There seems to be almost universal agreement that we are destroying our environment, and that the culture of capitalism is unsustainable. There is also agreement that if people in the so-called developing world emulate the life style of people in the developed world, they will be inviting environmental catastrophe. For example, we note in Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism that in the United States there is one automobile for every 1.3 persons; in China there is one automobile for every 125 persons. But the Chinese people (with the full support of the Chinese government, not to mention automobile manufacturers) want to have as many cars as Americans do. The result could be an ecological disaster. Global warming, some scientists say, is with us, and is responsible for the dramatic changes in weather patterns of the past few years; the depletion of the ozone layer is causing an epidemic of skin cancers; toxic wastes are rapidly washing over our living space, particularly in the developing world and in poor areas of the developed world. The question, of course, what, if anything, can be done about it?
A. The State of the Environment
Reading 1. Global Environmental Outlook
http://www.unep.org/environmentunderreview/
This United Nations Environmental Program overview of the state of the environment provides a good starting point for understanding the problem.
Exercise 1. The Environmental Scorecard
http://www.scorecard.org/
Local politicians and media don’t often publicize instances of environmental pollutants in their communities. But at this site from The Environmental Defense Fund you can get a list of local polluters and what they are adding to the environment. Just type in your local zip code and get the information. You can also get information on environmental justice (or injustice), and find out how the burdens of environmental pollution are borne largely by poor and marginalized populations.
Reading 4. Trends in Global Temperatures
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/
The Goddard Institute for Space Studies charts the increases in global temperatures. One of the biggest factors in the increase in greenhouse gases in the U.S. is the shift by largely educated Americans to gas guzzling utility vehicles.
Reading 4a. Phaeton’s Reins: The Human Hand in Climate Change
http://bostonreview.net/BR32.1/emanuel.html
Superb summary of the history and the dynamics of climate change and global warming by Kerry Emanuel, one of the foremost people examining the human impacts on climate
B. Consumption and the Environment
Three factors contribute to environmental destruction: population, technology, and consumption. Of the three, consumption has received the least attention, probably because it is the most difficult to do anything about. But the need for ever increasing consumption in the culture of capitalism is arguably the single greatest cause of environmental degradation. It is the need and desire for more “stuff” that stimulates the development of technologies that degrade the environment, and, while population is often cited as a cause of environmental problems, it is clearly the slowest growing countries that cause the greatest problems. Even the destruction of environments in developing countries (e.g. the destruction of rainforests) is a consequence of the economic demands of the wealthier members of our planet. The following selections all address the issue of consumption as a factor in habitat destruction.
Reading 5. Human Development Report 2016
http://hdr.undp.org/en/2016-report
This United Nations report describes the relationship between consumption and human development. It focuses on the vast increase in consumption, noting, however, how unevenly this increase has been. it also describes some of the effects of consumption on the environment and on societies.
Reading 6. Revisiting Carrying Capacity: Area-Based Indicators of Sustainability
http://dieoff.com/page110.htm
and also http://worldpopulationhistory.org/carrying-capacity/ where current concerns are expressed regarding the lack us sustainability of our population growth and rate of consumption,
“The fundamental question for ecological economics,” says William E. Rees in this article, “is whether remaining stocks of natural capital are adequate to sustain the anticipated load of the human economy into the next century.” Rees uses the idea of “carrying capacity” to make the point that our way of life is not sustainable. But his use of the term (unlike many others) takes into account the high consumption lifestyle characteristic of the culture of capitalism. He defines “carrying capacity” as “the maximum rates of resource harvesting and waste generation (the maximum load) that can be sustained indefinitely without progressively impairing the productivity and functional integrity of relevant ecosystems wherever the latter may be located.” He argues that many countries are already vastly exceeding their carrying capacity, existing largely by drawing on the resources of others or of future generations; as he puts it, “so-called ‘advanced’ economies are running massive, unaccounted, ecological deficits with the rest of the planet.” Thus if the present population of the world were to all to enjoy the lifestyle of North Americans (to which they all aspire), we would need an additional two planets Earth. Gandhi had the same insight over 50 years ago; a reporter asked him if he wanted India to take the same path to industrialization as England. “If it took tiny England half the world to reach its level of development,” asked Gandhi, “how many worlds would it take India?”
Reading 7. Ecological Footprint Report
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/content/images/article_uploads/LPR2014_summary_low_res.pdf
This report is based on one of the questions posed by William E. Rees in the previous selection. “How large an area of productive land is needed to sustain a defined population indefinitely, wherever on Earth that land is located?” The report we need 1.5 earths to sustain the damage currently inflicted by our resource use. The report compares the ecological impact all countries with over 1 million people and examines the extent their consumption can be supported by their local ecological capacity.
If you like, you can even calculate your own footprint at https://www.earthday.org/take-action/footprint-calculator/
Reading 8. Britain Now “Eating Planet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4897252.stm
This article from the BBC describes a report from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and the Open University that Great Britain is now requires more than three earths to support itself. The article also contains a link to an energy calculator gives you the opportunity to choose how you would like the UK’s electricity to be generated in 2020.
Exercise 2: The Happy Planet Index
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/
From Friends of the Earth, the “Happy Planet Index is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives. The results are surprising, even shocking, but there is much to learn from what they show.”
C. Food and the Environment
In Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism we emphasize the role of consumption in environmental devastation, using our food habits to illustrate how our tastes in food have been culturally constructed to maximize consumption. Meat (largely beef) and sugar–fat and sucrose–comprise the major part of the American diet, to the detriment of our health and the environment. The following selections discuss the consequences of our taste for beef, and the environmental problems that rise from the production of a by-product of sugar–rum
Reading 9. Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production http://science.time.com/2013/12/16/the-triple-whopper-environmental-impact-of-global-meat-production/
The Western taste for beef, we argue in Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, is environmentally destructive. Meat-centered diets, as argued in the article, are very unusual; most cultures center their food tastes around some carbohydrate prepared in some distinct fashion (bread, pasta, tortilla, etc), adding spices, vegetables, and meat as side dishes. We also trace the development of the American taste for beef, noting the role that government took in fostering that taste. In this article Bryan Walsh explains the dangers of our beef consumption to our environment, to our health, and to the animals themselves.
Reading 10. Which Kind of Booze is Best for the Planet
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2010/12/carbon-footprint-beer-whiskey-tequila/
In Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism we trace the evolution of our taste for sugar, and discuss the negative environmental impact of sugar production. One of the byproducts of sugar is molasses, which is then used for rum production. Rum, in fact, figured almost as strongly in the so-called triangular trade route from Africa, to the Americas, and to England. This article describes some of the environmental effects of rum production in Puerto Rico, where it is one of the staples of the economy and other alcohols.
D. The Resistance to Environmental Action
Can environmental destruction be reversed or even reduced in the culture of capitalism? Polls indicate that for Americans environmental safeguards are at the top of their list of priorities, and even conservative politicians are getting on the environmental bandwagon. However some claim that it is impossible, given the values and cultural priorities of the culture of capitalism, to halt the destruction of the environment, let alone ever reverse it. The accumulation of goods, wages, and profits will, they say, never be sacrificed to save the environment. The following selections indicate why this may be so.
Reading 11. Ecology and Capitalist Costs of Production: No Exit
http://www.webalice.it/michele.castellano/politica/Note/Wallerstein/Ecology%20and%20Capitalist%20Costs%20of%20Production-%20No%20Exit.pdf
This essay by Immanual Wallerstein offers an excellent overview of the role of environmental pollution in our society, and, more importantly recognizes a historical dimension to the problem that is lacking in many critiques. From Wallerstein’s perspective, environmental degradation is not simply a byproduct of our way of life, it is an intrinsic part of it. The implication is that, other than radically changing the way we live, there is not that much that we can do about it. He begins with what he calls two elementary features of historical capitalism: the first is the need for perpetual growth in production and constant geographic expansion, and, the second is the fact that one source of capitalist profit comes from passing the environmental cost of production and consumption on to the larger society, the developing world, or future generations. This is what Wallerstein calls the “dirty secret” of capitalism.
Exercise 4: Pesticide Residue Calcuator
http://www.safefruitsandveggies.com/pesticide-calculator
Finally, since the corporate world assures us that what they do is good for us, they shouldn’t mind your finding out what kinds of pollutants they’re feeding us. At this site you can calculate the type and quantity of pesticides in the food that you eat. All you need to do is check off what you ate, and they’ll give you the information. Bon Appetite, as they say.
Exercise 5. The Meatrix
http://www.themeatrix.com/
Check out one view of the environmental consequences and moral implications of a meat-centered diet. R-rated.
