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6-20 Ethics & Social Responsibility [CH 6

climes of cultivated fields, and local farmers report that the

vermin breed zestfully in churned up soil. No matter:
Agents seized the murderous farm tools and threatened to
fine Ming-Lin $300,000. After many months of wrangling
with the courts, Mr. Ming-Lin paid hundreds of thousands
of dollars to retrieve his equipment.
This is not an isolated case, as bizarre as this one is. The
government filed charges against Valley Communities
Inc., also in Kern County, CA., claiming that its operators
have threatened Tipton Kangaroo rats and Blunt-nosed
Leopard Lizards by plowing and irrigating fields. (A
lawyer in the case says, “I know of no dead (animal)
A herd of musk ox graze in an area proposed as a possible bodies.”
site for oil exploration inside the Arctic National Wildlife Ecology—is the study of the relationship between living
Refuge, Alaska. The Senate voted on March 16, 2005 to things and its environment. It is a legal issue affecting
open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil
drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for the society and one for which managers must be cognizant.
American people (Photo: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) There has been sufficient public indoctrination since the
1970s, such that nearly everyone accepts the premise that
we should maintain an ecologically sound environment,
but to achieve this requires trade-offs, such as lost jobs, closed industries, jobs and
technology being exported to third-world countries who are not hampered by state and
ecology
Relationship of living federal ecological laws. Achieving this goal requires trade-offs that we are not always
things to their willing to make. For example, although we fear the danger of oil spills from
environment. supertankers and oil lines, we insist upon gasoline being readily available and
reasonably priced. There are organizations that are adamant in their stand that the oil
reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) should never be developed
for use.
Coal-burning boilers, once converted to oil-burning furnaces in order to cut air
pollution, are being refitted back to coal-burning because coal is plentiful in the United
States and less expensive. Ecological goals are important; however, it is essential that
they be coordinated with other societal and economic objectives. For example, the
Kyoto Accord is an international treaty to reduce carbon dioxide (necessary for plant
growth) emissions, alleging that CO 2 is a major cause of global warming, even though
it is required by plants for growth. However, the treaty requires that the United States
eliminate coal and gas fired power generating stations and factories, and get rid of
most of its cars, trucks and airplanes, while allowing China, India and Russia to
develop their infrastructure, industrial and personal transportation. The economic
effect would make the United States a third world nation that would effectually
increase costs of goods and services, eliminate jobs and turn American industry into a
third-rate competitor.
Even though there was much discussion about the United States signing onto the
Kyoto treaty, scientists do not agree that the science supporting the treaty is factual,
and recognize its economic harm. More than 15,000 scientists, two-thirds with
advanced academic degrees, signed a petition in 1998 urging the U.S. government
(U.S. Senate) to reject the Kyoto treaty, noting the dubious and un-scientific nature of
the “science” used to promote the treaty and that it would “[damage] the economy of
the United States while exempting most of the world’s nations, including such major
economic powers as China, India, and Brazil.” Their petition was in line with the Senate
Resolution, approved by a 95-to-0 vote in July of 1997, rejecting the Kyoto Accord.
The Paris Agreement is written to legally bind signatories to an international
treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the Conference of the
Parties (COP 21) in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4
November 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5
degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. The disadvantage to the United
States is that this treaty would egregiously harm its industries and citizens while
supporting third world nations who are not held to the limitations this treaty demands

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