Ethics and Global Climate Change

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the necessity and importance of preserving the environment. The paper states that the choices that our generation makes will have a direct effect on future generations, and the world's ecosystems. The paper highlights the negative results of burning fossil fuel and emphasizes the need for an alternative source of cheap and abundant energy. The paper further discusses that one of mankind's basic purposes is the goal of changing the environment around it in order to improve living conditions for modern society.

From the Paper:

"An increasingly large number of people enjoy the electricity and transportation that is possible as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. If the greatest happiness principal were to be applied to the effect global warming will have on sea levels, reducing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels may not be the morally best decision to make. A few hundred million people losing their homes would not outweigh the happiness that six billion people get from having a supply of cheap and abundant energy. The best decision that could be made, from a utilitarian perspective, and other moral perspectives, is to research and develop an alternative source of cheap and abundant energy, comparable to fossil fuels, but without the associated impact on the Earth. This would allow everybody on the planet to continue living their lifestyle the same way without jeopardizing hundreds of millions of people's homes and lives."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Lovgren, Stefan National Geographic News April 26, 2004 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0420_040420_earthday.html
• Nygaard, David F. "2020 Vision Brief 5: World Population Projections, 2020"International Food Policy Research Institute October 1994http://www.ifpri.org/2020/BRIEFS/NUMBER05.HTM

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