Environmental Economic Geography

Environmental economic geography (EEG) bridges the divide between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism and assesses the interplay between the economy and the environment in a methodological way that neither environmental geography nor economic geography can fully accomplish. With an increasing recognition of the interconnectedness of global ecological conditions and phenomena, a geographical perspective is vital in analyzing the environmental impact of economic activity. As an outgrowth of the sustainable development movement, the environment is evolving from the realm of externality (Bridge, 2007) to a topic of explicit consideration in regards to cost-minimization and profit-maximization in the business arena (Stormer, 2007). Under this new regime, economic modeling tools geared towards valuing land types and land use at varying scales is a critical component of EEG that seeks to integrate an environmental awareness into traditional economic geography (Hanink, 1995).

Economics and the Environment in Alberta Oil Sands

The world’s thirst for oil continues to grow even while proven reserves begin to stagnate and large new discoveries become increasingly infrequent. Multinational corporations such as Exxon, BP, and Chevron, once the largest players in the global oil trade, have been usurped by state-owned companies and increasingly relegated to minority partner status (Rowell 2007, 11). The importance of oil resources in politically stable, open economies is now more important than ever; both for the bottom line of the international oil industry as well as the continued sustainability of our oil-fueled society. Canada, already the United States’ largest supplier of foreign oil (Austen 2009) has been increasing output, and resultant pollution, from its Alberta oil sands even in the face of mounting political pressure.

David Gibbs on Environmental Economic Geography

In his article Prospects for an Environmental Economic Geography: Linking Ecological Modernization and Regulationist Approaches, David Gibbs presents a strong argument for economic geographers to better integrate environmental issues into their discipline. Incorporating environmental concerns, Gibbs contends, will have “implications for the subdiscipline’s existing objects of study (194)”, as well as “important implications for future research in economic geography consequent on environmental change (194)” (Gibbs 2006). Specifically, components of both ecological modernization theory and regulation theory can be used to advocate environmental policy recommendations from an economic geography perspective.

Developing the Land Ethic and Ecosystem “Health”

Aldo Leopold laid the foundation of the modern concept of the land ethic. His instrumental book ‘A Sand County Almanac’ sought to construct an ethical standard for man’s interaction with nature; a realm which Leopold believed was philosophically undefined.

Economics in Southerwestern New Haven County

Ansonia, Seymour, and Derby are three small towns located adjacent to one another in Southwestern New Haven County. The populations of the three municipalities are approximately 19,000, 13,000, and 16,000, respectively. Each town belongs to the Bridgeport Labor Market Area and lies within the Valley Economic Development Region and the Valley Planning Area.

The Hedonic Price Model in Housing Valuation

In an article appearing in the Southern Economic Journal in 2002, Ted Gayer, James Hamilton, and Kip Viscusi used the hedonic price model to examine housing price fluxuations that resulted from environmental information and associated perceived cancer risk. Specifically, the authors used housing price changes which occurred “after the release of a regulatory agency’s environmental risk information to estimate the value people place on cancer risk reduction” (Gayer, Hamilton, & Viscusi, 2002, p. 1).

Contrasting Spiritual Beliefs in Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics, like most branches of ethics, is often deeply influenced by our faith tradition. Our role on earth and our responsibility to protect the planet is closely tied to our sense of fundamental connectedness and the spiritual teachings that have forged our perspective. Whether we practice one of the Abrahamic religions that have emerged in the past three millennia, any one of the Native American traditions that were dominant in North America for much of recorded history, or the Buddhist way of life which emerged from Asia, most of humanity looks to its faith to guide their interaction with the environment. In turn, our ethics determine the course of history and dictate our collective effect upon our environment.

Genetic Engineering in Contrast to Selective Breeding

Over the course of hundreds of generations, human beings were able to domesticate a legion of animals ranging from cats to horses through careful selective breeding. This process paralleled that of Darwin’s natural selection, albeit with the unnatural purpose of deriving species adapted to fulfill human niches rather than environmental niches. Genetic engineering, in contrast, has gained traction only recently and offers the possibility to develop species exclusive of either natural or unnatural selection, and is more accurately described as unnatural creation.

Genetic Engineering in the Free-Market Economy

Genetic engineering is perhaps the most powerful scientific tool that humanity possesses in the 21^st century. Our ability to manipulate the fundamental building blocks of life has made us neither confined to the precise designs of a creator nor reliant on the methodical course of natural evolution. This new science opens the door to a vast world of previously unimaginable advancements while simultaneously raising frightening moral conundrums.

Charlene Spetnak and Earth Goddess Worship

Modern western society is largely consumed by a static human cycle of life and death but gives little recognition to the cycle of rebirth inherent in nature. Charlene Spetnak attributes this oversight to the rise of patriarchal religions and the subsequent downfall of traditional Earth Goddess worship which had prevailed in pre-Abrahamic traditions. Spetnak argues that “The Goddess, as a metaphor for divine immanence and the transcendent sacred whole, expresses ongoing regenerations with the cycles of her Earthbody” (442). Just as the womb is the sacred vessel that allows the continuance of humanity, the earth is the sacred vessel that facilitates all life.