| A | B |
|---|
| Connection between ethics and economics | Both disciplines deal with what we value. Our values affect our environmental decisions and actions |
| Worldview | A person or group’s beliefs about the meaning, purpose, operation, and essence of the world |
| Factors that shape our worldview | Our worldview is influenced by community, religion, political ideology, economics, and individual interests |
| What is meant by a vested interest? | A personal stake or involvement in an undertaking, especially one of financial gain |
| Ethics | The study of good and bad; right and wrong |
| Ethical standards | Criteria that help differentiate right from wrong |
| Utilitarian (utility) principle | States that something right produces the most benefits for the most people |
| Expanding ethical concern | We have expanded our ethical consideration to include animals, communities, and nature. This is partially because Western cultures have become less anxious about their day-to-day survival due to prosperity |
| Anthropocentrism | Denies that nonhuman things have intrinsic value |
| Biocentrism | Certain living things also have value. Nonhuman life has ethical standing, so a biocentrist evaluates actions in terms of their overall impact on living things |
| Ecocentrism | Whole ecological systems have value (holistic perspective; values the wellbeing of entire species, communities or ecosystems over the welfare of a given individual) |
| History of environmental ethics | Industrial Revolution increased consumption, people no longer appreciated nature. This led to Transcendentalism (1840’s, nature is a manifestation of the divine) and theorist like RW Emerson and HD Thoreau |
| Preservation ethic v. Conservation ethic | Preservation ethic holds that we should protect the natural environment in a pristine, unaltered state. Conservation ethic holds that people should put natural resources to use but that we have the responsibility to manage them wisely |
| Environmental justice | The fair and equitable treatment of all people regarding environmental issues. Minority groups and the poor are exposed to more pollution and environmental degradation. |
| Economics | Studies how people use resources to provide goods and services in the face of demand |
| Subsistence economy | A subsistence economy is the oldest kind of economy. People meet most or all of their daily needs directly from nature and their own production |
| Capitalist market economy | Interactions among buyers and sellers determine which goods and services are produced, how many are produced, and how these are produced and distributed |
| Centrally planned economy | An economy in which the government determines in a top-down manner how to allocate resources |
| Mixed economy | Governments intervene to some extent; A hybrid of capitalist and centrally planned economies |
| Reasons why governments intervene in market economies | Eliminate unfair advantages, provide social services, provide safety nets, manage the commons, and mitigate pollution |
| Conventional economics versus environmental economics | Conventional economics holds that environmental resources (the inputs to the economy) are free and limitless, and that wastes (outputs) can be endlessly exported and absorbed by the environment at no cost. Environmental economics recognizes that human economies are subsets of the environment and depend crucially upon it for natural resources and ecosystem services. |
| Ecosystem services | Earth's ecological systems purify air and water, form soil, cycle nutrients, regulate climate, pollinate plants etc. These are know as ecosystem services |
| Classical economics | Competition between people free to pursue their own economic self-interest will benefit society as a whole (Adam Smith). An “invisible hand” guides the market; this idea is a pillar of free-market thought today |
| Neoclassical economics | Examines the psychological factors underlying consumer choices, explaining market prices in terms of consumer preference for units of particular commodities. Buyers desire lowest price, sellers want highest price. Theoretically, the market automatically moves to an equilibrium point: a price at which supply equals demand. Today's capitalist market systems are largely neoclassical and have generated unprecedented wealth, but they have also contributed to environmental degredation |
| Cost benefit analysis | Estimated costs for a proposed action are totaled up and compared to the sum of benefits estimated to result from the action. If benefits exceed cost, the action should be pursued. |
| Externalities | Costs or benefits involving people other than the buyer or seller. External costs are borne by someone not involved in a transaction (health problems, resource depletion, etc) |
| Is the growth paradigm sustainable? | Resources are not unlimited, so nonstop growth isn't sustainable and will fail as a long-term strategy. Modern-day America exemplifies the view that "more and bigger is better" |
| GDP v. GPI | Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total monetary value of final goods and services produced in an area. However, it doesn’t account for nonmarket values and can rise even when the economic activities that drive it harm society. Contrastingly, the Genuine Progress Indicator(GPI) takes into account economic activity and adds positive contributions that aren’t paid for with money and subtracts crime/pollution. It summarizes more forms of economic activities and differentiates between activity that increases societal well-being and activity that decreases it |
| Green taxes | Penalize harmful activities and provide economic incentives to promote conservation and sustainability |
| Ecolabeling | Designing labels that show how the product was grown, manufactured or harvested |
| Green washing | May mislead consumers to believe that companies are acting more sustainably than they really are. |
| Culture defined | The ensemble of knowledge, beliefs, values and learned ways of life shared by a group of peolpe |
| Kant's categorical imperative | Treat others the way you want to be treated; Golden Rule |
| Non-market values and contingent valuation | Non-market values are values not usually included in the price of a good or service. Contingent valuation uses surveys to determine how much people are willing to pay to protect or restore a resource. |
