Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics focuses on a difficult question: Which is more important to planet Earth, providing for humans or protecting species other than humans? Some ethicists have tried to answer this question by putting a value on all the world’s species, which, of course, is difficult, by dividing the question into three different value systems:

» commodity value—Can an animal or plant be made into a drug, a product, or be sold?

» amenity value—Do species improve human life in a nonmaterial way, as Henry David Thoreau described? That is, Thoreau believed life improved simply by having the opportunity to observe other animals.

» moral value—Do species have value on their own and not related to any human needs?

The world contains thousands of species that humans know little about, and these creatures and plants seemingly have no value at all in the environment. More likely, science has not yet deciphered the roles these species play. How is one to put a value on the thousands of unknown species? Most important, is the value of an entire endangered species worth more or less than a person who is hungry, poor, or jobless?

The Endangered Species Act’s well-meaning attempt to halt the disappearance of animals and plants opened a Pandora’s box of ethical questions. This law and biodiversity in general are complex subjects, yet humans may be running short on time to solve many of the puzzles held within ecosystems.

Source of Information : Green Technology Biodiversity (2010)