Discussion night: The ethical quandary when individual freedoms and enviromental imperatives conflict

Join us as we discuss the ethical quandary between the rights of individuals to pursue their own individual goals and the rights of humans as a group to a clean and healthy environnent. There seem to be no obvious or easy solutions. While extreme examples seem to have clear ethical imperatives: Can your neighbor throw toxic agricultural waste on your farm? Others are not so clear: Should extremely high taxes on all carbon based fuels be levied to encourage green energy development even if it causes great economic harm, especially to the poorest among us? Where is the line? How do we even deteremine what to measure and regulate? And who regulates whom when the entire planet is affected by the actions of individual countries? Do future generations have a right to a less spoiled planet even if it comes at great cost to current generations? Is ecoterrorism ever justified? Even if a “wet bulb” event such as the one described HERE occurs? (Fair warning - this is a fictional but realistic description of a wet bulb event and is one of the most chilling chapters I have ever read in my life).

https://sps.columbia.edu/news/ethical-imperative-environmental-protection

https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/human-rights-and-the-environment/

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/resources/human-rights/2024-october/human-right-healthy-climate/