‘Anthropocentric Indirect Arguments for Environmental Protection,’ Kevin Elliott; Anthropocentric Indirect Arguments: A Risky Business?
Energy scientist Amory Lovins is fond of pointing out that in the late 19th century, it was not picketing environmentalists that saved the whales being slaughtered en masse for oil used for lighting; it was the engineers and venture capitalists that made electricity a viable and scalable power source (Lovins, 2012). To put a finer point on it, humans adopted a practice that benefited the environment (to stop killing whales for oil) neither for nonanthropocentric reasons (e.g., that whales have rights) nor for direct anthropocentric reasons (e.g., that whales provide aesthetic benefits). Rather, the environment was unintentionally benefited (whales were preserved) because of a practice that was beneficial to humans (electricity was cheaper than whale oil). Today, support is gathering around the notion that environmental concerns and goals are most likely to be addressed and achieved through actions and policies that put humanwelfare first and incorporate the concerns of sectors of society to which environmentalists have traditionally beenopposed.Environmentalists, so the thinkinggoes,must becomefluent in the languages of energymarkets, economics, and finance; they should adopt a less hostile attitude toward capitalism and technology; and they must cease to reflexively regard words like ‘growth,’ ‘nuclear,’ and ‘development’ as, well, dirty. The movement, sometimes referred to as ‘bright green environmentalism,’ is spearheaded by the Break Through Institute, a think tank led by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger (2007). Kevin Elliott notes that his argument for Anthropocentric Indirect Arguments (AIAs) builds on their proposals. I think AIAs are probably the least worst strategy for nudging the needle on environmental and energy policy, and Elliott’s defense of their usefulness is sensible and timely. It is sensible because of the reasons he lists in Table 1. It is timely because, in addition to the examples Elliott cites, the momentum that has recently gathered around efforts to combat climate change seems to be fueled, in large part, by explicit or implicit AIAs. For instance, much attention has been devoted this summer to a report on climate change commissioned by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, former
On the Coal Question
THE North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers was, in its origin, a society limited in its score to the discussion of subjects belonging to the practice of mining, and especially of coal mining. At that period the working of coal and other minerals was carried on with less aid from machinery than at present, and the district in which the society is located was not so distinguished as it now is for the practice of mechanical engineering in all its branches. Hence, the society, in its growth, has gradually assumed more and more of an engineering character; and my recent election, as your president, indicates that mechanical science is no longer regarded by the members as secondary, or merely subsidiary, to the practice of mining. But we must guard against this tendency of the engineering element to outgrow the mining element of this institute. We must not forget that we are situated in the very heart of the coalfield which, more than any other, has rendered England pre-eminent as a producing nation, and that, notwithstanding the increasing magnitude and importance of the engineering works of this district, the raising of coal is still foremost amongst the industries of the North, both as regards the extent of the interests involved, and its importance to the general prosperity of the nation.
Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq
Preface and Acknowledgements. Introduction -. PART I: MAPPING THE JUST WAR TRADITION. Chapter 1: Antiquity -. Chapter 2: The Middle Ages -. Chapter 3: Renaissance and Reformation -. Chapter 4: From Holy War to Enlightenment -. Chapter 5: Modernity and Beyond -. PART II: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES. Chapter 6: The Just War Tradition Today -. Chapter 7: Terrorism -. Chapter 8: Pre-emption -. Chapter 9: Aerial Bombing -. Chapter 10: Humanitarian Intervention -. Conclusion. Bibliography -. Index