Environmental Ethics

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1637952/?tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract

 

 

McKibben, Lustgarten, Kusnetz all have a common goal; to decrease the amount of environmental damage done by humanity. In the article listed above, JJ Steinburg discusses environmental ethics. Even though it was written over more than a decade ago, the same principles Steinburg preach are vital today. He discusses pesticides and their negative effects on people. His main them is the unethical treatmeant of nature just as the authors discussed in class. They all know that the world could be a better place if people were educated on the matter.

Richard Kahn Response

                Richard Kahn opens up with an engaging introduction by quoting Paulo Freire’s, the founder of Ecopedagogy, statement on ethics. “It is urgent that we assume the duty of fighting for the fundamental ethical principles, like respect for the life of human beings, the life of other animals, the life of birds, the life of rivers and forest.” Kahn then goes into how people of the 21^st century are in a great crisis due to multiple factors. The world today is suffering from its history and the same traditions are continued throughout current times. Recent advancements in industry and technology have left Earth with a ruined atmosphere. The planet will be destroyed if these actions continue to take place.

            Technocapitalism, the emergence of new technology, has become a threat to destroy organisms and their habits Kahn states. In a way this is true, it seems to be all about the money and not the conservation of the environment. In current times it’s easy to tell that technology is the driving force behind the economy, and the lack of care to nature is coming into effect. Humanity, other organisms and their habitats are being destroyed for human production and consumption. People are greedy and self-centered considering that they’re supposed to be sharing the world. For example, Kahn talks about deforestation having gone up in the past few years for the production of paper. Also how global fishing is causing the disappearance of several species of fish. The selfish ways of humans is harming other living organisms in an unethical manor. The soil and oceans are also being polluted and becoming inhabitable. Things such as oil spills have killed numerous amounts of marine animals and people are to blame for that. Land animals are also killed in large quantities just so people can enjoy a burger at a fast food joint. It seems completely wrong for people to kill animals and consume them just for a quick bite to eat. There are foods put on this earth for us to consume; not saying humans are not supposed to eat animals but the manner in which it takes place is immoral.

            Capitalism is one of the main causes of the downfall of the humanities relationship with Earth and its organisms. “New advances in capitalist lifestyle and practice are then directly responsible for grave exacerbations of widespread poverty and suffering, species genocide, and environmental destruction. Kahn seems to exert socialist and liberal emotions through his writings. Social justice is what his argument pushes for. People must be educated on the matter of this ongoing issue. With people blind to the facts, it seems like the solutions will never be found; knowing is half the problem. There’s a section in the writing the shows how uninformed the public is of the surrounding environment.

            The mistreatment of nature is pushed throughout the writing and the point that educating people about ecopedagogy is a necessity, but it can’t be confined just to this. At this point in time, humanity and the ecosystems must work as one and the actions of people must take on an ecopedagogy fashion. Several movements and organizations have been started in hopes of spreading the word of capturing an amazing relationship with Earth and all of its inhabitants in order to save everyone. The viewpoints and solutions mentioned by Kahn are somewhat radical, but in a catastrophic situation like the one at hand, why not take that kind of approach? It’s all in hopes of a better tomorrow, not just for humanity, but all living things and the supplier for all, Earth.

Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination

           In recent months federal environment officials have discovered that underground water pollution in Wyoming has probably resulted from gas drilling processes. The drilling industry has argued that fracking is safe but this incident has contradicted their argument. This proves Kahn’s words to be true. He stated that the capitalist powers are after money and could care less about nature. This is what people need to be concerned about instead of some of the less significant issues the public is faced with. It’s not certain that the contamination has come from fracking but the possibility that it did is high.

            This issue is stirring up a political debate. It has to become a concern, because residents within the area of the fracking have been complaining about foul water. The EPA have conducted test that have help prove their case but still it’s not 100%. Some of the same chemicals were found in the water that is used during the drilling process. “Investigators tested the cement and casing of the gas wells and found what they described as "sporadic bonding" of the cement in areas immediately above where fracking took place. The cement barrier meant to protect the well bore and isolate the chemicals in their intended zone had been weakened and separated from the well, the EPA concluded (Lustgarten, Kusnetz, ProPublica).” This is somewhat proof that it comes from the fracking. Gas is much needed with today but the way the Earth is being harmed by it is immoral.

            From what has been documented in this article, it’s obvious that this is a major problem. This is probably occurring in more places than just Wyoming and who knows what this can do to people that intake the contaminated water. For public safety some sort of solution must be reached. The safety of people is more important than the contraction of gas.

Snyder Poems

Control Burn
The Uses of Light
Avacado

These three poems have great meaning; Avacado being my favorite. Snyder talks about how the Dharma is like an Avacado. Many layers to him and they're so good and in  the middle(soul) is your own original nature. Then The Uses of Light talks about how powerful a source the sun is. As people we should embrace this blessing. Last but not least is Control Burn where Snyders refers back to how the Native Americans treated the land with such respect. Through these chapters I feel as if Snyder was trying to say we need to go back to the basics.

Turtle Island Response 2

After reading several of Snyders poems it's obvious to see his love and compassion for the enviornment. One that stood out was "Control Burn" in which he mentions how the Indians treated the land. Snyder wants a the land to be how it was when the Indians inhabited it. All of his writings show emphasize on nature, whether its the land, water or air. He also uses a lot of anologies to put things in the ordinary persons prospective. Several good arguments and points are made through his words. The more I read, the more in tune with nature I feel. Humanity is in need of a reality check before something extreme takes place.

Turtle Island Response

Gary Snyder makes it a point to show that humans have brought Earth to the point its at. Snyder wants people to understand its there fault and there's some sort of gloominess to it. At the same time, his poems are light and whimsical. He goes on and on about the environment and how we need to come up with solutions that will save our environment and Humanity itself. Snyder's approach was special in throughout Turtle Island, earning him to earn a Pulitzer Prize for it. He makes the topic of life threatening issues so intriguing. It actually makes you sit down and think of something to do to stop this catastrophe.