"Climate Change and Ethics and Economics, Oh My": Another Article On the Effects Of Our Destructive Habits.

I think Broome reveals that the sudden urgency to change the effects of climate change on the environment raises controversy. This is because of difference in ethics which relates to how people think. In turn, this has an effect on how they think of this issue economically. The economics involved is important because it has an effect on how we deal with this issue. Broome discusses proiritarianism and utilitarianism, two ethical theories and applies them to economics in his article, “The Ethics of Climate Change”.

Prioritarianism in relation to ethics involves placing less value on the wealthy and more value on stabilizing the gap between the wealthy and the poor. This can be done by placing less social value on the upper class’ conspicuous consumption. Utilitarianism is the exact opposite of proiritarianism. This theory states that the gathering of “benefits” shouldn’t be overvalued or undervalued based on economic status. The gathering of that benefit is the same regardless of whether or not you’re rich or poor. These theories lead people to different conclusions about the need to reverse the damage of climate change. Prioritarianism places a higher value on the “return” or “benefit” we get from enacting change now. Utilitarianists believe that the return on changing our habits now will not have a great enough benefit to make a difference. As you can see, ethics play a large part in this controversy and in our perceptions of an issue. Broome believes that the way to solve this is to argue both sides and let democracy run it’s course.