The Women’s College CORE 2401
University of Denver The Human Population
Dr. Narey Fall 2005
Collapse Discussion Points – Part VI
Continue mapping locations mentioned in Collapse, and developing the vocabulary list. Add new outline maps as you need them.
Chapter 14
1. What are the Big Questions about societies’ environmental decision-making processes? What is the paradox of societal complexity? What four factors disrupt effective group decision-making? Why wallow in this Pit of Despair? [419-421]
2. What are the outcomes of deliberate species introductions? Are societies culpable for naiveté? How does the passage of time affect response to recurrent events? Will 600-year-old records be interpreted as fact or as metaphor? How can past experience be an unreliable guide to present response? [421-424]
3. What kind of perception failures lead to dreadful policy approaches and bad practices? Does local familiarity matter? Does understanding the processes matter? How does Diamond explain “creeping normalcy” and “landscape amnesia”? Do land tenure and occupance matter? Does the pace of change matter? [424-426]
4. Why don’t societies fix what is broken? Can moral bankruptcy be argued away? How do societies do that? What motivates prospective winners and losers? What, according to Diamond, are “perverse subsidies”? Does political organization matter? What part does ego play? How are “externalities” made into societal costs? What preserves or destroys commons resources? Does perception of limiting factors matter? What stakeholder issues matter? Does it matter whether a land use production base is owned or leased? What is the impact of a gap between elites and masses in societies? What does any society expect of its ruler? dynastic prestige? social services and protections? Does location matter? [427-431]
5. How do religious values affect societal decision-making? ... traditional economies...? ... political values...? ...unchanged assumptions...? How do societies reevaluate themselves? [432-434]
6. Why do we insist on shooting the messenger? Does planning horizon matter? Is a 90-day outlook appropriate? Is it sustainable? What differences do acceptance and denial make? [434-436]
7. What happens when you can’t fix it? Might bioengineers be persuaded to turn their talents to eradicate vile Leafy Spurge from the Great Plains rather than to establish Star-Link corn and other patented crops to replace older, nonhybrid varieties? Why not? What is the penalty for requiring “further research” into problems? [436-437]
8. Why is “environmental determinism” such anathema to social scientists? Does world-view matter? Might humans actually be part of, or responsible for, rather than dominant over, nature? Might humans societies be dependent on, rather than independent of, local environment? How do assumptions drive outcomes? Does leadership style matter? What happens when nuthin’ works? [438-440]
Chapter 15
1. What is the basic quandary of natural resource extraction in economic development? [441-442]
2. How were problems of oil extraction manifest in Salawati? ... in Kutubu? What are the impacts of access roads? Describe the environment of the Kikori River watershed. What was the design of the access roadway to the Chevron oil field? What vigilance is exerted over “inputs and outputs” from this environment? What about Diamond’s bird-watching activities so upset Chevron’s company-policy dweebs? What characterizes New Guinea’s fauna? How do the areas managed by Chevron express such biodiversity? [442-446]
3. What motivates Chevron in its environmental policies? Does Chevron learn from the mistakes of others? How does Chevron interact with local officials and local interests? How do New Guineans deal with Chevron? What drives compliance with environmental standards? Law? Custom? Commerce? Advantage? What changes in technology have made oil extraction cleaner? What accounts for different policies and outcomes, regarding environment, on the parts of different companies? Does form of government really matter? [446-452]
4. What makes hard-rock mining different from fossil-fuel mining? What contaminants from mining affect water quality? What happens to the overburden – the “slop on top” – when mining? What have been the impacts of copper extraction on New Guinea and neighboring smaller islands? (Why don’t Western economies recycle copper, say, from the wiring of demolished buildings?) What have been the impacts of gold mines on Lihiri Island? ... in other areas? (Should financial institutions be allowed to issue credit cards actually made of gold?) What trade-offs is Papua New Guinea making? ... West Irian province (Indonesian New Guinea) ? What general policies do mining companies follow? What is acid mine drainage? What economic escape valve is used by mining companies experiencing environmental damage? What’s up with the cyanide? Do “voluntary” measure always work with mining? Who gets to fix it? Why are such destructive methods allowed? What is instructive about the Summitville case? Why does Jane Q. Public end up holding the bag here? What’s the main problem of the hard-rock mining industry? What factors beset this sector of the economy? What does it really mean if mining is uneconomic? [452-459]
5. Which marketing inequities cause the hard-rock mining industry to resist environmental responsibility? What ratios of waste tailings to extracted metals are usual? How is it that oil and coal producers can afford the costs of environmental cleanup but metal producers can’t? What are “legacy problems,” according to Diamond? What attitudes are the cultural legacy of mining in particular societies? How does the industry respond to problems of mine-site toxicity? What are the provisions of the 1872 General Mining Act ? Why has it never been revised or updated? Why don’t we reclaim and reuse metals like copper and we do aluminum? [459-463]
6. How is it that the coal industry is required by law to behave? What actually happens? What matters about the length of a supply chain? What novel approaches did Stillwater mining company try? What difference does relative location make? ... planning horizon? ... world view? What reward for good behavior did the Rio Tinto company get? Over which extractive industries do consumers exert influence? ... manufacturers...? Who benefits? Who pays? [463-468]
7. Consider how logging and fishing differ from mining. What ecosystem role do extractable mineral resources play? What forest products do humans use? What ecosystem services do forests perform? Is forestry sustainable? What drives consumption in the logging industry? How are timber companies resisted? [468-473]
8. What criteria for sound forest management has the Forest Stewardship Council promulgated? What totally unAmerican (or unAustralian) notions are included? Does it matter whether the lands logged are public or private? Is certification worth the trouble? What “push-pull” factors affect timber product retailing? ... construction? What industry responses to the FSC have appeared ? [493-479]
9. What fundamental problems face the marine fisheries industry? Where is Earth’s human population apparently moving? Why are we emptying the continental interiors? What are the results of overlapping and absent jurisdictions? What are “perverse subsidies”? What are the side “costs” of overfishing? What is the Marine Stewardship Council? What are its criteria? Are its certifications desirable to firms? What actually is being certified? [479-483]
10. How does government regulation help? ... hurt? What are a company’s obligations to Capitalism? How can societies exert control over corporate behaviors? ... over government agencies? How are societies’ moral principles employed to invoke better behavior? How do we all get in our own way here? [483-485]
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