Page 160 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

natural resource extraction) may be economically profitable.
In the longer term, however, environmental degradation gen-
erally feeds back and harms economies. The view one takes
also depends on whether one stands to benefit directly. Often
when resource extraction or development causes environmen-
tal degradation, a few private parties benefit economically, but
the broader public is harmed.
Traditional economic schools of thought have underesti-
mated or overlooked the contributions of the environment to our
economies, and as a result, many people have equated environ-
mental protection with economic sacrifice. Newer schools of
thought recognize that economies are coupled to the environ-
ment and reliant on its goods and services. For people holding
this worldview, our economic health depends on environmental
protection. This is why Costa Rica and other nations have taken
steps to better protect their natural assets.
FIguRE 6.8 Hurricane Katrina revealed our ongoing need Today, concern over climate change, pollution, fluctuat-
for environmental justice. Many of the people most affected by ing fossil fuel supplies, and dependence on foreign oil have
the storm were poor and nonwhite. These children are playing in led many economists and policymakers to recognize immense
the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where many homes were opportunities in revamping our economies with clean and
destroyed and water remained unsafe to drink long afterwards. renewable energy technologies. Building a green-energy econ-
omy presents a clear case of how economic advancement and
environmental protection can go hand-in-hand.
WEIGHInG THE ISSUES

EnVIRonMEnTaL JUSTICE Consider the place where you Economics studies resource allocation
grew up. Where were the factories, waste dumps, and pol-
luting facilities located, and who lived closest to them? Who Like ethics, economics examines factors that guide human
lives nearest them in the town or city that hosts your campus? behavior. Economics is the study of how people decide to use
Do you think the concerns of environmental justice advocates potentially scarce resources to provide goods and services that
are justified? If so, what could be done to ensure that poor are in demand. By this definition, environmental problems are
communities do not suffer more hazards than wealthy ones? also economic problems that can intensify as population and per
capita resource consumption increase. For example, pollution
may be viewed as a depletion of the resources of clean air, water,
or soil. Indeed, the word economics and the word ecology come
from the same Greek root, oikos, meaning “household.” Econo-
Economics and the Environment mists traditionally have studied the household of human society,

and ecologists the broader household of all life.
Questions of environmental justice, like questions of how
to value ecosystem services, intertwine ethical issues with
economic ones—and friction often develops between peo- Several types of economies exist
ple’s ethical concerns and their economic desires. Addressing An economy is a social system that converts resources into
ethical, economic, and environmental concerns together in a goods, material commodities manufactured for and bought by
mutually productive way is a primary goal of the modern drive individuals and businesses; and services, work done for others
for sustainable development (pp. 174–175). as a form of business. The oldest type of economy is CHAPTER 6 • Ethi C s, E C ono mi C s, A nd s ustA in A bl E dE v E lopm E nt
the subsistence economy. People in subsistence economies
Is there a trade-off between the economy meet their daily needs by subsisting on what they can gather from
and the environment? nature or produce on their own (by hunting, fishing, or farming),
rather than by working for wages and purchasing life’s necessities.
Measures to safeguard environmental quality frequently mesh well A second type of economy is the capitalist market
with ethical considerations, but we often hear it said that environ- economy. In this system, interactions among buyers and sell-
mental protection runs counter to economic interests. People argue ers determine which goods and services are produced, how
that environmental protection costs too much money, interferes many are produced, and how these are distributed. Capitalist
with progress, or leads to job loss. However, growing numbers of economies contrast with centrally planned economies, or state
economists assert that there doesn’t need to be a trade-off—and that socialist economies, in which government determines how to
in fact, environmental protection generally enhances our economy. allocate resources. In reality, however, virtually all national econ-
The view one takes depends in part on whether one thinks omies today are hybrid systems, often termed mixed economies.
in the short term or the long term. The economic judgments The United States—the world’s strongest proponent of
we make often pertain to short time scales, and in the short capitalism—has in fact borrowed a great deal from socialism,
term many activities that cause environmental harm (such as and China—the world’s largest socialist state—hosts a robust 159

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