Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Socolow's work increasingly focuses on ethical aspects of environmental-
ism. In a 1996 talk at the Yale Institute for Social and Policy Studies, he
argued for a moral and reverent response to the Earth's vulnerability:
Wherein is the moral imperative to enhance those portions of the scientific enter-
prise likely to illuminate critical environmental issues? It arises from our obligation
to preserve the capacity of future generations to enjoy experiences that they value
as much as we enjoy what we value....Each generation must provide the next gen-
eration with new capabilities in order to compensate for bequeathing to the next
generation a natural environment more degraded than the one it inherited.Where
geology threatens to impoverish, the intergenerational accounts must be balanced
by scientific understanding, new instruments and devices, and more subtle and
effective policies.
Socolow remains optimistic about the Earth's future. “The problem,” he
says, “is that the Earth is small, compared to the exuberance of the human
species.We will have a very challenging time adjusting to the fact that the
cumulative effect of the many wonderful things so many of us want to do
on this planet is a changed planet. But I believe people will negotiate their
way through the environmental challenge. I believe in democracy more
than I believe in technocracy. My optimism originates in a conviction that
people have a lot of common sense.”
