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Captures, converts, and stores energy
from the sun |
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Produces oxygen and consumes carbon
dioxide |
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Creates fertile soil |
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Stores, purifies, and releases water
gradually |
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Provides wildlife habitats |
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Filters and detoxifies pollutants and
waste products free of charge |
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Usually capable of self-maintenance and
self-renewal |
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Consumes energy from fossil or nuclear
fuel |
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Consumes oxygen and produces carbon
dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels |
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Depletes or covers fertile soil |
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Often uses and contaminates water and
releases it rapidly |
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Destroys some wildlife habitats |
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Produces pollutants and waste, which
must be cleaned up at our expense |
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Requires continual maintenance and
renewal at great cost |
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Dominant 1620 to 1850, perhaps even
now: |
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Moral and economic ideological
rationale for resource exploitation |
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nature and her resources have no
intrinsic value |
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nature unproductive and useless without
application of human labor |
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human welfare depends on exploitation
and development of nature |
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technologically optimistic that human
inventiveness and technology can overcome any resource problem |
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resources are infinitely abundant for
human use |
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rationale for European
conquest/colonialism |
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still explicitly or implicitly a major
countermovement to ÒenvironmentalismÓ |
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Lynn Townsend White, Jr. White's main
area of research and inquiry was the role of technological invention in the
Middle Ages. He believed that the Middle Ages were a decisive period in the
genesis of Western technological supremacy, and that the "activist
character" of medieval Western Christianity provided the "psychic
foundations" of technological inventiveness. He also conjectured that
the Christian Middle Ages were the root of ecological crisis in the 20th
century, and wrote a highly influential article, "The Historical Roots
of Our Ecologic Crisis", published in the journal Science in 1967. |
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Preservation &
Transcendentalism(1830s - ): Nature important to support both the physical
and spiritual life of humans, hence continued existence of wilderness and
wildlife undisturbed by human action is necessary (ex., Wilderness Society,
Sierra Club) Henry David Thoreau ÒOn Walden Pond,Ó Ralph Waldo Emerson,
George Catlin, John Muir. |
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Conservation (1860s - ): Natural
Resources should be scientifically managed from a utilitarian prospective to
provide for the greatest good for the people over the longest period of time
(Society of American Foresters) TD, Pinchot. |
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Wildlife Management (1890s-): The
scientific management of ecosystems can ensure stable populations of
wildlife, viewed as a crop from which excess populations can be harvested,
particularly in creation and sport (Ducks Unlimited, Aldo Leopold). |
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Reform Environmentalism (1870s - peaked
in 1960s): Human health is linked to ecosystem conditions like water quality
and air pollution. To maintain a healthy human society, ecologically
responsible actions are required, which can be developed and implemented through the natural
sciences (Environmental Disaster Fund - Love Canal). |
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Source: E&S, p. 273. |
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Environmental Justice (1970s -
present): Ecological problems exist because of the structure of society and
its imperatives, and the benefits of environmental exploitation accrue to the
wealthy while the poor and marginal bear most of the costs. Hence the resolution of environmental
problems requires fundamental social change (CitizenÕs Clearinghouse for Hazardous
Waste). |
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Deep Ecology (1980s - ): The richness
and diversity of life has intrinsic values, so human life is privileged only
to the extent of satisfying basic needs. Maintenance of biodiversity requires
decreasing the human impact (Earth First!). |
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Ecofeminism (1980s - present):
Ecosystem abuse us rooted in androcentric ideas and institutions. Relations of complementarity rather
than domination are required to resolve conflicts between culture/nature, human/nonhuman,
and male/female relationships (World Women in Development and Environment). |
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Ecospiritualism (1990s- present):
Nature is GodÕs creation, and humans have a moral obligation to keep and tend
the creation, including biodiversity and unpolluted ecosystems (National
Council of Churches, as well as some new evangelical church movements). |
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Source: E&S, p. 273. |