PS 3480, Environmental Politics, May 4, 2007

   

The Problem of Biodiversity

1. Facts and Uncertainty

Species extinction:

    The Case of the Dodo
 

2. Values and Disagreement

Arguments for Species Protection:

  • The Pragmatic argument
  • The Biodiversity argument (Edmund Wilson)
  • Do species have rights?


3.  The Policy Response

    a. CITES, 1973
 

    b. The U.S. Endangered Species Act, 1973
 

4.  The Politics of Implementation

    The Northern Spotted Owl

    Habitat Protection
 

5. The Problem of Biodiversity in the Twenty-First Century

 

 

The Problem of Population

1. The Situation

  •  Growth
  •  Demographic Transition

2. So What?  Who Cares about population?

a.  Carrying Capacity (Garrett Hardin, “Tragedy of the Commons”)

b.  Economic Capacity

c.  Political Capacity

3.  Alternative Perspectives and Values

a. “We’re all gonna die!” -  Population is a Crisis
      Thomas Malthus
      Paul Ehrlich: “The Population Bomb”
        Zero Population Growth / Negative Population Growth

b. “Don’t worry, be happy” -  Population is an opportunity
      Julian Simon

c. “It’s technology, stupid” -  Population problems can be fixed
      Barry Commoner

4.  What can reduce high birthrates in a developing country?

a. An assured food supply

b. reduced infant mortality rates

c. literacy

d. rudimentary health services

e. social insurance

f. industrialization and urbanization

g. rising economic expectations

h. women’s rights, work outside the home