Environmental Abuse

I thought it was really interesting that the author of "People, Nature, and Ethics," that environmental abuse is not only about how they treat the nonhuman world but also about how they treat each other. If people do not treat each other with respect and care for one another it makes it difficult to treat the nonhuman world with respect. I also agree with the author with the fact that liberalism hinders environmentalism. With liberalism people are searching for their own happiness and this goes against environmental ethics because with environmental ethics people have to put the environment above their own pleasures at times. The author also points out some very interesting points about how humans overuse resources and rarely replenish them. I think it is important for all to look at the example that the author shows of Japan who was once very self sufficient with lumber and now has dropped 30%. I think it is necessary for all of to watch what we consume. Our consumption in my opinion is the easiest thing to change. More importantly all of us can make a difference by making small cuts in our consumption.