Environmental Ethics and Sustainability: A Casebook for Environmental Professionals introduces a decision-making model constructed from the viewpoint that ethics are not about the way things are, but about the way things should be.
The first part of the book covers natural human instincts, human attitude, treatment of other species and the natural world, and fundamental concepts in environmental decision making in the public policy arena. It also provides insight and specifics on how to develop an ethics culture in an organization as well as conduct an environmental ethics education program that trains leaders, professionals, and students.
The second part of the book identifies and deals with numerous dilemmas in a case-study format, offers options, tests ethical values, and offers practice to the environmental professionals in making the right choice and evaluating the justification for those decisions.
The authors of this book explore the notion that doing the right thing is not a natural human instinct, and that the techniques needed for resolving an ethical dilemma require training. The book defines ethics as "the difference between what a person has the right to do and the right thing to do!" It details a framework for understanding and resolving various ethical claims and concentrates on providing hands-on practical training for environmental practitioners and students aspiring to become environmental leaders and professionals.
About the Author: Hal Taback, PE, BCEE, QEP, REA, is president of Hal Taback Company of Carlsbad, California, a Southern California environmental consulting firm. He has over 40 years of professional practice in regulatory and engineering issues related to reducing risk from toxic air pollutants and hazardous waste and other compliance. Mr. Taback holds a master of science in aerospace engineering from Princeton University and a bachelor of mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester. He has over 140 publications in the environmental field. His papers on ethics have been published in EM Magazine, Environmental Auditor, Engineering Times, and Southern California Environmental Digest.
Dr. Ram Ramanan
, PE, CEng. BCEE is a Fulbright Fellow with over 40 years of corporate (ExxonMobil), consulting (AECOM & ICF), and academic (IIT Bombay) experience in the management of sustainability and environmental issues. Ram is an industry associate professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and serves as Education Council Chair and Director on the International Board of A&WMA. Ram holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. Ram has published and/or presented 40 papers worldwide.