The world has a problem. Climate change has ceased to be a debatable possibility with the potential to affect earthly existence at some point in the (very distant) future, and has materialized in the form of measurable ecological changes. Scientific evidence showing elevated atmospheric temperature, rising sea levels and changes in precipitation patterns has begun to pile up, and there is little question that human development has had a defining role in the surge of these processes. The debate has now shifted to whether any action aimed at reducing or undoing the harm is too late. This is indeed one big problem.
Fortunately, there is a sector within the scientific community that believes action would not be completely unfruitful: even though the Earth will get warmer and the effects of the rising temperatures will be felt, it is still possible to protect the long-term viability of the planet, and our species, by enforcing some much needed, albeit uncomfortable, changes. Putting a stop to population growth and achieving carbon neutrality are examples that rank high on the to-do list.
However, the implementation of these and other changes is currently being stalled by the political negotiations that naturally accompany such a large-scale endeavor. The perspectives are varied, and they respond to differing interests and values. Parker and Blodgett (2008) have developed a sharp characterization of the main three approaches, or lenses, to climate change policy – technological, economic and ecological – and the trade-offs among them. The ‘three lenses’ paradigm is key to the understanding of current environmental policy because it’s been the difference in approaches that caused the failure of the main international efforts on climate change. The Kyoto protocols, which were not ratified by the U.S., are a glaring example of the problems currently affecting climate change policy.
It is expected that future environmental policy will be as affected by the lens through which policy-makers see climate change as it has been in the past; however, there seems to be a shift in public moral concerns with the environment which suggests that more individuals are embracing the ecological lens. This would certainly be a welcome change, since a morally engaged world-wide community would be the most effective in exerting the necessary changes, regardless of the economic pressures they may result in.
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