Academic Master

Environmental Science

Global Warming Ethics

Question 1

For years, companies take the blame for the pollution on the environment. Taking blame to companies seems easier compared to personalizing the global phenomena. Governments and manufacturing are presented as being neglectful of the effects of the emissions, from the plants to global warming. Thus, the public is not obligated to ensure that they be conscious of their activities. Such is the blame politicised, that the very fact, that individuals drive the cars is neglected. Carbon emissions from vehicles is a contributor to global warming, but the public is freed from this responsibility when the car manufacturing companies take the blame. The effects of global warming are less known to the public. The receding glaciers, rising ocean levels and reduced winters is evidence of global warming, and the public is ignorant of these (Guggenheim, 2006).

Scientists, though rarely, have recorded wrong hypotheses. Such is the case when skeptic scientists claim that the global warming trends are due to medieval global periods. However, the medieval warming has been on the rise in recent times, and this does not fully explain why it’s accumulating. The public is, thus, misled by such scientific theories. Typical of the general public, people believe what professionals say, and this claim by scientists is misleading. The public is therefore divided between the scientists that claim that global warming is real against the skeptics’ claims (Guggenheim, 2006).

Question 2

In the film, Al Gore says the world is capable of maintaining its current processes such as manufacturing without interfering with the environment (Guggenheim, 2006). However, the processes will need to incorporate sources of energy such as solar panels and wind energy. Further, the energy demands by these companies are attainable if the government helps in enforcing them. He is of the opinion that environmentally unfriendly processes should pay tax for their negative affluence. The tax charged is aimed at discouraging the manufacturers from use of the pollutant sources of energy. For households, the use solar panels and other sources of green energy ought to be enforced by the government (Guggenheim, 2006).

Al Gore admits that the world might not be able to reverse the effects of global warming. However, he believes that the world has a chance to reduce the damage pollution has on the earth. Al Gore advises that the incorporation of green energy in place of the pollutant sources will help reduce the rate of global warming. The projected effects from the cumulative graphs of the effects predict such high temperatures in the future. Hence, he believes that it is the responsibility of individuals, governments and companies to ensure use of energy friendly sources of energy.

Question 3

Ethical egoism (people’s interests merely determine between right and wrong), “people who do things on their own, who initiate action and make their own decisions,” (Longenecker, McKinney, & Moore, 1988, p. 64).

The film, An Inconvenient Truth (2006), surreptitiously presents the morality behind global warming. Most notable is when All Gore claims that the future depends on our ability to embrace green energy (Guggenheim, 2006). The egoistic moral is that people will embrace the changes because they want their children to live in a better world. Hence, the ‘right’ thing to do is plant trees, reduce carbon emissions and embrace green energy. The solution is selfish, in the sense that it is only for the children’s cause that the solutions are adopted.

Global warming is attributed to high carbon emissions from manufacturing companies. The main reasons that the said companies are reluctant to adopt green energy are due to its costly and mostly unreliable nature. Thus, embracing the green energy would cut down on the profit margins of the firms. The unreliable sources of energy such as limited sunlight hours for solar energy and unpredictable winds in windmill energy sources would reduce the production capacities of the firms. Out of ethical egoistic morality, companies are ‘right’ in choosing to forego the green energy solutions.

Companies that choose to neglect the proposed green energy solutions are considered wrong. The narrator, Al Gore, is intent on pointing the negative effects of neglecting his solutions. He is arguably right, and so are the companies. The film convinces people to embrace the solutions to ensure maintenance of the glaciers, snow-capped mountains and winters. However, this narrative is selfish in respect to calling the government to intervene and enforce laws that would force the manufacturing plants to embrace the otherwise expensive sources of energy. The narrator is wrong because the reduction in productivity would lead to unemployment. Opinions are ‘right’ and equally ‘wrong’ because they are all opinions without regard to the other. The companies have no regard for the environment, from their processes, while the narrator and his audience have no regard for the profitability and employment opportunities in the companies.

References

Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2006). An Inconvenient Truth [Motion Picture]. United States: IMDP.

Longenecker, J. G., McKinney, J. A., & Moore, C. W. (1988). Egoism and Independence:. Organizational Dynamics, 16(3), 64-72. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/009026168890037X

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