Engineers and The Environment: Professional Ethics - Chapter 8 Spring 2018

Engineers and the
Environment
Professional Ethics|Chapter 8
Spring 2018
Introduction
• Engineers have a complex relationship with the environment
• They have helped to produce some of the environmental problems we are
facing today (i.e. air and water pollution)
• They can design products, projects, and processes that reduce/eliminate these
same environmental threats
• If engineers have contributed to environmental problems, they are also an
essential part of their solution
Introduction
This chapter will address this question:

What obligations does the engineering profession have towards
the environment and how should these obligations be fulfilled?
Engineering Codes and The Law
• There is a widespread and increasing belief that the human impact on the
environment is a cause for concern…
• Environmental considerations in laws passed in the past few decades and in
engineering codes reflect this
Engineering Codes and The Law
• Many engineering codes make reference to the environment…although most
are stated in relatively weak terms:
• The NSPE code ‘encourages’ (not requires) engineers to ‘adhere to the
principles of sustainable development in order to protect the environment for
future generations (more on this later)
• The ASCE code says that engineers ‘should be committed to improving the
environment…so as to enhance the quality of life of the general public’
The Environmental Challenge:
Key Concepts
• Human-centered or anthropocentric orientation of traditional Western ethics
• Our ethical systems tend to be oriented primarily towards the responsibilities
humans have for each other
• Natural objects have value only as they contribute to human well-being…this is
referred to as instrumental value
• Even engineering codes appear to give an anthropocentric (and broadly
utilitarian) justification for protecting the environment…Protecting the
environment is necessary to protect human ‘safety, health, and welfare’
Key Concepts
• We are not used to thinking about our
ethical obligations to the nonhuman
world
• Non-anthropocentric ethics: nature
also has value in itself, apart from its
usefulness to human beings…this is
called intrinsic value
Key Concepts
• It is possible to combine both anthropocentric + non-anthropocentric elements
to construct a new moral standard:
An action is right if it protects and preserves the natural world, even if

it is not necessary to promote human welfare, but it is justifiable to take
actions that harm the environment if the production of a human good
is sufficiently great
Responding to the Environmental Challenge:
The Business Approach
• Industry attitudes fall into roughly 3 categories:
• Subminimal attitude: do as little as possible in meeting regulations; if cheaper
to pay a fine, then do so; primary goal is to make money and environmental
regulations are seen as an impediment to this goal
• Minimalist or compliance attitude: accepting government regulations is a
cost of doing business; compliance without commitment or enthusiasm
• Progressive attitude: genuinely committed to meeting/exceeding regulations;
complete support of the CEO; state-of-the-art equipment (i.e. clean
technology); well-staffed environmental divisions within the company
The Progressive Attitude:
Major Principles
üProtection of the biosphere
üSustainable use of natural resources
üReduction and proper disposal of waste
üEnergy conservation
üRisk reduction
Major Principles
üSafe products and services
üEnvironmental restoration
üInforming the public
Major Principles
• Engineers can use these principles to establish goals in a professional
context:
• Minimize the use of nonrenewable resources and replace them with
renewable substitutes
• Use renewable resources only at their replacement rate
• Design products that are recyclable and minimize waste
Example: Life Cycle Analysis
• LCA is a ‘cradle-to-grave’ analysis of the environmental
impact of a product, from the derivation of its raw materials,
to the manufacturing process and its use, to its final disposal
1. LCA identifies and quantifies all relevant inputs (energy,
water, materials used) and outputs (environmental
releases into the air, soil, water)…
2. LCA identifies and quantifies all impacts to human and
ecological health associated with the product
Environmental Stewardship &
Professional Obligations
• It is important for engineers to have an attitude of care
towards nature
• Engineers create much of the technology that is involved
in the degradation (i.e. power plants) and improvement
(i.e. solar energy panels) of the environment
• Engineers should be morally responsible agents in issues
that affect our planet …
• You have a special duty to help protect the environment!
Environmental Stewardship &
Professional Obligations
• Engineers shall have the right to voice responsible
objections to organizational directives with which they
disagree. Where possible, organizations shall not
compel engineers to participate in projects that violate
their professional obligations or personal conscience

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Engineers and the

This chapter will address this question:

An action is right if it protects and preserves the natural world, even if

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