Environmental Ethics

Is the environment purely a resource for meeting human needs, or does it have value in itself? Should it be protected only to the extent that such protection benefits mankind? This text examines issues such as these in order to illuminate a range of environmental and ethical perspectives which are present in everyday life. The text examines 20 environmental issues and presents biographical sketches of key individuals who have explored the values and concerns underlying those issues. A concise chronology of the development of environmental ethics codes adopted as law in the USA, and by the public and private sectors. The A-Z entries address ethical devates in a wide variety of subject areas, including: agriculture, atmospheric pollution, deforestation, ecosystems, energy, future generations, Gaia, genetic engineering, hunting and fishing, marine pollution, nuclear power/weapons, population, poverty, resource depletion, species extinction, tourism, transport, waste, and the wilderness.