Problems Discussion

1. Identify and comment on the importance of each of the environmental impacts described
in the following passage: The Swedish company IKEA, the worlds largest furniture and
home furnishings retailer, has adopted a global corporate policy that prohibits the use of
old-growth forest wood or tropical wood in its furniture. All timber must come from
sustainably managed forests. IKEA has eliminated the use of chlorine in its catalog paper,
uses 100 percent recycled paper fibers, and is committed to eliminating waste in its retail
stores. The Trash is Cash program has transformed the thinking of retail store workers
to see trash as a revenue-generating resource

2. Identify and discuss the moral issues involved in the following case. The great marshes of
southern Florida have attracted farmers and real estate developers since the beginning of
the century. When drained, they present valuable ground. From 1909 to 1912 a fraudulent
land development scheme was attempted in collusion with the U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture. Arthur Morgan blew the whistle on that situation, jeopardizing not only his own
position as a supervising drainage engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but
also that of the head of the Office of Drainage Investigation. An attempt to drain the
Everglades was made again by a Florida governor from 1926 to 1929. Once more Arthur
Morgan, this time in private practice, stepped in to reveal the inadequacy of the plans and
thus is courage bond sales. But schemes affecting the Everglades did not end then.
Beginning in 1949, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started diverting excess water from
the giant Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico to reduce the danger of flooding to
nearby sugar plantations. As a result, the Everglades, lacking water during the dry season,
were drying up. A priceless wildlife refuge was falling prey to humanitys appetite. In
addition, the diversion of waters to the Gulf and the ocean also affected human habitations
in southern Florida. Cities that once thought they had unlimited supplies of fresh
groundwater found they were pumping salt water instead as ocean waters seeped in.25
Current estimates are that $10 billion will be needed to reverse generations of damage,
but initial federal funding faded quickly after the combination of September 11, 2001 and
Hurricane Katrina diverted money in other directions.

3. The social experimentation model of engineering highlights the need to monitor

engineering projects after they are put in place. Discuss this idea in connection with
Hurricane Katrina.

4. Do you agree or disagree, and why, with Peter Singers claim that it is a form of
bigotryspeciesismto give preference to human interests over the interests of other
sentient creatures? Also, should we follow Albert Schweitzer in refusing to rank life forms
in terms of their importance?

5. Exxons 987-foot tanker Valdez was passing through Prince William Sound on March 24,
1989, carrying 50 million gallons of oil when it fetched up on Bligh Reef, tore its bottom,
and spilled 11 million gallons of oil at the rate of a thousand gallons a second.42 The
immediate cause of the disaster was negligence by the ships captain, Joseph J.
Hazelwood, who was too drunk to perform his duties. Additional procedural violations,
lack of emergency preparedness, and a single- rather than double-hull on the ship all
contributed in making matters worse. This was one of the worst spills ever, not in
quantity, but in its effect on a very fragile ecosystem. No human life was lost, but many
thousands of birds, fish, sea otters, and other creatures died. Discuss how each of the
human-centered and nature centered ethical theories would interpret the moral issues
involved in this case, and apply your own environmental ethic to the case.