How does it help to use economic terms when dealing with environmental issues?
Firstly, the two critical purposes of an economy are to produce and distribute goods. The production and distribution of goods require matter and energy, create waste and take up space. The latter four, matter, energy, waste and space are products of the environment. The wastes created by the economy are thrown back into the environment, hence destroying the environment. As I stated in one of my earlier posts, humanity's relationship with the environment is cyclic (the economy's relationship with the environment is cyclic). The economy destroys the environment, us human beings drink water - that is now polluted, breathe air - that has been contaminated, and live in an era in which climatic changes are gradually edging towards the extremes. The economy destroys the environment, the environment destroys the economy. This is one perspective on the relationship between the economy and the environment.
The next addresses a vital misconception regarding the relationship between these two entities. The misconception being the fact that the economy is regarded as synonymous with money, a belief based on humanity's money minded mentalities. Although I believe this perspective is greatly misled, I will go on to elaborate on its finer points. First of all, the human race depends on the planet's resources in order to maintain its economy and income generation. Human's are all about the monetary value of a product, however, in relation to the environment, money and things of such worth themselves are born of the Earth, substances such as gold, silver, diamonds and oil. The human race has basically found a way of bringing everything that lies within the environment into the economy, an environment humans are able to control. We, during our day to day lives, undergo monetary transactions (money is paper, paper is from trees) in order to buy essential resources such as food, water, shelter and clothing. Ironically, these necessities are also natural resources and so is the tree the money came from. What the human race is actually doing is paying themselves to rob the Earth of its resources.
The two perspectives described above seem to have deemed the relationship between economics and the environment as parasitic. A relationship in which the economy is leeching off the environment, depriving the Earth of its belongings and putting the world into ecological overdraft due to over-consumption. The third perspective I am about to explain is the most contemporary and discusses the potential the economy has in contributing positively towards the environment due to their already incredibly interconnected nature. This perspective states that the economy and the environment are not only related, but are able to work hand in hand to improve one another. As I have stated, economics and ecology (the environment) are often classified as two completely different entities. Economics is often thought to deal purely with monetary and financial issues, however society often tends to overlook the fact that economics also deals with the allocation of scare man-made and natural resources. Economics finds the most effective and cheapest method of performing a certain task. However, in many cases the cheapest method also happens to be the most ecologically destructive. If economics worked collaboratively with ecology in order to find the most cost efficient and environmentally friendly method of performing these same tasks, the main issue concerning human impact on nature will have been eliminated. The other area in which ecology and economics are interdependent is under the umbrella of natural capacity. Natural capacity is "an extension of the economic notion of capital (manufactured means of production) to goods and services relating to the natural environment." Natural capital is the stock of natural ecosystems that produces a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services for the future. Natural capital addresses issues such as sustainability. This contemporary approach towards the relationship between ecology and economy has given birth to a new field called ecological economics. Ecological economics is a trans-disciplinary field of that aims to address the interdependence and co-evolution of human economies and natural ecosystems over time and space. In addition to the field of ecological economics, there is also a field called environmental economics that aims to ratify the theory that the economy is a subsystem of the ecosystem (it is in environmental economics that natural capital is directly involved). Personally I feel that ecological economics is a more contemporary and realistic approach to the relationship between these two entities as ecological economics takes environmental economics a step further by saying that the human economy and natural ecosystems are actually parallel to each other in importance while maintaining the belief that the economy too can feed the environment, a belief that environmental economics rejects.
Based on my in depth analysis of three or rather three and a half (counting the difference between environmental and ecological economics) perspectives on the relationship between the environment and the economy, I am able to confirm that although the economy is having a negative impact on the environment, these two entities are completely capable of working together to improve the state of our Earth.
Work Cited
Bank, international organizations such as the World. "Conservation Ecology: Bridging the Gap Between Economics and Ecology." Ecology and Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010.
Dowdey, Sarah. "HowStuffWorks "How Carbon Footprints Work"." Howstuffworks "Science". N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010.
"Ecological economics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010.
"Natural capital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2010.
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