Lecture Notes - Environmental Ethics - ENV221 - PDF

Lecture #2 & #3 – ENV221: Environmental Ethics – Sept 14th & 19th Tutorial Information: - First TUT next week - Assignments to upload tut writings o “Briefly discuss how you would allocate the decision-making responsibilities among the scientists, ethicists, e...

Lecture #2 & #3 – ENV221: Environmental Ethics – Sept 14th & 19th Tutorial Information: - First TUT next week - Assignments to upload tut writings o “Briefly discuss how you would allocate the decision-making responsibilities among the scientists, ethicists, economist, and politicians when facing an environmental issue such as a global pandemic, climate change or biodiversity loss” Environmental Ethics: Influences of environmental ethics on the worldview - Religion, culture, education, age and gender What is ethics? - A branch of philosophy that involves the study of good and bad, right and wrong o How ought we to behave? - A set of moral principles or values held by an individual or society Relativists: ethics vary with social context Universalists: there exist some fundamental, objective notions of right and wrong, good and bad Ethical standards: Criteria to help differentiate right from wrong Environmental ethics - Application of ethical standards to relationships between humans and nonhuman entities - Concern once people perceive environmental changes brought about by industrialization Evolution of environmental ethics - Academic discipline arising in 1970s - Plato: “The land is our ancestral home, and we must cherish it even more than children cherish their mother” Religious traditions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have been critiqued for teachings that seem to encourage separation from and animosity towards nature: humans should be masters of nature - Others interpret a more stewardship role over nature Laudato Si (Praise Be to You): On care for our common home - Circular letter (encyclical) in June 2015 from Pope Francis - Indicate high Papal priority for an issue at a given time - Critiques “irrational confidence in progress and human abilities” and the “throwaway culture” of unbridled consumerism - First encyclical to tackle climate change and ecology Conservation Ethics: human should use natural resources in good ways but also ensure that we have the responsibility to manage them wisely Preservation Ethics: the natural environment should be protected and kept in a pristine and unaltered state Ethical Consideration - Important to understand how morals are created and how societal morals are formed o May differ from individuals however what are the universals societal morals/standards - Anthropocentrism o Human related, ethical consideration extended to humans o Ex. Difference in culture, gender and understanding it as a society - Biocentrism o Extend ethical consideration to all things living o Ex. Animals rights - Ecocentrism o Philosophical thinker, understanding and looking at the whole ecosystem ▪ Being concreted water quality, land, air quality, mountains, etc. ▪ Extending ethical consideration to the entire ecosystem - Philosophers extending: o Peter signer and Tom Regan ▪ Extending moral standing to other species or animals Living things have a form of copiousness so they know what is going on o Mahatma Gandhi ▪ “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” o Aldo Leopold: The Land Ethic ▪ Wildlife biologist, role of managing forests, his responsibilities included calling wolves and terminating them as they were dangerous to human, he looked in the wolfs eyes and understood there is consciousness, and he couldn’t kill it ▪ “Land ethics simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals or collectively: the land” ▪ How to decide right from wrong: “a thing is right when ti tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise” Not only how it benefits humans o Arne Naess: coined the phrase “deep ecology” ▪ All living things have equal intrinsic value Can not value one living thing over another Social Ecology - Social problems can probably be traced back to environmental issues from long ago o We cannot continue to do what we do with nature and be surprised the outcomes - We (humans) must recognize they are part of nature and not distinct or separate from it Environmental justice - Based on the principle of all people, no matter the race, income, gender, have the right to:  o Live and work in clean, healthy environment o Receive protection from the risks and impacts of environmental degration o Be compensated for having suffered such impacts o Have equitable access to environmental recourses to high quality Ecofeminism - Connection between oppression of mother nature and oppression of women o Ex of how study of environment can apply to different - Patriarchal society tends to try ad dominate and conquer what they hate, fear, or do not understand Lecture #4 & #5 – ENV221: Enviromental Policy – Sept 21st & 26th Environmental Policy: - Policy that specifically pertains to human interactions with surrounding environment o Requires foundation, and good policy - Requires input from science, ethics, and economics o Our society is measured and driven by money - Policy: series of rules/plans intended to address problems and guide decision making o Public policy: created by governments to guide citizens ▪ Laws, regulations, orders, incentives, practices - Government: state and its administration (national, provincial, municipal) - Canadian government goal: peace order and good government How do things happen? - When policies are being generated, ask yourself: o Whose interests are being represented o What institutions are being represented o What ideas are being taken in o Who actors are being represented Evolution of environmental policy: Northern American context - 1700-1800 was intended to promote settlement and resource extraction - Late 1800’s: regulating recourse use to mitigate environmental concerns and impacts of westward migration o National Park system developed to preserve land areas - Early 20th century: development of land management policies stemming from dust bowl years o Dust bowl: healthy soil being blown over, people overusing pesticides - 1960’s - 1970’s: increasing awareness of pollution impacts o 1962: Silent Springs by Rachel Carson. ▪ Silent springs, no birds singing because of pesticide use o 1968: The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich ▪ Rapid growth of human pop. o 1972: Limits to Growth ▪ Not great to eat and grow as much as we can o 1987: Our common future  ▪ World commission on environment and development ▪ Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs o 1992: Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro ▪ Birth of many major policies ▪ First articulation of climate change as a concern Timeline of many environmental landmarks: - Population is growing, we continue to grow where there will not be enough resources for future generation - Graph above shows that we are currently using more resources a than we have o one earth’s worth of resources was surpassed around 1980s and now we are consuming more than what one earth can provide When/why environmental movements began - Vietnam War o Public resistance, many people did not agree with the war ▪ People could see evidence wrong with environment, pollution, war, human influences ▪ Resistance because they could see and understand the repercussions of war, TV was starting up and they could see/visualize the war o Economically, socially vibrant and society could see an understand what is happening around the world ▪ This motivated public to protest, and start to create movements - Baby boom o When resources are abundant there is growth in population o Resources and economy in a state where people could understand Why do we need policies? - To protect environment will cost more money or behavioral changes  o Cost money to put in controls, - Unless public universally embraces the changes needed to help the environment, the policies will be needed o Why would public not accept these changes Market capitalism shortcomings - Tragedy of the commons: ex. Oceans, atmosphere o overexploitation of public resources, this is a natural instinct: to take before someone else does o Ex. Sheep on common land o Ex. Atmosphere - Free riders: o People who consume/produce more than they should o People who are not paying for the services, the costs for others will increase to make up for the lost money - External cost: o When the production or consuming of a good produces a cost or negative effect How to deal with market failures - Recognize as public for the government to intervene - Who is this government – in order o Federal government (Ottawa) ▪ Will not intervene in provincial o Provincial/territorial governments ▪ These provincial boundaries are maintained in all provincial o Aboriginal governments ▪ May overlap in the territories o Municipal/local governments ▪ Province gives municipal authority for certain things o US influence how we go about government o International organizations: UN, EU, WTO, World Bank o Environment non-government organizations ▪ ENGO’s, NGO’s Approaches & tools to alter public behavior - Try to be soft, voluntary approaches first o This could be information campaigns and education (TV ads to inform you to make decision on your own) - Command and control, Escalante their campaign o Theu will set rules or limits with a threat of punishment if violated o They will set these through legal instruments and if violated there will be repercussions o Legal instruments: ▪ Acts, regulations, agreements, permits o Repercussions ▪ Criminal enforcements, penalties or fees, civil actions  o They will entice to do something for common good and you may think it’s on your own doing ▪ Entice by giving subsidies ▪ Make taxes higher for certain things to encourage the disuse of them ▪ Permit trading Lecture #6 – ENV221: Environmental Economics – Sept 28th Economics: Deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind Environemtal economics - Efficient allocation of environmental resources - Particular issues include: o costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies to deal with e.g. air pollution, water quality, toxic substances, solid waste, loss of biodiversity, and global warming Questions asked - Can we value the environment? Should we? - What is the relationship between growth and the environment? - How much environmental protection is enough? - How do we get the cleanest per dollar? Ecological Economics - Steady-State economics - Herman Daly o This is the equilibrium between population growth and production growth - “Enough is best”- economic growth leads to environmental degradation and inequalities in wealth - Instead look for optimal level of population and economic activity which leads to sustainability and not perpetual growth - People have limited willingness to pay, and policy balances costs against env protection - Economists do this balancing formally through cost-benefit analysis - Equate marginal cost= marginal benefit Marginal benefit - If one factor of production is increased while others remain constant, the marginal benefits will decline and, after a certain point, total production will also decline - Marginal costs and benefits o What does it cost to produce one more unit? o What will be the benefit of acquiring one more unit?  - Marginal costs increase with increasing protection/control - Do the easy/cheap stuff first, costly later (low hanging fruit) - Reduce emissions when the benefits are greater than costs - Rule: increase control until MC=MB - Choosing the lowest cost/unit projects achieves the goal at least possible cost o This is why economists like a pollution tax and emissions trading o Both put a price on pollution, lead polluters to equalize MC of control Economic Valuation on the environment - Limited resources, means we need to choose among environmental projects - Dissimilar goals can be compared by valuing them - express value in $ o How is value in money determined on goods sold in the market - In a competitive market system, value placed on a good can be determined by how much consumers are willing to pay o Supply and demand: ▪ the higher the price, the higher the quantity supplied and the lower the price the lower the quantity supplied ▪ When price of goods rise, the quantity demand falls and when prices fall the quantity demand rises Ecosystem valuation - How to place value on environmental amenity not easily captured by the market? - Wisdom of carrying out economic valuation of ecosystems? - Should we protect for moral reasons alone and not need economic justification? - But don’t we employ implicit valuation already? - Fundamental concepts of willingness to accept (WTA) and willingness to pay (WTP) Heldonic Pricing - The term ‘hedonic’ is derived from the Greek word hedonikos, which means pleasure - Measures effect environmental qualities have on the price of related market goods o Essentially analyzes market behavior - what are people willing to pay for env amenities/wellbeing Contingent Valuation  - Uses surveys to elicit consumer WTP or WTA for unpriced goods and services - If you had this choice, what would you pay or accept to get it or avoid it? - Method has been used for wide range of environmental services o Called contingent because questions are couched in a hypothetical market setting Lecture #7, #8 & #9 – ENV221: Climate Change Science – Oct. 3rd, 5th & 10th Tutorial response: (possible question) - Hope and despair with respect from climate change - What should Canada do to reconcile its international commitments versus domestic priorities Lecture 7: Climate Change Science I Climate Change - Earth should have a temperature of -18 °C based off of distance from the sun and temperature of the sun - Earth’s actual global avg temp is about 15 °C o Composition of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere o Nature of EMR (sunlight) and its various fates Global climate change causes - Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation o This effect warms atmosphere which causes global warming o The concentration of these gases is increasing Greenhosue gases - Gases that can absorb and emit infrared radiation - Natural & enhanced greenhouse gas effect o Radiative forcing - imbalance in the earth's energy budget that result when the amount radiated to outlet space is changed through either natural or human influences ▪ Positive forcing results in warming ▪ Negative forcing results in cooling o Causes: ▪ Important factors: amount of gas emitted and properties of gas ▪ Average residence time: length of time gas resides in the atmosphere ▪ Global warming potential: how much a given mass of greenhouse gas contributes to global warming over a period of time compared to the same mass of carbon dioxide Cooling the Atmosphere - Some pollutants cool the atmosphere - Atmospheric aerosols o Natural and human sources o Reflect sunlight into space  o Cools atmosphere o Sulfur haze, volcanic eruptions Current climate paradigm - Most scientist will agree there is an increased in temperature by 1.1-degree Celsius - The rate of warming van is not explained by natural phenomenon - This is not the warmest period Natural mechanisms causing temperature to increase - The sun has a lot of energy which radiate on the earth, this could be the cause of the warming - the temperature and the sun do not have the same cycle, they are going different ways - The distance/angles between earth and sun o Earths position and orientation is relative to the sun varies, bringing us closer and further away in predictable cycles o Variations in these 3 cycles are believed to be the cause of earth ice ages - Increases in greenhouse gases align with increases in temperature Milankovitch cycles: the changes in duration and intensity of sunlight reaching the earth Lecture 8: Climate Change Science II The carbon cycle - Tells the ways carbon is stored in environment - Carbon is in a closed system - The arrows show how carbon moves/transformed through different pools o Carbon from atmosphere to vegetation through photosynthesis - Numbers show how much carbon is able to be stored - 5 pools of carbon o Atmosphere (abt 875 Gt or 419ppm) o Forests/soils (abt 610 Gt - 1580 Gt) o Surface ocean (abt 1020 Gt) ▪ Interacts with the atmosphere ▪ Deeper in the ocean the more carbon stored o Deep ocean (abt 38,100 Gt) o Fossil fuels (5000 Gt) ▪ Decayed plant material, organic matter - Fossil fuels o Formed hundreds of millions of years ago o Ex. Coal, o Concerns: supply is finite, climate change - Carbon fluxes o Interested in how carbon moves between the pools, this called carbon fluxes o Fluxes: ▪ Process of photosynthesis and respiration ▪ Changing land use; deforestation (forest fires, cutting down trees), forest regrowth to combat this  ▪ Surface ocean flux More carbon can make oceans more acidic ▪ Fossil fuels The global carbon project - Through fossil fuel burning between the years 2009-2018 total emissions were partitioned - Identified the emissions reached a new high record in 2019 at 36.7 Gt, this is 62% higher than 1990 - Global methane emissions form human activities have continued to increase over the past decade o Current CO2 and CH4 are not compatible with emission pathways consists with limiting global warming at 1.5 degrees or well below 2 ° above pre-industrial levels, the goal of the Paris agreement Dealing with global climate change - CO2 must be the focus - Managing o Mitigation of climate change ▪ Moderate or postpone global climate change and buys time ▪ Ex of mitigation: reduce CO2 emissions o plan to develop fuel alternatives and increase energy efficiency Plant and maintain trees or crops o Forestation: planting more trees so they can photosynthesize and remove CO2 from atmosphere o Resource implications, need water, land, proper agriculture Geoengineering/climate engineering (technology use): Large-scale engineering projects o CO2 management (pictured below)  ▪ Separate and capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it somewhere else ▪ This is a very energy intensive process ▪ Artificial ocean upwelling, getting the ocean to absorb more carbon through photosynthetic activity ▪ Ocean alkalization, having more CO2 absorbed but this may make ocean more acidic o Solar radiation management (pictured below) ▪ Controlling the amount of radiation coming to earth ▪ Reducing the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth ▪ Mimic volcanic activity to get reflective particles of sulfur dioxide around the earth ▪ Space mirrors and cloud seeding o Adaptation to climate change ▪ This is response to changes, implies that climate change is unavoidable ▪ Ex of adaptations: moving Building o don’t want to move so building around the climate planting new crops o don’t move so plant new foods develop new drought/heat resistant crops/trees o don’t need the same resources as trees did in the past change infrastructure o changing transit Lecture 9: Climate Change Science III Tut 2 – look at case studies, local communities Tut 3 – comparing Canadas emissions gap to the rest of the world and what can be done Essay - strategies to help Canada meet its international and domestic goals with respect to climate change - What Canada ought to do with respect to climate change - What have we been doing - What are the challenges - How can Canada meet international obligations and how can Canada reconcile with Impacts of climate change - Increasing temperatures o Melting of ice and snow o Rising sea level - Precipitation changes - Increase of extreme weather events - Extinction of organisms and ecosystems - Societal impacts o Agriculture, forestry, health, economics Global Climate 2016-2020 (WMO) - 5-year period was warmest on record with average global mean surface temperature of 1.1°C - Artic sea-ice on a long-term downward trend o Global mean sea-level has been rising faster and more ice loss contributes to increased sea-level Why 1.5°C - Increase of earths average from baseline average temperature (1960-1990) - The temperature increase may cause enough heat and solar energy to tip man natural systems that sustain us past a dangerous turning point o This would be at 1.5°C - Thames river: o It froze, less than.5 degrees changed the climate significantly IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) - This is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change - Established in 1988 by World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program o Since 1988, IPCC has produced 5 comprehensive Assessment Reports, the 6th being published March 2023 - Proposed to provide policy makers with regular assessments of scientific basis of climate change o Assesses the impacts and future risks, options for adaptation and mitigation - Rising from 1.5°C - 2°C will result in:  o 1.7 billion people will experience severe heatwaves once every 5 years o Sea-level rises another 10 cm o Hundreds of millions of people will become exposed to climate –related risks and poverty o Coral reefs that are supporting marine environments could decline as much as 99% o Global fishery catches could decline by another 1.5 million tons Changes in the Artic and Antarctica - There is polar amplification o Any change in the net radiation balance tends to produce a larger change in temperature near the poles than the other places in the world - Artic temperatures increasing close to twice the rate as the rest of the world - The region is now experiencing most rapid and severe climate change on earth - The ice is melting o Causes rise in sea-level which has devastating impacts on coastal communities o Increasing coastal erosion rates o Changing salt levels in oceans Extreme weather events - Changing planets radiative balance - Alters global temperatures and moisture levels - Impacts frequency and intensity of storms - Impacts on oceans o Ocean acidification o Rising sea-level o Sea temperatures impacts the frequency and intensity of storms, and sea ice Ecological effects of climate change - Affects every species on earth o Some will expand and thrive (ex. Mountain pine beetle) - Inter-related ecosystem changes - Greater risk ecological activities o Polar seas, coral reefs (bleaching), mountain ecosystems, coastal wetlands, tundra, biodiversity loss Agricultural changes/Food security - Flooding, pests and disease, drought, growing season, new areas o Many things can impact the growth of food and agriculture, climate change enhances the likelihood of a negative effect Health Effects - More heat-related illnesses o More malaria, dengue & yellow fever, schistosomiasis and cholera Lecture #10, #11 & #12 – ENV221: Climate Change Policy – Oct. 12th, 17th & 19th Lecture 10 – Climate Change Policy I Policy milestones: - 1990: IPCC first assesment report (AR1), followed by AR2 (1995), AR3 (2001), AR4 (2007) and AR5 (2014) - 1992: UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) agreed upon in Rio (objective being stabilize emissions at 1990 levels by 2000) o They wanted to stabilize GHG concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system o A CO2 atmospheric concentration of 450ppm would result in a 2°C increase in the global average temperature - 1997: The Kyoto Protocol o When developed countries agree to binding agreement to reduce GHG emissions by 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012 ▪ The EU’s emissions reduction goal was 8%, this was a shared contribution among many states ▪ The US’s goal was 7%, however this was not ratified ▪ Canada’s goal was 6% but they withdrew in 2011 ▪ Japan’s goal was 6% o The countries were involved with clean development mechanisms ▪ This is a sustainable development for developing countries, it provides more opportunities for developed countries to achieve emission reduction commitments - 2005: Kyoto Protocol enters into force o Signed, ratified by at least 55 parties to the UNFCCC, incorporating parties included in Annex I which accounted in total for at least 55% of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 - 2009: Copenhagen o The COP15, Copenhagen accord, a 3-page non-binding document o Plans for emissions reduction targets: ▪ 20-25% reduction from 1990 levels (in EU, Japan and Russia) ▪ 17% reduction from 2005 levels (US, Canada) ▪ A carbon intensity reduction compared to 2005 (China, India) o More focus on adaptation that previous COPs o Developed countries goal: $100 billion/year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries o Language of international agreements: invites, encourages, urges, requests - 2015: Paris o Entered into force on 2016 after at least 55 parties accounting for a least 55% of GHG emissions o This is a universal, legally binding agreement (from 2020) with an overall goal to limit the overall global temperature increase to 2°C above pre-industrial levels o Global emissions is still growing, it ill peak on the future o The targets are reviewed every 5 years  - 2015: Canada submitted an INDC (internationally determined contribution), which stated that it intends to achieve an economy wide target to reduce its GHG emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 - 2016: Canada announced its plan to fulfill its INDC of an economy-wide target to reduce its GHG emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, by implementing a basic carbon tax of $10 a ton starting in 2018, rising by $10 a ton per year until it reaches $50 a ton by 2022 - 2017: trump states intention to withdraw from the Paris agreement - 2021: US rejoins Paris Agreement o Canada announces updated NDC target of 40-45% emission reductions below 2005 levels by 2030 - 2023: the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP28, is scheduled to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Between 30 Nov 12, Dec 2023 Emissions Gap: - ENGO (environment non-government organization) o No one is in the green category because there is no ambition - Climate action tracker is an ENGO trying to hold counties accountable - Reason for hope, if we had not made any changes, we would be between 60 and 70 GtCO2e (slide 13 image) - G20 countries are most responsible for putting co2 in atmosphere o They should have more responsibility to getting rid of it o These countries are far behind on commitments for 2030 o Globally NDC are insufficient, and emissions gap seem high - With no additional action it is seen to have an increase of 2.8 over the century, might get to 2.6 and 2.4 with implementations of unconditional and conditional NDC scenarios Tutorial - Look up and read why Canada is highly insufficient - For tutorial look up two more countries, comparable economies Lecture 11 – Climate Change Policy II  - Canadas 2016 NDC was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 - 2021 Canada submitted and updated NDC, reducing emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030 o Committed to reducing emissions to net-zero by 2050 Targets from Canada’s NDC’s: - Pathways to 2030 o Transportaion, oil and gas make-up a large portion of emissions - 81% is taken up with energy Climate change policy instruments - Voluntary o Less air conditioning, carpool, public transport, 1 tone challenge - Subsidies o Subsidize homes, more insulation, fuel efficient heating, hybrid cars o Fee-in-tariff, pays more per kWh for renewable electricity ▪ “We pay you x-dollars for all green energy you put back into the grid” o Subsidize CCS (carbon capturing storage) - Law – they can mandate increased efficiency, motor vehicles km/liter gas, building codes and standards for new buildings - Carbon tax o Any sort of transaction that will reduce CO2, a surcharge on fuel o Incentive to use less carbon o Depending on tax rate people many continue to use, the tax needs to be high enough to make people use it less o Ex. BC had a carbon tax, as of April 2021, which the tax was $45/tonne - Cap and Trade o Capping emissions and spread out how to get o More structured, this is a market, there needs to be some control Cap and trade: - The dashed line is allocated emissions unit - Emitter B has reduced more than they need, they can trade their credit for what they reduced to another company, Emitter A has gone over (slide 13) Carbon markets Canadian specific challenges dealing with climate change - Overall GDP is dependent on resources extraction o Various regions where provincial economies are reliant on these extractions o - Heating and cooling homes in different seasons - Policies - There are many different regions, languages, different use and extractions - Very large geographic region, resource transfer must go far - Shared jurisdiction o Federal government is top, authority over lands rests with the provinces, the federal governments do not decide what happens occurs within the land ▪ This could be resource extraction, land use, etc. o IAA (C69) allows federal regulations to consider the potential environmental and social impacts or various resource and infrastructure projects ▪ Has being controversial among conservative politicians ▪ They could not tell Alberta to stop making fossil fuels, so they said - su Lecture 12 – Climate Change Policy III Pan Canadian Framework - 2016: o Announced its plan to fulfill its INDC of an economy wide target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 o Imposing carbon tax which is $10/tonne (in 2018) o Reached $50/tonne in 2022 for any province without a carbon price or a plan at all ▪ There was a forced federal carbon tax on provinces that had no plans for themselves - Challenges: different provincial interests o Each province is different so this would hit different provinces differently, it is a threat to certain but could be a win for others ▪ Threat to Alberta and Saskatchewan ▪ Benefits to BC, Manitoba, Quebec, they can export hydroelectricity o Each provinces have a veto in national policy-making o Since 2003 all governments have acted unilaterally, with no coordination - Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario took the IAA to court to challenge the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax o Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2021 confirmed that national, coordinated action to price carbon is constitutionally sound (they won) o Alberta and Saskatchewan, understandably, took them to court ▪ Alberta had a change in emissions of 58% increase from 1990-2017 and Saskatchewan had an increase of 77% from 1990-2017  - Most provinces are implementing the Pan-Canadian framework because they understand it’s easier for the Federal government to implement and control the carbon tax rather than for each provincial government to have their own plan Unilateral Provincial Action: - BC implemented a carbon tax (2008) - Ontario had a coal phase-out (2002-2014) o k - Nova Scotia law (2009) - Quebec implemented Cap-and-Trade (2012) o Quebec and California in cap and trade (2012) o Ontario joined cap and trade (2016-2018) - Ontario pulls out of cap-and-trade when new power came into Ontario (2018) 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan - Canadas steps for clean air and strong economy o Economy-wide, buildings, electricity, heavy industry, oil and gas, transportation, agriculture, waste, natural-based solutions Economy-Wide Actions - Strategies to reduce emissions, following carbon pricing, clean fuels and reducing methane emissions o Reduce methane emissions, reducing in most flexible and cost-effective way - They have already: o Launched a $2 billion dollar low-carbon economy fund and $200 million climate action ad awareness funds o Joined Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030 o They put a price on carbon emissions, raising prices year by year (photo below)  - New actions o Want to explore measures that help guarantee price of carbon pollution o Expand Low Carbon Economy Fund through 2.2 billion recapitalizations o Propose to invest $29.6 million to advance Indigenous Climate Leadership Alberta campaign: Tell the Feds National Ad Campaign - $8 million campaign Alberta government aimed to federal government's draft clean energy regulations - The campaign is running in Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick Challenges: energy and environment policy goals conflict - Putting a price on carbon influences economy and competitiveness - Some provinces will get more hurt than others - Some people (rural areas, poor) will get more hurt than other (urban area, rich) - Conflicts within governments, environment department versus others Challenges between Climate & Energy objectives - Energy: o Want to fuel economic growth and have a security of supply o Want to provide a low price to ensures competitiveness o Want to reduce environmental impacts of energy use - Climate o Want to decrease fossil fuel use and keep it in the ground and increase renewable energies o Increase energy efficiency, ex. Insulating buildings o Want to increase the ability to adapt to climate change impacts Balance Approach / Contradictory Approach - Balancing energy interests and climate interests - Pull between energy and climate change is seen in the Canadian government o 2018, discussions, oil and gas prices were at a low as well as investments in oil and gas o The US was rejecting oil and gas, so Alberta wanted to expand to Asia to send oil and gas to gain profits and keep economic activity in good standing ▪ They wanted to build a pipeline, estimated cost to complete was $7.4 billion, Ottawa (federal gov.) agrees to building the pipeline in 2018 ▪ Project then increased to $30.9 billion and it was coming out of taxpayers Way forward (in reading, last paragraph) - Economic and political package to prepare for greener economies and technology - Carbon pricing only one item in a package, but need to recognize needs of different regions of the country Lecture #15 & #16 –ENV221: Environmental Health – November 2nd & 14th Announcements: - Midterm will be posted by 5pm Friday o 65% average - Final exam o Wednesday December 20th, 9-11am o A - KI : BR 200, Brennan Hall, St. Michael’s College, 81 St. Mary St. o KO – MOE : SS 2102, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George St. o MOH – Z : ZZ Vlad, St. Vladimir Institute, 620 Spadina Avenue, Auditorium B (enter through the south doors) - TUT 4 assignment o Prepare list of daily/weekly care products, ex. Cosmetic and personal hygiene products o Identity for each whether they contain any of the Suzuki dirty dozen chemicals of concern o Write a brief paragraph (no more than 200 words) to identify whether you were surprised at the results and if you would likely be making changes consequently Lecture 15 - Environmental Health I: The Basics “In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired” - Unknown Link between global environmental change and health: - 2012, 12.6 million people (23% of all deaths) estimated to have died because of living or working in an unhealthy environment o Widespread global environment changes pose additional major challenges for human health Health: state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity - This is a broader definition which may cover more than only physical health, it makes people reflect, maybe they are not as healthy as they thought - Environmental Health: promote health and quality of life, by promoting health and the quality of life by preventing or controlling diseases or deaths that result from interactions between people and their environment - Environment is everything around us, the air we breathe, water we drink, and food we consume o This may also be chemical, radiation, microbes and physical forces with which we come into contact - Environmental health hazards o Physical – earthquakes, floods, droughts, fires o Cultural, lifestyle – smoking, diet, drug use, eating unhealthy foods  o Chemical – disinfectants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals o Biological – infectious diseases: malaria, influenza Rachel Carson - Trained as marine biologist - She published book, silent springs, in 1962 o She noted that bird songs were absent in the springs because eggs were not hatching due to the use of pesticides - The period before Rachel Carson, people were spraying pesticides in residential areas and people loved it because they thought it was beneficial Toxics: chemical substances that are known or suspected to have harmful effects on human life an wildlife and the natural environment on which they depend Chemical substance: deliberately created, produced as a byproduct or occurring naturally in the environment and all can be elements or compounds - Toxic if it enters the environment in a quantity that has or may have a detrimental impact on the environment or human health - Over 23, 000 chemical are in use in Canada, over 100,000 chemicals in common use around the world o Global estimates only about 10% have been thoroughly studied and tested for harmful effects o In Canada, they only really looked at 370 - 2,700 and about 151 - 163 of those were deemed to be toxic - Toxicant examples: 2 broad categories o Heavy metals : lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, tin, zinc o Organic compounds : carbon-based compounds Synthetic organic compounds, may do not degrade naturally in environment These are persistent organic pollutants (POPs), ex. Dirty dozen: chlordane, aldrin, PBCs, DDT, dioxins Endocrine/hormone disruptors Ex. Flame retardants, bisphenol A Dirty Dozen Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Toxic substances in houses - Kitchen: cleaners, disinfectants, oven cleaners - Bathroom: toilet bowl cleaner, vinyl shower curtains - Living room: furniture/carpet (formaldehyde), flame retardants - Bedroom: stain & water-resistant clothing (teflon) - Yard: pressure treated wood, pesticides Diet: - Impacts of industrial agriculture and animal Poduction (pesticides, fertilizers) - Meats o Antibiotic in meat production and health o Hormones in meat production and health - Aquaculture - Contaminated wild game and fish Most contaminated produce Least contaminated produce Different label codes: Lecture 16 - Environmental Health II: Toxics - Dirty Dozen list commonly used in cosmetics and personal health care products - List: o BHA & BHT (beta hydroxy acid & butylated hydroxytoluene) o Coal tar dues o DEA, cocamide DEA & leuramide DEA o Dibutyl phthalate o Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives o Parabens o Parfum (aka fragrance) o PEGs o Petrolatum o Siloxanes o Sodium laureth sulfate o Triclosan In Colgate, fought gingivitis Lead - Lead sources include lead paint (lead-based paint was banned in 1978), gasoline, contaminated soils, drinking water with old lead plumbing - Lead poisoning interference with normal development of the brain o Mimics important elements in the body (ex. Calcium, zinc) and can interference with different processes in the body, the body will think this si calcium or zinc - Lead does not decompose - Lead poisoning: o Symptoms (for regular adult): headaches, irritability, reduced sensations, aggressive behavior, difficulty sleeping, abdominal pain, poor appetite, constipation, anemia o Children symptoms: loss of developmental skills, reduced IQ, reduced body growth, hearing loss, kidney damage, behavior and attention problems - Flint, Michigan o Not regulated properly where lead got into the drinking water Mercury - Highly toxic, found naturally and a contaminant in the environment o One of the most potent persistent bio accumulative toxins o Considered to be one of the top 10 chemicals for major public health concern - Emitted into the air naturally from volcanoes erupting, weathering of rocks, forest fires and soils - Emitted into the air from the burning of fossil fuels and municipal or medical waste - Reintroduced into the environment through natural processes as evaporation of ocean water na flooding events - Less than 1/50th of a teaspoon per 20-acre lake surface enough to make fish unfit for human consumption - Minamata disease o Dumping waste in the surrounding area in Minamata Big fishing area Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDC) or Synthetic Organic Compounds - Chemicals that are created that mimic natural chemicals in the body, these block hormones and disrupt the body’s normal functions - Lock and key mechanism: o Natural hormones and endocrine disruptor have the same shape so when the receptor and natural hormone fit and are triggered The endocrine disruptors act in place as natural hormones, and it disrupts the body’s normal functions - Dirty dozen hormones disruptors o BPA, Dioxin, Atrazine, phthalates, Perchlorate, Fire Retardants, Lead, Arsenic, Mercury, Perfluorinated chemicals, Organophosphate Pesticides, Glycol Ethers PFAs – forever chemicals - Over 12,000 human made chemicals - Found in cosmetics, menstrual products, food packaging - Breakdown very slowly, living things are exposed to them repeatedly and PFAs Blood level builds up over time - Exposure through the air we breathe, in dust and in drinking water - Effects of PFAs: Flame Retardants – Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) - An Emerging Contaminant - Ubiquitous since standard now require most household products to be flame retardants o Furniture, electronics, baby products and clothing  - Some polyurethane foam is treated with 10-30 weight % of PBDEs o Household dust is a principal source exposure to PBDEs - Great lakes have found concentrations of PBDEs increasing exponentially from 1980-2000 and doubling every 3-4 years o The exposure may impact memory problems and disruptions to thyroid hormone Bisphenol A (BPA) - A synthetic industrial chemical used to make a hard, clear plastic o Used in many consumers products: water bottles, baby bottles, sports equipment, medical and dental equipment o Also found in epoxy resins, acting as a protective lining on the inside of metal-based food and beverage cans - BPA is classed as a hormone disruptor in Canada o Canada is the first country to act on BPA - BPA plastic identifying o There are 7 classes of plastics used in packaging o Type 3 and 7 contain bisphenol A 7 is the catch-all, another category When the plastic is exposed to hot liquids, BPA leaches out Impacts of EDCs - Allergenic: causes allergies - Neurotoxins: damages or destroys nerve tissues - Mutagens: induce or increases the frequency of mutation in an organism - Teratogens: causes malformation of an embryo or fetus - Carcinogens: cancer causing agents - Endocrine hormone disruptors Bioaccumulation & Biomagnification - Bioaccumulation: the accumulation of a substance in the tissue of a single organism - Biomagnification: the increase in concentration of pollutants such as POPs and heavy metals at higher levels of the food chain Measuring toxicity Lecture #17 – Environmental Health III: Toxics Admin Infromation - Essay dues Sunday - Final exam o Coverage of whole course, 70:30 split, 20-25 MC, 6-8 short answer Lecture #19 & #20: Environmental Health IV – Health Policy & Ethics Canada modernizing environmental protection act: What Canadians need to do - All citizens in Canada should have the right to a healthy environment and so ensure this happens we need a Pan-Canadian health and strategy o Recognize the right of all citizens to live in a healthy environment o Develop a comprehensive pan-Canadian health and environment strategy o Invest in environmental health and research and monitoring o Strengthen environmental laws and national standards These govern needs such as air quality, drinking water, food safety, and chemicals or to meet or beat the standards found in other wealthy industrialized countries should be a sustainable development goal - The provincial Government has primary responsibility for protecting, conserving and restoring the natural environment, and the people of Ontario have the right to participate on government decisions-making and to od the government account le for those decisions o Ontario has a strong history of giving citizens' rights or healthy environment Ontario's Environmental Bil of Rights (EBR) - Provincial laws established in 1993/94 - This gives Ontario residents a right to participate in environmental decision making that the government is partaking - From 1993 to 2018/19 there was an independent office, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), which monitored the needs of citizens o This is a non-partisan officer of the legislative assembly of Ontario o They had no connection with any political party - Ford Government wanted to save some money and dissolved the ECO’s office in 2019 and transferred responsibility for overseeing the EBR to the auditor general of Ontario - The bill is: o Commenting environmentally significant government proposals, ask ministry to review and existing law or ask for a new one, ask ministry to investigate harm to the environment, seek permissions to a people a ministry decision on an instrument, use courts to protect, get whistleblower protection - Environmental registry o This is a key too to EBR, this is an online data base where environmentally significant proposals and decisions are posted  If you didn’t like it, you can comment on this data base when proposals are posted o Registry is still available for access even though By law they must respond to comments in meaningful fashion There is a small period that responses are welcome EBR Status Today - 2021 report by auditor general, the Ford government is skirting environmental laws while industry benefits and the public is left in the dark o Increasing the municipal affairs minister powers to issues ministers zoning order, this can bypass consultations for development projects o Ontario court this year found that the progressive conservative government broke the law by making that change without proper public consultation Environmental Justice - Supreme court of Canada recognition to live in. Healthy environment - Demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly accountable - Demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, fee from any form of discrimination or bias - Universal protection from production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons that threaten fundamental right to clean air, land, water and food Environmental health justice - Equity at all jurisdictional levels in the distribution of environmental hazards and amenities - Access to all information and meaningful participation o Thes influence the optimal conditions for health and wellbeing o Recognition of all respect for the diversity of people and their experiences in communities traditionally marginalized from mainstream environmental discourse Social and gender inequality - Exists between and within countries, and within communities - Disproportionately exposed to environmental risk factors - Low income and poverty are the strongest determinants of increased risk - Must examine driving forces behind such inequalities - Target most vulnerable and disdvantaed population groups - Goal should be to provide healthy environments for all - Examples of inequality o Indigenous communities in far north have very height concentrations of chemicals but they would be the least likely to use that amount of chemicals o People who are least likely to participate are the ones who experience them the most o Love Canal 1970, the discovery of toxic waste buried beneath the neighbourhood of 36 square blocks in Niagara Falls, NY In 1950’s, there was a chemical and plastic industry, they had purchased this abandoned canal because they needed a place to dump their waste They used this canal as a plastic and chemical hazardous waste dump They did this from 1942-1953 1953 covered the canal and sold to the city for $1 The last 1950’s about 100 homes and a school were built on the site This was a solid, working-class community In 1970’s there were leakages detected The cleanup at the waste site took 21 years to completed, completed in 2004, and cost close to $200 million Quote of what had happened, how this was affecting the community and neighbourhood: Covid Ethics - Resource allocation and priority setting, the elders would get first, or rich people who could relocate to get access  o PPE access, ICU beds, ventilators, access to vaccines, prioritizing access to health - Ethical consideration for proximity tracking and COVID apps - Environmental racism and health equity - Individual freedom versus collective health measures Lecture #21: Environmental Health – Infectious Diseases Environmental health policy and ethics - International policies - National policies - Rights to a healthy environment Infectious diseases – re-emerging & emerging health threat - Re-emerging - Emerging Infectious Diseases - Account for close to 25% of worldwide deaths o Health of all deaths in developing nations but very few in developed economies (true before COVID) o Public health efforts Emerging health threats - Large scale anthropogenic changes and infectious with the natural environment - May act synthetically to alter exposure to infectious diseases and natural disasters - Challenging tops demonstrate direct connections - Climate changing o Ice sheet melting – exposure to bacteria and microbes previously frozen (possibility but unsure) o Evolution of diseases and microbes to current environment - Antibiotic usage – microbes and bacteria ate evolving resistant to these antibiotics - Decreased