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John Muir's 'A Near View of the High Sierra'

To read John Muir’s writings about nature is to listen to him describe a watercolor landscape, brushstroke by brushstroke. He lived and breathed the wilderness that he explored, and experienced the grandeur of the wild through all of the five senses. Muir eloquently used science, aesthetics, spirituality, and morality to express the environment around him. (more…)

David Abram’s ‘A More-Than-Human World’

In David Abram’s ‘A More-Than-Human World’, the author paints a vivid picture of a natural environment that generally goes unseen, unheard, and unfelt in western culture. Throughout his studies in Southeast Asia, Abram worked closely with Shamans, sorcerers, and other practitioners of the “supernatural”. During this time he was exposed to village societies that possessed an astounding appreciation for natural phenomena that would go largely unnoticed in the west. Abram explains “that which is regarded with the greatest awe and wonder by indigenous, oral cultures is, I suggest, none other than what we view as nature itself” (150). (more…)

Refuting Peter Wenz's 'LULU Points' Zoning System

In his article ‘Just garbage’, Peter Wenz outlines a dynamic system for zoning locally undesirable land uses (LULUs) that seeks to dramatically reduce the current economic and racial bias. Wenz argues that proponents of the status quo, a system based largely on the Doctrine of Double Effect, are enabling a policy that unfairly discriminates against minorities under the guise of simple economic decision making. Furthermore, Wenz professes that “disproportionate impacts on poor people violate principles of distributive justice, and so are not morally justifiable in the first place” (107). With this basic premise in mind, the author outlines the shortcomings of current approaches while promoting his own system of “LULU points” (112). (more…)

Deep Ecology and Sustainable Ecosystems

Developing an appreciation for deep ecology and land ethic goes far beyond our traditional focus in environmental management. By placing an emphasis on preserving the inherent value of complex ecosystems, regardless of the human benefits derived, we are able to protect nature with an effort that we’ve thus far reserved only for the betterment of our own species. To do so will require us to view ecosystems as entities unto themselves, with varying degrees of health, and possessing a need to be protected akin to the needs of individual species, ourselves included. (more…)

J. Baird Callicott on Leopold's Land Ethic

An attempt to realize a distinction between anthropogenic changes and “natural” changes in the environment is a futile effort that introduces far too much philosophy into the debate over environmental conservation. The very fact that humans have evolved from lower primates into the dominant species on earth is a testament to the power of Darwin’s natural selection, adaptation, and a host of unequivocally “natural” processes. Just as the quick decimation of a fallen tree at the hands of a termite colony would raise few eyebrows, the role of humans in earth’s degradation is no more or less a natural. The distinction is scale. (more…)

Historical Precedent for Modern Land Use Laws

European beliefs towards land ownership were overwhelmingly responsible for the parceling and division of America during the colonial period. Our founding documents, our court system, and our modern attitudes and actions in regards to land use have roots deep in Saxon common law and the writing of English philosopher John Locke. The historical context from which the foundation of our country was built has lasting repercussions on our ability to responsibly manage and maintain the natural environment. Even while old ideas on land ownership and stewardship are being challenged in the modern era, they still form the basic legal framework in which all environmentalists, conservationists, businesses, and individuals must function. (more…)

"Wilderness" and the Evolving American Mindset

In his article, “Wasty Ways”: Stories of American Settlement, Alan Taylor offers a unique viewpoint on the deforestation and species devastation that characterized early frontier America. While settlers on the frontier are often denounced for excessive manipulation and exploitation of the environment, Taylor contends that these actions represented reciprocity for the hardships nature had previously inflicted. Europeans and wealthy Americans had the luxury of condemning atrocities against nature because they lacked the memory of a wilderness that had only recently been a superior adversary. Those settlers who endured the wrath of nature instilled in their children their sense of accomplishment and the virtue of conquering the wild. (more…)

The Economics of Sustainability