ENVIRONETHICS INSTITUTE

Mission Statement

The EnvironEthics Institute researches how humankind is interconnected to a living Earth. Often interdisciplinary, the Institute explores how an applied human ecology transforms the landscapes of ethics, politics, economics and law, thereby refocussing personal priorities and reshaping public policy. Cultivated within the tradition of constitutional democracy and human rights, the Institute affirms that the responsibilities of stewardship and justice best balance the recently enumerated human right to a livable environment with other competing rights like health, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. From these principles emerge knowledge and values which assist individual fulfillment, elevate human understanding, and advance world peace. As the Institute also asserts in its campaign for a sustainable society, the common good of every community has an ecological aspect which ranges from treating animals humanely to preserving wilderness areas to perpetuating the environmental goods and services of the global commons. Lastly, the Institute seeks to join the public debate as to how an enlightened anthropocentrism secures a reasonably friendly biosphere for present and future generations while enriching the human spirit.

RESEARCH PROGRAM

ETHICS and POLITICS · ENVIRONETHICS: A Declaration of Interdependence

· Is a Healthy Earth an Inalienable Right?

· Can Environmental Rights Bridge the North-South Divide?

· Bio-Wealth: Extending Value to Genes, Species and Ecosystems

· From Rock to Tapestry to Conservation: A Worldview Toward Symbiotic Stewardship

· Matriotism: Aspiring to Duty, Love, and Loyalty of Mother Earth

ECONOMICS · Finance Rescues Rainforest: How Debt-for-Nature Swaps Conserve Biodiversity

· Free Ride to the Ozone Layer: Shirking an Ecologic Duty

· A Shortage of Sinks: How Pollution Economics Affect Atmosphere and Ocean

· A Refreshing Future: How Pollution Permits Clean the Air

· Whale in the Rainforest: The Dilemma of Japanese Whaling and American Ranching

· The Amazon as Earth's Lungs: The North Pays for Services Rendered POLITICAL ECONOMY · PERPETUAL PEACE: The Environmental Enlightenment Dawns to a Sustainable World

· Perpetualism: The Environmental Enlightenment Dawns to Solve The Ecological Problem

· The Perpetual Trust: To Breach or Not To Breach our Duty to Manage the Global Commons

· Economics and Ecology Converge through Sustainable Development LAW · An Efficient Nuisance?: The Economics and the Politics of Tort Law

· Enviro-Tort: Breaching an Ecological Duty

· Plato v. Posner: How Political Discourse and Economic Efficiency Determine Justice

· Locke v. Lovelock: When Private Property Encounters Mother Earth