Ethics In Electrical and Computer Engineering

LECTURE #12

Summary:
Environmental Ethics: the expression environmental ethics can have several
meanings. We use the expression to refer to the study of moral issues
concerning the environment, and moral perspectives on those issues.
The Invisible Hand &The Tragedy Of The Commons:
The invisible hand and the tragedy of the commons. Both metaphors are used
to highlight unintentional impacts of the marketplace on the environment, but
one is optimistic and the other is cautionary about those impacts. Each
contains a large part of the truth, and they need to be reconciled and balanced.
Invisible hand governing the marketplace in a seemingly paradoxical manner
and the invisible hand metaphor does not adequately take account of damage to
the environment.
Sustainable Development:
the term was invented to underscore how current patterns of economic activity
and growth cannot be sustained as populations grow, technologies are extended
to developing countries, and the environment is increasingly harmed in other
words the term implies the crucial need for new economic patterns and
products that are sustainable, that is, compatible with both ongoing
technological development and protection of the environment.
ASCE defines sustainable development as “a process of change in which the
direction of investment, the orientation of technology, the allocation of
resources, and the development and functioning of institutions [is directed] to
meet present needs and aspirations without endangering the capacity of natural
systems to absorb the effects of human activities, and without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and aspirations”

Environmental Leadership:
In the present climate, it is good business for a corporation to be perceived by
the public as environmentally responsible, indeed as a leader in finding
creative solutions. This is true of corporations of all sizes.
Government: Technology Assessment:
Government laws and regulations are understandably the lightning rod in
environmental controversies. Few would question the need for the force of law
in setting firm guidelines regarding the degradation of the “commons,”
especially in limiting the excesses of self-seeking while establishing fair “rules
to play by.” Yet, how much law, of what sort, and to what ends are matters of
continual disagreement.
Communities: Preventing Natural Disasters:
Communities at the local and even state level have special responsibility to
conserve natural resources and beauty for future generations. They have
special responsibility, as well, for preventing natural events such as hurricanes,
floods, fires, and earthquakes. There are four sets of measures communities
can take to avert or mitigate disasters
 One set of defensive measures consists of restrictions or requirements
imposed on human habitat.
 A second set of measures consists of strengthening the lifelines for essential
utilities such as water and electricity
 A third category encompasses special-purpose defensive structures that
would include dams, dikes, breakwaters, avalanche barriers, and means to keep
floodwaters from damaging low-lying sewage plants placed where gravity will
take a community’s effluents.
 A fourth set of measures should assure safe exits in the form of roads and
passages designed as escape routes, structures designated as emergency
shelters, adequate clinical facilities, and agreements with neighboring
communities for sharing resources in emergencies.
Internalizing Costs:
Democratic controls take many forms beyond passing laws. One such option is
internalizing costs of harm to the environment. When we are told how efficient
and cheap many of our products and processes and the figures usually include
only the direct costs of labor, raw materials, and the use of facilities.The true
cost would have to include many indirect factors such as the effects of
pollution, the depletion of energy and raw materials, disposal, and social costs.
If these, or an approximation of them, were internalized (added to the price)
then those for whose benefit the environmental degradation had occurred
could be charged directly for corrective actions.
Social activism by concerned citizens has played a key role in raising public
awareness
Human Centered Ethics:
Human centered, or anthropocentric, environmental ethics focuses exclusively
on the benefits of the natural environment to humans and the threats to human
beings presented by the destruction of nature and these human centered ethics
permit and indeed require a long-term view of conserving the environment,
especially because the human beings who have inherent worth will include
future generations.
One version of nature-centered ethics recognizes all sentient animals as having
inherent worth. Sentient animals are those that feel pain and pleasure and have
desires.
Religious Perspectives:
Each world religion reflects the diversity of outlooks of its members, and the
same is true concerning environmental attitudes. Moreover, these religions
have endured through millennia in which shifting attitudes have led a mixed
legacy of concern and callousness, with large gaps between ideals and practice.
Nevertheless, the potential for world religions to advance ecological
understanding is enormous.
Case study:NSPE BER case no.07-6
Summary: concluded that Engineer A did the appropriate thing in coming
forward to his client with the information and also by documenting the
information for possible future reference as appropriate. Under the
circumstances and also it would have been improper for Engineer A to include
reference to the information in his final report, particularly since it would have
been based upon mere speculation and not careful testing or evaluation by a
competent individual or firm. At the same time, the Engineer A had an
obligation to follow through to see that correct follow up action was taken by
the public agency. So Final conclusion is Engineer A to have reported this
information to a public authority under the circumstances as outlined in the
facts, before determining whether corrective action is taken, would have been
an overreaction and could easily have risked jeopardizing the professional
reputations of his client and the public agency.