Environmental Decision-Making Failures

Environmental Decision-Making Failures

Please answer one of the following questions:

Please be thorough in your answers, identifying important concepts and defining them, providing examples from the course materials.

Identify and explain the reasons why some societies make “disastrous decisions,” according to Diamond. What are the most serious problems identified by Diamond? Identify specific “signs of hope,” as discussed by Diamond. Utilize the course materials we’ve reviewed to date and your own knowledge and experience to argue in support of 3 things people could do on an individual level and 3 things we could (should?) do as a nation to address issues of environmental degradation across the globe. What objections might be raised against arguments for improving the environment? Are these objections sound? Why/why not?
In Chapter 15, Diamond discusses Big Business and the Environment. What are some of the reasons why different companies perceive it as being in their interests to adopt different policies, either harming or sparing the environment? What changes does Diamond suggest would be most effective in inducing companies that currently harm the environment to spare it instead? Please use examples from this reading.
Summarize the main ideas of Lecture 7. What, if anything, can the state and policy do to address issues of environmental justice? Please be thorough and provide examples from the course material.

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Environmental Decision-Making Failures

Why Societies Make Disastrous Decisions (Jared Diamond, Collapse)

In Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond identifies four key reasons why societies make disastrous decisions that lead to their collapse:

Failure to Anticipate a Problem
- Societies may not foresee a problem before it arises. For example, the Norse in Greenland did not anticipate that their traditional farming methods would fail in the new climate and terrain.
Failure to Perceive a Problem Once It Has Arisen
- Sometimes, problems emerge too slowly to be noticed (like gradual deforestation), or are outside the usual experience of a society. For instance, the Easter Islanders might not have realized that felling too many trees would make the island uninhabitable.
Failure to Attempt to Solve a Problem
- Even when a problem is recognized, societies may not try to address it due to entrenched interests or social conflicts. Diamond points to the Maya civilization’s elite, who continued to build monuments even as food scarcity and overpopulation worsened.
Failure to Succeed in Solving a Problem
- Societies might attempt solutions that are technically or politically ineffective. The inability to adapt due to rigid ideologies, class divisions, or lack of innovation can prevent recovery.