Law Commons^™

Seeking A Seat At The Table: Has Law Left Environmental Ethics Behind, As It Embraces Bioethics?,, Heidi Gorovitz Robertson

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Bioethics evolved from theoretical philosophy into an applied field. Decision makers in health and medical sciences involve bioethicists in decisions and policy making. Although people study environmental ethics, mainly in philosophy programs, environmental ethicists are not involved in decision making. I explore the development of bioethics and environmental ethics, primarily considering the role of law in their development. I ask whether laws and legal opinions encouraging the use of bioethicists in decision making promoted the development of applied bioethics, and correspondingly, whether the absence of laws and opinions promoting environmental ethicists retarded the development of applied environmental ethics. Finally, I …

Why We Do The Things We Do? The Role Of Ethics In Water Resource Planning, Amy Hardberger

Faculty Articles

Water provides a natural framework in the role of ethics because ethical issues are present in every facet of water management. The value of water and the creation of ethics dictate decisions regarding water resource management. Value can be assessed from factors including happiness, well-being, or intrinsic value. Once a value is assessed, obligations that dictate actions regarding this issue are generated, and an ethic is created.

Various domestic and international policies have, both explicitly and implicitly, called for a human right to water. The presence of domestic and international policies that recognize or protect a person’s right to water …

The Evangelical Debate Over Climate Change, John Copeland Nagle

Journal Articles

In 2006, a group of prominent evangelicals issued a statement calling for a greater response to climate change. Soon thereafter, another group of prominent evangelicals responded with their own statement urging caution before taking any action against climate change. This division among evangelicals concerning climate change may be surprising for a community that is usually portrayed as homogenous and as indifferent or hostile toward environmental regulation. Yet there is an ongoing debate among evangelicals regarding the severity of climate change, its causes, and the appropriate response. Why? The answer to this question is important because of the increasing prominence of …