ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS Why & how do we get into them?

Attitudes Social traps

How do we avoid them?

Attitudes—that get us into problems

Rosy Optimism: ignore problems Frontier Attitude: believe we will never

run out Tech Fix: trust science to solve all

problems Gloom-And-Doom: feel useless to stop

problems

Attitudes How do these attitudes lead to or

perpetuate environmental problems? Each of these attitudes prevents people

from taking action or doing something to fix problems.

Is this how you feel?

Get Fuzzy, 9/4/01

Attitudes—that avoid problems Sustainability:

Attitude that supports continuation & renewal of life and life support systems

Uses resources only at a rate that can be sustained (maintained) forever.

An attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. It relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment

Social Traps: Origin of Concept Based on John Platt's 1973 paper in American

Psychologist. Ideas continued to be developed in an interdisciplinary

symposium held at the University of Michigan building upon the concept of the "tragedy of the commons" in Garrett Hardin's pivotal article in Science (1968)

Platt, recognized that individuals operating for short-term positive reinforcement had a tendency to over-exploit the resource which led to a long-term negative loss to society.

Social Traps: Definition Any situation where what looks like a good

choice to me right now turns out to be the wrong choice for society (usually including me) in the long run.

A situation in which a person, if they make a decision based on “me-here-now” perspective makes the wrong decision in the long-term/global context

Collective Social TrapAlso “Tragedy of the Commons”

Occurs when there is a shared resource (e.g., air, water)

Each individual’s small effect adds up to a big problem when many people’s effects add together.

Collective Social TrapAlso “Tragedy of the Commons “Commons” refers to community held pastures in

colonial New England villages Each individual farmer’s cows only take a small

amount of grass As more cows are added the commons becomes

overgrazed. It is in farmer’s best interest to increase numbers

of cows Individual farmer gains wealth, however, costs of

overgrazing shared by all.

Collective Social TrapAlso “Tragedy of the Commons”

Example: You and Air Pollution When you drive your car, you contribute only

a small amount to the air pollution of your city

However, the combined total of all the cars driving in a city add up to a big problem

Time Delay Social Trap An action today results in a negative effect

in the future. The action only has to happen once to

initate the long term negative effect. Something is gained in the short-term, but

there are consequences to face in the long-term

Time Delay Social Trap Example 1: Nuclear Waste

In the short-term energy is gained, however in the long-term, there is the problem of radioactive waste disposal.

Example 2: Clear-cutting Clear-cutting a forest results in lumber

production, however in the future there are problems of erosion, flooding and loss of biodiversity

Sliding ReinforcerSocial Trap

The first time the action occurs, the result is positive

Every time a behavior is repeated, the effects become less positive until they become increasingly negative

Sliding Reinforcer Social Trap Example: Pesticides The first time a pesticide is used, it is very effective

at killing pests As pesticides use continues, pest resistance increases,

so the amount and kinds of pesticides is increased With each application of pesticides, pest resistance

increases so more is used… And down the line….as more is used the negative

effects on the environment increase while benefits decrease

Externality Social Trap The negative repercussions are put on

someone else (including other generations.

Externality Social Trap Example 1: using fossil fuels today will

leave little for future generations Example 2: River dumping…pollution

affects those downstream

Avoiding Social Traps Education: Let people know about all the

long term consequences and the social trap that is before them. Pros?

People willingly cooperate

Cons? People may not cooperate

Avoiding Social Traps Rules/Laws: Make rules/laws to stop

people from doing the wrong thing. Pros?

People will follow the law or suffer the consequences

Cons? Laws are to be broken; hard to enforce

Avoiding Social Traps Change Trap to Tradeoff: Bring all the long

term consequences up front. This way, even people only thinking of me-here-now still make the right decision.

Pros? It works

Cons? It is hard to determine long term and societal costs;

all have to do it.