Future generations and interpersonal compensations: moral aspects of energy use

Abstract

The long sweep of human history has involved a continuing interaction between peoples’ efforts to improve their well-being and the environment’s stability to sustain those efforts. Throughout most of that history, the interactions between human development and the environment have been relatively simple and local affairs. But the complexity and scale of those interactions are increasing. What were once local incidents of pollution shared throughout a common watershed or air basin now involve multile nations - witness the concerns for acid desposition in Europe and North America. What were once acute episodes of relatively reversible damage now affect multiple generations - witness the debates over disposal of chemical and radioactive wastes.