Environment

Culling of the Yellowstone bison population is considered an essential tool in managing herd health, but it attracts outrage from environmentalists. Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

Our overuse of waterways like the Colorado River bodes poorly for the future of both the environment and our species.

Genetically modified salmon offers the potential to decrease pressure on wild stocks. But they carry ethical concerns as well: how should we proceed?

One of the key issues with the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline was that it was built to transport oil sands rather than crude. Should this matter?

Can your individual right to have a steak be overruled by a global need for a sustainable future?

Was the Odense Zoo's dissection of a lion wrong or did it serve a legitimate purpose?

Environmental regulation aimed at reducing smog will cost the economy an estimated USD 1.4 billion. Is public health worth it?

Blanket antibiotic use is an accepted practice in the production of meat. Should it be? What risks does it hold for consumers?

If you move to California these days, as I did a few months ago, the jokes about bringing your own water along will be abundant. Of course, access to clean … Continue reading "Solving California’s Water Crisis: A Libertarian Perspective"

How online practices like the wanderlust community can contribute to environmental activism.

One of the many reasons that weighing ethical dilemmas is such a challenge is because we’re often faced with a conflict between measurable and immeasurable value. We see this often in relation to environmental issues. Because we can’t … Continue reading "Mes Aynak’s Intrinsic Cultural Value"

With a record-setting net worth of over $700 billion, Apple has become the largest U.S. company and produces some of the most widely used technological devices in the world.  As … Continue reading "Apple’s Proposed Conservation Effort Raises Questions"

Every week, the Prindle Intern team weighs in on an ethical issue together. Each intern is challenged to keep their response to five sentences – Ethics in 5. Click on … Continue reading "Ethics in 5: Printerns on Water"

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” is a method of extracting natural gas by drilling wells and then shooting liquids at high pressures down the well in order to … Continue reading "Do the Economic Benefits of Fracking Outweigh the Risk of Pollution and Depletion of Natural Resources?"

This post draws on my experience from co-leading the Prindle Institute’s Alternative Spring Break trip to Nashville, TN focused on food ethics and justice on March 22-28, 2015. Food justice … Continue reading "Progress, paradox, and the food justice movement"

DePauw is reaching the end of its annual three-week-long “Energy Wars:” a competition between the major housing buildings on campus to reduce the amount of electricity and water that students … Continue reading "Do you have a moral responsibility to “Go Green”?"

The Keystone Pipeline has been a source of tension since 2008. Though it was first blocked by the legislature in 2012, it was approved in January of this year. Since … Continue reading "XL-Sized Protest Against Keystone XL"