Dylan Miller Environmental Ethics 3 11 Garrett Hardin 1915 2003 Controversial figure Concerned with overpopulation Pro abortion Prop population control by government Pro assisted suicide Anti immigration Anti international aid Overpopulation and competition for resources is this kind of problem Often treated as a technical problem More food increased efficiency is not the answer Require political solution Some problems cannot be solved with science Malthus Population Growth Population grows exponentially food supply can only increase arithmetically so eventually we will even off Starvation wars disease Common land available to all Tragedy of the commons Each person makes decisions based on immediate self interest Commons cannot sustain ever increasing desires Commons always produce tragedy overall depletion of the shared resource Note Hardin defines a commons as an uncontrolled free for all Modern commons include Fisheries National Parks Negative commons rivers pollution Public noise level sound pollution Earth itself energy food supply living standards overpopulation Should we have freedom to breed Freedom to breed is intolerable Each child is a net good to parts and a net bad to society New Developments in World Population 100 countries now have a fertility rate below replacement level without coercion including the UK France Italy Germany Vietnam Brazil Cuba Kazakhstan Brunel Russia Japan China Thailand and Macao Hong Kong is the lowest at 98 children per woman China s one child policy example of coercion The most rapidly growing populations on earth today are in general the most miserable Hardin appeals to individual conscience are bad because 1 Discriminates against people of good conscience eliminates them from the population 2 It wont work in the long run Natures revenge People without conscience will outbreed the others and population will increase again eventually 3 It is not psychologically healthy to force people to act against their own interests on the basis of conscience Privatize or nationalize commons Mutual coercion mutually agreed upon to solve problems lacking a technical solution Enclose the commons private property Nationalize Limit usage of the commons limits on peoples right to pollute fish on the high seas increase public noise levels Regulations fees permits fines Rights and freedoms must be restricted for the good of everyone Is what Hardin advocated morally justified IS China s one child policy morally justified Demographic economic paradox the more money and education people have the less children they have Looked like a free for all but was common property manage in common Turkana People of Kenya Grazing of Acacia trees controlled by a committee of elders Privatization driven by tragedy of the common style thinking Privatization led to environmental disaster No one cared about long term management Land becomes another commodity Upshot Free For All s Three options Private Property Group managed commons nationalized or not Which is best for protecting the environment Decision between 1 and 2 seems to depends on culture and ecology Managed commons work where people enforce behavioral standards Private property works where self interest aligns with long term benefit May Free for all s don t work well at all not work well with small land holdings for ecological reasons Case Study 1 Endangered species act 173 and private property 1480 endangers species in US 2 3 of U S Land is private Fifth Constitutional amendment No person shall be deprived of life liberty or property without due proves of law nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation Owners must meet Fish and Wildlife Service s demands FWS have no economic incentive to limit their demands Creates adversarial environment Perverse incentives hoot Shovel and Shut Up Ivory Billed Woodpecker Individual Fishing Quotes IFQ catch share Regulated fishing sets a species specific total allowable catch typically by weight and for a given time period TAC allocated to individuals or companies Reduces incidence of but does not eliminate the collapse of fisheries IFQs are transferable bought sold and leased