Ethical Choices and Global Greenhouse Warming

Vincent di Norcia is an associate professor of philosophy and business
ethics at Laurentian University.

This is an excellent summary of the papers given at a Calgary conference
on global greenhouse warming. (The papers were published in their
entirety, by the same press, under the title The Greenhouse Effect:
Ethics and Climate Change.) Dotto’s book is a very useful,
well-written, and clear compendium of the issues surrounding the
greenhouse effect.

The volume is divided into three parts. In Part 1, “Ethics and
Climate Change,” Dotto presents the (inconclusive) evidence for
climate change and the greenhouse effect, and follows this with the
philosophical case for either reducing climate warming or adapting to
it. She then examines the short- and long-term effects of global
warming. In an interesting chapter on religious values, she shows that
aboriginal and oriental religions have adopted a more ecological
approach than the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions.

In Part 2, “Ethical Responsibilities” (clearly the weakest section
in the book), Dotto considers the different responsibilities of states,
corporations, and individuals in acting to reduce/adapt to climate
warming. The final section, “Meeting the Climate Change Challenge,”
examines economic mechanisms and energy efficiency as strategies for
dealing with the greenhouse effect.