Assignments 6 and 7 Assignment 7: Almost all (except two) reflected on Andrea Sanders’ Be Zero piece. … “Andrea inspired and motivated me to start a simple lifestyle…” What does that actually mean? Many did not submit Assignment 7. Submit it by midnight to be accepted. Assignment 6 and 7: Please do not generalize. “No one thinks/cares/..” “All Lebanese..”

Assignment 8 Due Tuesday (tomorrow) by midnight What was the most interesting thing you learned in class this semester? Why was that the most interesting? Pls note your lowest homework grade will be dropped.

Last notes Yes, we meet again Wednesday Yes, our class today and on Wednesday is until 5.05 pm. Last chapter: Chapter 25: Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability. Yes, Final exam (Dec 11) is comprehensive. Detailed questions will only be on the material since Exam 2. More emphasis in the final exam on ‘essay’ questions instead of multiple choice. Yes: I can meet you before the Exam. Email me.

Chapter 25 (pages 645-658) Environmental Worldviews: how people think the world works - and what they believe their role in thew world should be. Environmental ethics. Anthropocentric vs biocentric.

worldviews.. planetary management The No-problem school …. The Free-market school … The spaceship-earth school … stewardship management consider the impact of our decisions on the next 7 generations

Can we manage the Earth? “The belief that we can manage the earth and improve on nature is probably the ultimate expression of human conceit, but it has deep rooted in the past and is almost universal.” - Rene Dubos “This view of the world — that nature belongs to us rather than we to nature — is powerful and pervasive - and it has to much mischief.” — Gus Speth “In no important instance have we been able to demonstrate comprehensive successful management of the world, nor do we understand it well enough to manage it even in theory.” - David Ehrenfeld (read the core case study)

levels of ethical concern

earth-centered worldview humans are not in charge of the world natural system is holistic, interconnected, and interdependent preserving earth’s natural capital requires us to mimic nature by applying the 3 principles of sustainability to human economics and lifestyle one - environmental wisdom worldview

environmentally literate 3 important ideas natural capital matters our ecological footprints are immense and are expanding rapidly ecological and climate-change tipping points are irreversible and should never be crossed the 3 principles of sustainability learning from the earth

“We will not fight to save what we do not love” – Stephen Jay Gould

Aldo Leopold; Sand County Almanac and ‘The land ethic’

How to live mores sustainably and lightly on the Earth? Use the three principles of sustainability to mimic the way sin which nature sustains itself Do not deplete or degrade the earth’s natural capital Do not waste matter and energy resources Protect biodiversity Repair ecological damage we have caused Leave the earth in as good a condition - or better - than you found it

sustainability 8

Can we become better environmental citizens? how to move beyond blame, guilt, fear and apathy? recognize these two common mental traps that lead to denial, indifference, and inaction gloom-and-doom pessimism [‘leave pessimism to better times’] blind technological optimism

Last reading The four laws of ecology and the four anti-ecological laws of capitalism http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/04/02/four-laws/

4 laws of ecology (Barry Commoner) everything is connected to everything else everything must go somewhere nature knows best nothing comes from nothing

4 laws of capitalism

For a major social change to occur, only 5-10% of the people in the world, or in a country or locality, must be convinced that change must take place and then act! … Political and ethical tipping points Three scientific laws that have never been violated: law of conservation of matter, and the two laws of thermodynamics. Learn from the earth to mimic these laws in our economy.