Working Toward Sustainability

Charles J. Kibert is Director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment and a Professor in the M.E. Rinker, Sr., School of Building Construction at the University of Florida, where he teaches courses on sustainability and sustainable construction and conducts research on design, energy, water, and materials challenges in the built environment. He is a cofounder and CEO of the Cross Creek Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit industry-university joint venture seeking to implement sustainability principles into construction. he is the author of Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery (Wiley). Martha C. Monroe is Professor and extension specialist in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. Her work in environmental education and communication uses effective programs and materials to engage people in working toward the resolution of environmental issues. She coauthored Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques and Evaluating Your Environmental Education Programs.Anna L. Peterson is professor in the Department of Religion and affiliated professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the center of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. She teaches and publishes widely on social and environmental ethics as well as religion in Latin America. Her books include Being Human: Ethics, Environment, and Our Place in the World and Everyday Ethics and Social Change: The Education of Desire.Richard R. Plate is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He has taught courses on environmental ethics and politics, critical thinking for environmental scientist, and socioeconomic on how individuals learn about make decisions regarding complex environmental systems.Leslie Paul Thiele teaches political theory and serves as Director Sustainability Studies at the University of Florida. He employs a cross-disciplinary approach to explore the aptitudes, values, and skills demanded of democratic citizens and leaders in a world of rapid technological, social, and ecological change. His books include Environmentalism for a New Millennium: The Challenge of Coevolution and Indra's Net and the Midas Touch: Living Sustainably in Connected World.

• Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvIntroduction xviiMAKING CONNECTIONS xviiiSHIFTING TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY xixTHE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK xxChapter 1 A Context for Sustainability 1THE RATIONALE FOR SUSTAINABILITY 1Sustainability Interlude 1A Response to a Crisis 2CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES 5Population and Consumption 6Climate Change 6Nonrenewable Resource Depletion 8Loss of Biodiversity 9Overfishing 10Eutrophication 12Desertification and Acidification 13Poverty 14Ecosystem Services and Quality of Life 14THE ETHICAL CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY 15THE THREE-LEG MODEL OF SUSTAINABILITY 15CONCLUSION 17Chapter 2 The Technology Challenge 21OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGY 21Defining Technology 22A Brief History of Technology 22THE TECHNOLOGY PARADOX 25Technological Optimism versus Technological Pessimism 25Developing a More Nuanced View of the Impacts of Technology 27CONSEQUENCES OF TECHNOLOGY 28Predicting Consequences of Technology 29Reducing the Uncertainty of Technology 31Technology Risk Assessment, Acceptance, and Management 32ALTERNATIVE, APPROPRIATE, AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY 34THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY 36SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 37Chapter 3 Introduction to Ethical Concepts 41RELIGIOUS ETHICS 42Common Ideals 42Views of Human Nature 45SECULAR AND PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICAL TRADITIONS 46Justice 47Deontological Ethics 47Rights 48Consequentialist Ethics 51Objectivism and Ethical Relativism 52Objectivism and Relativism in Sustainability 55ETHICS AS A TOOL FOR MAKING DECISIONS 55Framing Ethical Problems 56Conflicting Values 56THE THREE LEGS OF SUSTAINABILITY 58Social Ethics 59Environmental Ethics 60Economic Ethics 61Integrating the Three Legs 63CONCLUSION 64Chapter 4 Social Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 67JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, AND RECIPROCITY 67The Golden Rule 68Ethics of Care 71DISTRIBUTIONAL PRINCIPLES 72Distribution in a Just Society 73Distributing Disadvantages 74EXPLORING INTERDEPENDENCE 75Thinking Globally, Acting Locally 76Life on Spaceship Earth 78Environmental Justice 80OBLIGATIONS TO FUTURE GENERATIONS 81Intergenerational Justice 82A Look Back at Looking Forward 84Future Quality of Life 85Beyond Seven Generations 87CONCLUSION 90Chapter 5 Environmental Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 95THE EMERGENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 95The Birth of Modern Environmental Ethics 96Environmentalism Becomes Mainstream 98Undertones of the Sacred 99RELIGION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 99Religion and Nature 99Greening Religion 101ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 103Development of Ecology 103CARICATURES OF NATURE 104A Closer World 105CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS 107Getting the Scale of Ethics Right 108Deep Ecology, Ecofeminism, and Social Ecology 109Pluralistic Approaches 111Bioregionalism 112The New Agrarian Movement 113ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND NONHUMAN ANIMALS 114Making a Case for the Individual 114Mixed Communities 115ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND THE ETHICS OF SUSTAINABILITY 116Identifying Values 117Emphasizing Human Priorities 117CONCLUSION 118Chapter 6 Economic Dimensions of Sustainability Ethics 123FROM CLASSICAL ECONOMICS TO ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 124The Advent of Modern Economics 124Ecological Economics and the Classical Economists 125Neoclassical Economics 128Criticisms of Neoclassical Economics 130Physical Limitations 131Influences of Ecology 132THE ECOLOGICAL ECONOMIC MODEL 134Natural Capital and Ecological Services 135Discounting the Future 136The Economic Value of Natural Systems 137Feedback between Ecological and Economic Systems 139TOOLS OF ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 144The Polluter Pays Principle 144Extended Producer Responsibility 145Beneficiary Pays Principle 146Full Cost Accounting, Full Cost Pricing, and Life-Cycle Costing 148CONCLUSION 150Chapter 7 Integrating the Three Legs of Sustainability 155THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE 156A Legal Context 157Precaution in Practice 159Precaution as Risk Management 160Cost-Benefit Analysis 161Including Stakeholders 162Including Science 164Compensation for Risks 165The March of Progress 167IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES 168Lifeboat Ethics 168Tragedy of the Commons 169Hardin’s Challenge 170POVERTY REDUCTION VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION 170Linking Social and Environmental Goals 171Finding Synergistic Solutions 172The Role of Technology 174MANAGING THE GLOBAL COMMONS 175The Need for a Central Authority 176Moving beyond the Tragedy of the Commons 177International Multilateral Agreements 179Non-Governmental Organizations 180The Role of Government 181TRANSCENDING THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL MODEL 182Integrating the Three Legs 182Complex Adaptive Systems 183Integrating Behavior at Different Scales 184Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems 187Resilience and the Precautionary Principle 188Resilience and Technology 189Conflicting Values 191THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN DECISION MAKING 192The Principle of Transparency 193Transparency in Industry 194Transparency and Technology 196The Value of Autonomy 197CONCLUSION 199Chapter 8 Improving Our Thinking about Sustainability 209OBSTACLES TO MAKING GOOD DECISIONS 210Rational Decision Making 210Limits of Rationality 212Cognitive Heuristics 214Discounting the Future 217Complexity 219How Barriers to Rationality Affect Decisions 220STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING LIMITS TO RATIONALITY 224Becoming Environmentally Informed 224Becoming Socially and Economically Informed 226Systems Thinking 227CONCLUSION 235Chapter 9 The Process of Changing Behavior 239THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR 239Attitudes 240Subjective Norms 240Perceived Control 241Understanding Planned Behavior 242OBSTACLES TO SUSTAINABLE BEHAVIOR 243Political Obstacles to Sustainable Behavior 244Lack of Social Capital 244Accepting Unsustainable Outcomes 245Individualization 246Distancing 248HOW CHANGE HAPPENS 251The Five Phases of Individual Change 251Diffusion of Innovation 253Applying Diffusion of Innovation 254STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTING CHANGE 257Small Wins 257Reasonable Person Model 258Moving People toward Change 261CONCLUSION 262Chapter 10 Creating Change with Groups 267ADVANTAGES OF GROUP DECISION MAKING 267Additional Insights 268New Discoveries 270Increased Buy-In 271TYPES OF COLLABORATIVE PROCESSES 272MAKING THE MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PROCESS WORK 273Social Learning 273Building Shared Understanding 275Trust 281Iterative Approach 284LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS 287Developing the Ideal of a Learning Organization 288Creating Change in a Learning Organization 289CONCLUSION 290Chapter 11 Applying an Ethic of Sustainability 295MAKING ETHICAL DECISIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: AN OVERVIEW 295Social Sustainability 296Ecological Sustainability 296Economic Sustainability 297Integrating the Dimensions of Sustainability 298CONTEMPORARY SUSTAINABILITY-BASED FRAMEWORKS 298The Natural Step 299The Hannover Principles 300Corporate Social Responsibility 300PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 303Sustainability Frameworks and Ethics 303Picturing the Three-Legged Stool Model 304A FINAL CRITIQUE 313Index 319