, virtue ethics, feminist ethics of care).
· Is it moral (i.e. beneficial to the environment) for companies to use ca
on offsets to support their claims to be environmentally friendly?
· Do we have a duty to save starving people over saving the planet?
· Is it immoral to eat meat?
· Was the Supreme Court wrong when they ruled that the EPA cannot put state-level caps on ca
on emissions from power plants?
· Do cities, states, and the federal government have a moral obligation to legally require individuals to do things that are good for the environment (recycling, water conservation, electronic vehicles, eliminating single use plastic)?
Scroll down to see all four sections of the template.
1. Introduction / overview
State the problem or question at issue clearly, including the context, potential sources of bias, and opposing points of view.
· Give an overview of the issue raised by the question you selected.
· Give a short summary of the possible alternatives for an answer.
· Give a short summary of how you think the ethical theory applies.
· 2 paragraphs minimum for this section.
· Insert your work below.
2. Explain the options for answering the question
Gather information and evaluate sources for relevance, accuracy, logic, and fairness.
· Give a
ief summary and analysis of the opposing points of view on this topic.
· Include at least one quote and citation for each of the opposing points of view.
· 4 paragraphs minimum for this section (minimum 2 paragraphs per side).
· Insert your work below.
3. Make your own argument for your position
Develop and articulate your own position clearly, offering logical, and sufficient evidence to support your conclusions
Based on the readings you’ve analyzed, make the argument for your own position: .
· Include relevant quotes from the readings on this topic.
· Include a summary of the ethical theory (utilitarianism, deontology, social contract theory, virtue ethics, feminist ethics of care) you will be using to justify your answer. Cite one of the original authors when explaining your ethical theory.
· 3 paragraphs minimum for this section.
· Insert your work below
4. Conclusion
Select a course of action or solve a problem based on reasoned analysis and synthesis of information gathered
· What is your answer to the question?
· Briefly explain and summarize your argument from 3. and explain how your argument supports your conclusion.
· Include a
ief summary of how the ethical theory you applied supports your answer.
· 2 paragraphs minimum for this section.
· Insert your work below.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
GLOBAL JUSTICE:
POPULATION, POVERTY,
AND THE ENVIRONMENT
THERE ARE OVER 7.3 BILLION people in theworld, 1.2 billionofwhomliveinex-
treme poverty and 795 million of whom are chronically undernourished. Agriculture
and food production are among the most ecologically impactful human activities
1
and there is projected to be a 60 to 120 percent increase in agricultural demand
y 2050 due to population growth and changing consumption patterns associated
with increased affluence (Section 6.1). There is thus an enormous challenge at th(
intersection of population, food security, poverty, and the environment: How car
everyone have reliable access to a nutritionally adequate, culturally appropriate, anc
ecologically sustainable diet, while also leaving sufficient space and resources fo1
other species?
In environmental ethics, the discussion of this question has focused on the follow
ing issues:
•
•
•
384
Is it possible to both feed over 7 billion people and protect (noninstrumental)
environmental values?
Is it ever necessary and perm· 'bl · · al (' . issi e to put protecting environmental v ues 1.e.,
savmg nature) ahead of feeding people (i . l )~
Should affluent people and · ~e., saving peop e ·
nations transrer resources to assist people in extreme
poverty and suffering from chronic malnourishment?
. -· . , 'I\. LJI, Lt:m ano Sources of Malnutrition 385
1hese questions are the focus of this ch h" apter, w tch begins . h b . f
50me of the primary factors that give rise t l b l . _wu a rte overview of 0 g O a malnutrmon.
16.1 _T_HE EXTEN T AN D SOURCES OF MALNUTRITION
Two b1lhon people suffer from micronutrient deficiency and 795 •1i· 1 · 11 d · ' m1 ton peop e are
chromca y un ernounshed, which means they cannot h • • XXXXXXXXXXmeet t eir mm1mum daily
energy nutnt1onal requ~rements (UN 2013; Olinto et al. 2013; FAQ 2012a). The
vast maJOrI~ of undernou~1shed people are in developing regions, particularly sub-
Saharan Af nca, eastern Asta, and southern Asia. In sub-Saharan Africa a quarter of
the population is undernourished (FAO 2013b).
The impacts of caloric and nutrient malnourishment include stunting, wasting,
chronic health problems, and increased susceptibility to diseases. Over 2.5 million chil-
dren die from malnutrition each year (FAO 2012a). For example, the WHO estimates
that 250 million children suffer &om vitamin A deficiency, which results in 250,000 chil-
dren going blind annually, half of whom die within a year of doing so. In several countries
in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia the stunting rates for children under five exceed
30 percent (FAO 2013b). Stunting has developmental impacts with long-term effects on
educational achievement and economic productivity. Thus, pervasive malnourishment
has immediate impacts on people's welfare and presents longitudinal societal challenges.
Several of the factors that contribute to chronic malnourishment involve subopti-
mal use of resources-for example, wastage, spoilage, underproduction, inefficient use,
The Changing Distribution of Hunger in the World: Numbers and Shares of Undernourished
People by Region XXXXXXXXXXand XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
(Total= 1011 millioii)
@al= 795• milli§)
Number Regional share
(millions) (%)
XXXXXXXXXX~ XXXXXXXXXX
fi) Developed regions XXXXXXXXXX
€> Southern Asia 291
0 Sub-Saharan Africa 176
@ Eastern Asia 295
@South-Eastern Asia 138
C) Latin America 66
and the Cari
ean
e Western Asia
e Northern Africa
Caucasus and
Central Asia
8
6
10
281
220
145
61
34
19
4
6
J1 Oceania
Total XXXXXXXXXX•
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
6.5 4.3
0.8 2.4
0.6 0.5
0.9 0.7
0.1 0.1
100 100
. . f dernourished people in the world are in Southern and
Figure 16.1 The vast maJonty O unAf . Eastern Asia South-Eastern Asia, Latin America,
I b Saharan nca. ' . Eastern Asia, as wel as su - . . t d i·nes in the number of malnourished people since
. h had s1gnifican ec I and the Cari
ean ave . h had significant increases.
1990-92, while sub-Saharan Africa as
Source: FAO (2015a}
386 Chapter Sixteen GLOBAL JUSTICE: POPULATION, POVERTY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
and underutilization. These factors were discussed at length in Section 6.1. Another
factor relevant to global food insecurity is population. There are ecological and plan-
etary limits to food production. There is a finite amount of cultivatable land, fresh
water, and solar radiation, for example. Already, over a third of the te
estrial surface of
the earth, and the vast majority of agriculturally favorable land, is employed for food
production. Humans use --25 percent of the planet's net primary plant production
and over 90 percent of the world's fisheries are fully exploited, overexploited, or recov~
ering. The more people there are, the more food needs to be produced from planeta
esources in order to feed everyone a nutritionally adequate diet. ry
There are over 7.3 billion people on earth. How many people there will be in the
future depends upon fertility rates, which is the number of children born per woman.
It is not possible to know precisely what those rates will be, so future population
is discussed in terms of scenarios. The cu
ent global fertility rate is approximately
2.5 children per woman. According to United Nations projections (Figure 16.2), if
y the middle of this century the fertility rate drops to 2.25 children per woman (the
median projection), global population will be approximately 9.7 billion in 2050 and
11.2 billion by 2100. If fertility rates are 2.75 children/woman (the +.5 projection),
the projected population is 10.8 billion in 2050 and 16.6 billion in 2100. If the rate
plummets to 1.75 children/women (the -.5 projection), the population is projected to
e only 8.7 billion by mid-century and 7.3 billion by 2100 (UN 2015b).
WORLD: Total Populatlon
171;~~~~~~~~~~~~~-=--------------------
16
15
14
13
12
I 11
:0
- 10
.§
i 9 ::,
l 8
7
6
5
4
3
- Median
• - 80% prediction interval
• - - 95% prediction interval
-Observed
· - +/-0.5 child
--· 60 sample trajectories
.,
.,,, ... :!ff
~ :: ...
, ::--~~~
- e,c-;e-"",::=e,,= --=-
, .. <; _~:'-~jftr~~~
-- . --
2~~~~-r--i~-r--.---r--~-__J XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
Figure 16.2 Past and projected total I b I .
scenarios 9 0 a population on high, low and median fertility
Source: United Nations {201Sb}
16·2 The Lifeboat Ethic 387
1here cu
mtly is enough food for everyone to h
don (FAOSTAT 2013; FAQ 2013b). This . ave sufficient calories and nutri-
. . 1 d" b is true globall 1 ,1Jint1 region-me u mg su -Saharan Afi . y, as we l as for every devel-o, 'b rica and southern .
n
ation (FAOSTAT XXXXXXXXXXIn some countri' h Asia-though not every . . . es, sue as E K
and Malawi, there is widespread malnutritio d h" gypt, azakhstan, Nicaragua,
)
n, an igh rates f ·
dren XXXXXXXXXXpercent , despite their having d"
0 stuntmg of young chil-ietary supplie 11 b
(
FAOSTAT XXXXXXXXXXIf there are enough calories d . . s we a ove requirements . an nutrition in th £ d
one and some countries have high rates of mal . . d . e
00
supply for every-, nutr1t1on espite h . d
energy supplies, then food insecurity is not al avmg a equate dietary . ways, or even usually d 1· . .
• food product10n or food availability It • r. , ue to im1tat1ons in • is orten a matter of food
P
eople