Origins of Environmental Thought / History of env thought Flashcards
Name 3 examples of religions or cultures with environmental consciousness
1) . Buddhism - sacred wilderness, areas for spiritual experience, direct link between natural and spiritual world
2) Native Americans - Iroquois : how actions will affect lives of next seven people . Hopi (CA): borrow land, dry farming
3) . Amhara (Ethiopians) - respect the grasslands , can only harvest at specific times of year, have grassland guards to not over harvest
Name one example of a terrible European guy who did terrible shit to the people of the Congo in the name of European colonization
King Leopald from Belgium. He exploited the Congo for rubber and palm oil and chopped off the hands of the people of the Congo if his quota wasn’t met. The population of 20 million in the Congo decreased by half because of this piece of shit human being.
What are the origins of European history? (Aka, what happened during the 5-15 century, 16th century, and 19th century )
5-15 century : Christian , Islamic, and Judaism religion had major influence over peoples views on wilderness (major misinterpretation of various religious texts, but that’s another argument) . People believed their god create nature and therefore convert and exploit it for wealth.
16th century : The polish King created a nature preserve to protect the Aurocoh. It still went extinct, but his intent was there. People were concerned about the Auroch and Wisent populations declining.
19th century: There was a major decline in wildlife because of land cultivation and firearm availability and use. The British conservation movement began in the mid 1800s for the protection of land, and strong env traditions arose in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
Ralph Waldo Emerson viewpoint
1839 .
Nature is a temple for people to connect to spiritual world - man learns form nature
Henry David Thoreau view point
- Advocated for nature and opponent of materialism - lived in cabin near Walden Pond and wrote Walden .
“Wilderness is the preservation of the world”. Was a teacher, then became a writer after his brother died.
John Muir viewpoint
Preservationist ethic.
Natural areas have spiritual values superior to material gains from exploiting these areas
- Nature has intrinsic value
- believed biological communities depended on each other
- founded sierra club in 1982 (make mountains glad motto)
- Advocated for the creation of Yosemite in 1890 (visited with teddy Roosevelt for this)
Gifford Pinchot viewpoint
World consists of people and natural resources, which should used to benefit the greatest number of people for the longest time.
- 1st head of the forest service and trained in Europe
- sustainable development - meets present and future human needs while minimizing damage - “best use of land” (including beauty)
- government should manage nature for multiple use of resources
Aldo Leopold viewpoint
1948
Evolutionary ecological land ethic
- middle ground between Pinchot and Muir
- Human exclusion from nature is impossible BUT must use land in ways that do not compromise biodiversity
- Environmentalists today hold these values
Ellen Swallow Richards
1842-1911
- first female (fist pump) chemist at MIT (only men at the time)
- studied sanitary engineering
- worked on maintaining public health through water quality (affected by sewage and industrial waste)
- tested rivers, streams in MA and surveyed water quality to create first standards in USA
- development of sewage treatment plants that protected drinking water ant natural environment
- Basically, she was a boss ass bitch
Rachel Carson
1907 - 1964.
Wrote Silent Spring which describes the misuse of DDT and pesticide s
- Bioconcentration : body doesn’t break down toxins (DDT) which affects calcium metabolizing . Eggs get crushed when birds sit on them . Examples brown pelican and ospreys and eagles.
- Chemical Companies heavily attacked her for validity of her claims , because she was smart and a WOMAN and threatened their money. Not much as changed .
Provide three reasons why the 1970s are often referred to as the Environmental Decade
- Earth Day
- Nixon established EPA
- Major amendments to the Clean Air Act and Clean Water act
Wangari Maathai
began greenbelt movement in Kenya in 1977 to plant native trees and empower women.
Movement spread to 15+ African nations, US, and Europe
- planted 30 million + trees
- Nobel Peace Prize
Lester Brown
An economist and agronomist concerned with climate change
- travels world describing changes humans must make to combat climate change before it is too late
- cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2020
Michael Pollan
Wrote the Omnivores Dilemma and In Defense of Food
