1. Environmental History and Value Systems
1.1
Videos – The Lorax

2. 1.1 Environmental Value Systems
Significant historical influences on the development of the environmental movement have come from literature, the media, major environmental disasters, international agreements and technological developments.
• An EVS is a worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual, or group of people, perceives and evaluates environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic and socio-political contexts.
• An EVS might be considered as a system in the sense that it may be influenced by education, experience, culture and media (inputs), and involves a set of interrelated premises, values and arguments that can generate consistent decisions and evaluations (outputs).

3. • There is a spectrum of EVSs, from ecocentric through anthropocentric to technocentric value systems.
• An ecocentric viewpoint integrates social, spiritual and environmental dimensions into a holistic ideal. It puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizes a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies. An ecocentric viewpoint prioritizes biorights, emphasizes the importance of education and encourages self-restraint in human behaviour.
• An anthropocentric viewpoint argues that humans must sustainably manage the global system. This might be through the use of taxes, environmental regulation and legislation. Debate would be encouraged to reach a consensual, pragmatic approach to solving environmental problems.
A technocentric viewpoint argues that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems. This is a consequence of a largely optimistic view of the role humans can play in improving the lot of humanity. Scientific research is encouraged in order to form policies and to understand how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed to solve resource depletion. A pro-growth agenda is deemed necessary for society’s improvement.

4. • There are extremes at either end of this spectrum (for example, deep ecologists–ecocentric to cornucopian–technocentric), but in practice, EVSs vary greatly depending on cultures and time periods, and they rarely fit simply or perfectly into any classification.
Different EVSs ascribe different intrinsic value to components of the biosphere

5. Environmental History
In the US – frontier ethic dominates during 1700’s &1800’s
In 1800’s naturalists begin to voice concern
John James Audubon – painted birds and sparked interest
Henry David Thoreau – writer and naturalist who lived on Walden pond for 2 years
George Perkins Marsh ( ) – wrote Man and Nature 1st discussion of humans as agents of environmental change

6. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) – 17.4 million acres of land protected
1872 – Yellowstone NP established  world’s first NP
John Muir ( ) est. Yosemite, Sequoia NPs and Sierra Club
Aldo Leopold ( ) – Naturalist – A sand county almanac
Rachel Carson ( ) – Silent Spring
Garrett Hardin (1968) – Tragedy of the Commons
Paul Ehrlich (1968) – Population Bomb

7. Interactive timeline

8. Environmental History of U.S. in the last 30 years

9. Top 10: Anthropogenic Environmental Disasters
Sometimes we get a wake up call
1. Bhopal: the Union Carbide gas leak 2. Chernobyl: Russian nuclear power plant explosion 3. Seveso: Italian dioxin crisis 4. The 1952 London smog disaster 5. Major oil spills of the 20th and 21st century 6. The Love Canal chemical waste dump 7. The Baia Mare cyanide spill 8. The European BSE crisis 9. Spanish waste water spill 10. The Three Mile Island near nuclear disaster

10. Bhopal disaster (1984, India)
Union Carbide pesticide plant released 42 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate gas  500,000 exposed, 8,000 dead within a week, >16,000 dead since

11. Chernobyl Meltdown (1986 Ukraine)
Reactor tests conducted
Required shutdown of
safety systems
Cooling system failure
Leading to meltdown
Explosion releasing
radioactive cloud
Permanent evacuation in 30
km radius
Eventual deaths 8,000-
400,000

12. Now?
Contained not
Cleaned

13. Mercury and Minamata 1950’s Japan
Suddenly people develop acute mercury poisoning – numbness, muscle weakness, coma death
Minamata disease – 2,300 officially recognized victims
Chisso corporation dumping methyl mercury into local bay
Biomagnification of Hg through food chain into people

16. Whaling Historically hunted for blubber, whale oil Now hunted for meat
International Whaling commission forms in 1946 – moratorium in 1986
Now whaling by Inuits & Norway & Iceland (legitimate?) & Japan (Scientific?)

17. Extinct
Critically Endangered
Endangered
Vulnerable
Lower Risk (Conservation Dependent)
Lower risk (Near Threatened)
Lower Risk (Least Concern)
None*
Blue Whale (ANTARCTIC)[48]
Gray Whale Northwest Pacific population (cf. Northeast Pacific population)[49]
Blue Whale[50]
Fin Whale[51]
North Pacific Right Whale[52]
North Atlantic Right Whale[53]
Sei Whale[54]
Beluga[55]
Blue Whale musculus subspecies - Atlantic population[56]
Sperm Whale[57]
Antarctic Minke Whale
Arnoux's Beaked Whale
Baird's Beaked Whale
Blue Whale(North Pacific)[58]
Bowhead Whale[59]
Gray Whale Northeast Pacific population[60]
Northern Bottlenose Whale
Southern Bottlenose Whale
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Southern Right Whale[61]
Minke Whale[62]
Dwarf Sperm Whale[63]
Pygmy Right Whale
Long-finned Pilot Whale
Humpback Whale[64]
Pygmy Sperm Whale[65]
Melon-headed Whale
Gray Whale (species)[62]
Atlantic population of Gray Whale went extinct in late 17th Century. It is not listed as a part of IUCN's red list. [41]

18. Once we’re awake (aware)
Growth of environmental pressure groups – Greenpeace, Sea Sheppard
Function locally and globally
Development of Environmental Stewardship
Increased media coverage  increased awareness of issues

20. These events Help us to establish our environmental value systems
This is a world view or set of paradigms that shapes the way an individual or group perceives and evaluates environmental issues
Influenced by cultural, religious, economic and socio-political factors

21. Environmental Values as a system
Input – education, cultural dogma, religious doctrines, media
Transfers and Transformations – Processing of information, thinking, discussion, regurgitation
Outputs – decisions, perspectives, courses of action

22. Value Systems can be
Grouped into a spectrum
Of Philosophies
Know / Understand figure 6
Be able to outline the range

23. Environmental Managers
The continuum
Ecocentrism
Anthropocentrism
Technocentrism
Deep Ecologists
Soft Ecologists
Environmental Managers
Cornucopians

24. Pick a world view and from that standpoint describe what you see

25. The influence of these philosophies
We will look back to this as we move forward in the course
Some examples look to our presidents
Carter  progressive environmental policy to get us off of oil
Reagan  crushes solar energy industry
Bush 1  reauthorized clean air act but Gulf war was one of the worst environmental disasters in history
Clinton  good – increased preserve area, pollution standards; bad – NAFTA, subsidizing SUV era of US automakers
Bush 2  Works to weaken environmental regulations on businesses – loosening scrubber requ.
Obama  Blocks mountain top coal mining

26. Historical Clashes of Worldviews
Native Americans (first nation americans) vs. European Pioneers
Buddhist vs. Judeo-christian Societies
Communist vs. capitalist societies

28. Native Americans Deep respect for the natural world
Thought of themselves as part of it not lords over it
Much of their religion was tied to nature so spiritual connection as well
Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money. ~ Cree Indian Proverb ~

29. European Pioneers Frontier economics
Exploitation of seemingly unlimited resources
Becomes Manifest destiny – expansion not only good but obvious and certain

31. Justify your personal viewpoint on environmental issues
-Where do you stand on the continuum of philosophies?
Does it change with the specific issue
For example does your stance on population control put you in the same area as your stance on resource exploitation or sustainable development
We will answer this question again at the end of the course as well

32. Sites of interest
- Bush 2’s environmental record