Pol310 Discussions

WK1D2:

In this post, I will list three varieties of environmental discourse in the United States. I will discuss the major assumptions that define each variety of discourse and explain how each discourse can help solve environmental problems. I will also identify and environmental problem and explain how the three discourses would approach a certain problem. In this hypothetical case, Johnson's Rubber Band Company has finally decided to purchase ten thousand acres of rainforest from the Brazilian government to make rubber bands. The Brazilian government needed the money and assumed that Mr. Johnson would respectfully take the trees down in a manner that would not do excess harm to the natural ecosystem outside of his purchased land, but Mr. Johnson is unsure how he would like to proceed with harvesting the rubber. So, he consults various environmental discourses supporters.

The first of Dryzek's environmental discourses is sustainable development. Sustainable development is based on the idea that the current generation should provide for itself without draining the world's resources and leaving none for progeny. It emphasizes the importance of simultaneous, rationed economic and environmental wealth amongst a population. The assumptions associated with sustainable development are that: there are enough resources to fulfill the needs of this generation and future generations as long as the current generation respects certain limitations, it is possible to have economic prosperity without completely depleting the environment, “development” does not imply that capitalism will continue unbounded, but rather that humans will find more efficient means of progressing so that development and resource usage will have a symbiotic relationship with one another. When inquiring about sustainable development, Mr. Johnson is told that he should systematically harvest the rubber trees and replant as he goes, making it possible for him to cyclically harvest trees...