Deck 7: The Environment

Question 1

The moral theorist William T. Blackstone claims that the right to a livable environment

A) would solve the problem of how to conserve resources.
B) prevents the use of government regulation to control the actions of business.
C) is a fundamental human right.
D) implies that non-human animals have no genuine moral rights.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The "tragedy of the commons" is

A) the lack of a commons-a common place where people can come together.
B) the failure to appreciate what we have in common with other species.
C) that cost-benefit analysis involves value judgments that we do not share in common.
D) that individual pursuit of self-interest can sometimes make everyone worse off.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

William F. Baxter addresses environmental ethics by noting

A) the best ethical position to adopt on environmental issues is a naturalistic position.
B) non-human animals have intrinsic value.
C) judgments about environmental problems ought to be people-oriented.
D) damage to geological "marvels" is inherently wrong and should be prevented.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which environmental statement is true?

A) An American consumer can cause more tropical rain forest destruction than a poor person living within the forest itself.
B) Because of technological breakthroughs, people living in developed countries put less strain on the environment than do people in poorer countries.
C) There are only about 1000 species of animals left in the world.
D) The United States consumes only its proportional share of the world's irreplaceable natural resources.

Question 5

According to Holmes Rolston III,

A) naturalistic ethics ought to be abandoned.
B) some natural objects are morally considerable in their own right, apart from human interests.
C) all moral rights are derived from the interests of human beings.
D) nature has no value apart from human beings.

Question 6

Some environmental regulations (like forbidding the burning of coal in cities) benefit each and every one of us because the air we all breathe is cleaner. If a company ignores the regulation and burns coal, while others obey the regulation, then the company

A) violates our right to a livable environment.
B) is being a free-rider.
C) benefits from externalities.
D) creates an internality.

Question 7

The term ecology refers to the science of the

A) independent nature of individual ecosystems and animal species.
B) relationships between predators and prey withing a given environment.
C) total ecological community, both living and nonliving.
D) interrelationships among organisms and their environments.

Question 8

Which of the following is true of factory farms?

A) They are farms that produce large amounts of fruits and vegetables at low prices.
B) Small production of meat where ecological concerns are paramount.
C) Contrary to the critics, the animals in them rarely suffer.
D) Have the largest and most devastating impact on animals.

Question 9

Cost-benefit analysis

A) involves value judgments and factual uncertainties.
B) considers only short-term effects.
C) values costs over benefits focusing on internalities.
D) is a value-free social-scientific approach.

Question 10

"Pollution permits" are an example of which of the following methods of achieving our environmental goals?

A) pricing mechanisms
B) government subsidies
C) a laissez-faire approach
D) regulations

Question 11

According to the anthropocentric (or human-oriented) ethic of Baxter and others,

A) environmental preservation is inherently valuable.
B) the Grand Canyon is valuable only because people care about it.
C) we have a strong, almost absolute obligation to preserve species from extinction.
D) future people have no interests that we need to respect now.
E) nature has value in and of itself, apart from human beings.

Question 12

Business must be sensitive to its impacts on the physical environment primarily because of the

A) fiscal obligations a business has to its stockholders.
B) intrusion into an ecosystem frequently causes favorable effects.
C) interdependence of an ecosystem's elements.
D) possible public perception of negligence and potential legal implications.

Question 13

Which of the following is true of a regulatory approach to environmental problems?

A) It proceeds on a case-by-case basis, dealing with each company's specific circumstances.
B) It gives companies an incentive to do more than the minimum required by law.
C) It requires the EPA or other body to determine the most effective, feasible pollution-control technology for each different industry.
D) It involves the use of pricing mechanisms.

Question 14

One truth about factory farms is

A) they rarely inflict any genuine suffering on animals.
B) they are larger than ever.
C) they are necessary to feed the world.
D) they are run by brutal people.

Question 15

According to Joel Feinberg, future generations

A) future people can claim a right to a livable environment.
B) can not claim any right so we have limitied duties towards their welfare.
C) have a right to be born and we have an obligation to uphold this.
D) have interests that we can affect, for better or worse, right now.

Question 16

According to the philosopher Joel Feinberg,

A) future generations of people have a right to be born.
B) future generations have no moral rights.
C) we have no duties to future generations.
D) the rights of future generations are contingent upon those people coming into existence.

Question 17

The philosopher Tom Regan

A) claims that no one could approve of the treatment of animals in factory farms if they knew what was going on.
B) argues against the use of governmental regulations to control the actions of businesses.
C) believes that the FTC should be abolished.
D) denies that non-human animals have any moral rights.

Question 18

Animal manure

A) is not available in sufficient quantities to replenish agricultural land.
B) is a large source of pollution.
C) helps counteract the "greenhouse effect".
D) is potentially more dangerous than nuclear power.

Question 19

In consideration for the obligation to others

A) we have no genuine moral obligations to future generations.
B) future people have a right to be born.
C) the U.S. uses more than its proportional share of the world's resources.
D) environmental protection is always a static trade-off, with a fixed economic price to be paid for the gains we want.

Question 20

Utilitarians

A) focus on human well-being and ignore animal welfare.
B) oppose animal experimentation in principle.
C) are likely to oppose factory farming.
D) are likely to favor factory farming.

Question 21

Regulation is always the most effective way to allocate the costs of environmental protection.

Question 22

The word "ecosystem" refers to a total ecological community, both living and non-living.

Question 23

Business has considered the environment to be

A) a scarce commodity.
B) free and nearly limitless.
C) a limited supply.
D) costly.

Question 24

Cost-benefit analysis is a device used to determine whether it's worthwhile to incur a particular cost.

Question 25

According to William F. Baxter, we ought to respect the "balance of nature" and "preserve the environment" even if doing so brings no benefit to human beings.

Question 26

An assessment of costs and benefits inevitably involves

A) facts.
B) monetary costs only.
C) false opinions.
D) value judgements and factual uncertainties

Question 27

A moral vegetarian

A) rejects eating meat based on moral grounds.
B) only eats animal that were raised humanely.
C) does not believe animals suffer.
D) the pleasure we get from eating a hamburger justifies the price the animals pay.

Question 28

When it comes to the protecting animal rights, the United States is far ahead of Europe.

Question 29

A moral of Garrett Hardin's parable "The Tragedy of the Commons" is that there can be a difference between the private costs and the social costs of a business activity.

Question 30

The new discipline of "ecological economics" calculates the value of an ecosystem, not in terms of what people are willing to pay for it, but in terms of what it would cost to provide the benefits and services that the ecosystem now furnishes us.

Question 31

Advocates of a "naturalistic ethic" believe that penguins are important only because people like them.

Question 32

The word "ecology" refers to the science of the interrelationships among organisms and their environment.

Question 33

Moral vegetarians are people who reject the eating of meat on moral grounds.

Question 34

The disparity between private industrial costs and public social costs is what economists call an "internality."

Question 35

Tampering with the ecosystem always has injurious effects.

Question 36

According to Jeremy Bentham, the question is not whether animals can feel pain, but whether they can talk and reason.

Question 37

Advocates of a naturalistic ethic contend that some natural objects are morally considerable in their own right, apart from human interests.

Question 38

Environmental protection is always a static trade-off, with a fixed economic price to be paid for the gains we want.

Question 39

A decade after wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone park their presence was discovered to

A) not change anything.
B) have stabilized their own population.
C) have changed the behavior of elk.
D) be disruptive.

Question 40

Which of the following is a drawback to the regulatory approach?

A) regulation can take away an industry's incentive to do more than the minimum
B) regulation is an incentive to an industry to do more than the minimum
C) regulation does not apply to all equally
D) does not require polluters to use the strongest most feasible means of pollution control.

Question 41

Is it a moral right or privilege for human beings to live in a clean environment? Defend your answer.

Question 42

What's a "free rider"?

Question 43

Does the fact that McDonald gave in to public opinion mean that all businesses should do the same? Is there ever a time when a business can tell environmental regulators that they will not abide by regulations or requests? Describe those conditions.

Question 44

What's an "externality"? Give an environmental example of an externality.

Question 45

What is the meaning of "ecology"?

Question 46

The international fishing industry as it exists today gives us good reason to reject the moral of Garrett Hardin's "Parable of the Commons."

Question 47

Briefly describe the two popular answers to the question of who should pay the costs of environmental protections and restorations.

Question 48

Three approaches have gained the most attention when it comes to achieving our environmental goals: the use of regulations, incentives, and pricing mechanisms.

Question 49

Any equitable solution to the problem of who should pay the bill for environmental cleanup should take into account responsibility as well as benefit.

Question 50

Would you propose an incentive based program to challenge companies to reduce their environmental liability? Explain in your own words an example of how this can be done.

Question 51

William T. Blackstone rejects the idea that each person has a human right to a livable environment on the grounds that it is technically infeasible.

Question 52

Are there any differences between environment ethics for humans and animals? If so, describe them.

Question 53

Explain a cost-benefit analysis, and how it is relevant to environmental issues.

Question 54

An ordinary example of an ecosystem is a pond.

Question 55

According to Cambridge University biologist Andrew Balmford, the loss of nature's services is always outweighed by the benefits of development.

Question 56

Is it appropriate to have a "valley of death" as described in Case 7.2? If you worked for one of the factories how would you justify the fumes? If you take an environmental view, how would confront the problem?

Question 57

Thanks to the EPA, the federal government long ago eliminated the problem of potentially harmful pesticides and other chemical residues in food.

Question 58

According to Joel Feinberg, future generations of people have a right to be born.

Question 59

The rising affluence of people in the United States has meant a corresponding decrease in pollution and its attendant environmental problems in the United States.

Question 60

One of the attitudes prevalent in business that has led to increased environmental problems is the tendency to view the natural world as a free and unlimited good.