Economics and environmentalism are interconnected fields according to Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher Heckel and Chairman of Economics, Business, and Accounting Charles Steele.
“Eco means home,“ Steele said. “Ecology is the study of home and economics is the art and science of managing the home.”
Heckel and Steele addressed the relationship between environmental conservation and economics in a discussion hosted by the conservation club on Wednesday, Oct. 19 in the formal lounge.
Heckel began by explaining biological perspectives on conservation. He said biological conservation generally focuses on preserving biodiversity among genes, species, or ecosystems.
Heckel said three forces drive conservation: aesthetics, pragmatics, and land ethic. Coined by environmentalist Aldo Leopold, the term “land ethic” refers to a heavily interconnected environment in which changing one factor can have a ripple effect on others.
Heckel said he sees a fourth component, religious imperative, which isn’t typically mentioned in textbooks.
“The Bible tells us that we inherited the earth. We are supposed to be stewards of the earth, right? That’s not just a domination over the earth,” Heckel said. “It’s learning how to live with Earth and conserve all of those things.”
According to Heckel, the guiding principles of conservation ecology say ecological complexity should be maintained, evolutionary processes should continue, and biological diversity has intrinsic value.
Heckel then gave the floor to Steele, who began by defining economics.
“It’s the study of how people act, in the sense that people economize – they do useful things, and they try to do them in such ways that they avoid waste,” he said.
According to Steele, early economists focused on topics like agriculture and natural resources, so the history of economics is intertwined with ecology.
Steele said three ideas from economics are especially applicable to conservation and environmentalism: the notion that all actions have costs, the concept of mutual gains, and the importance of private property rights.
Steele said actions are not necessarily justified by their environmental benefits because the costs must also be considered.
“There’s a tendency to think that recycling is good,” Steele said. “It does generate benefits because it saves the resources that are recycled. But it also generates costs, and it’s possible that those can be destructive on net.”
Steele said mutual gains means people are incentivized to work together to solve truly wasteful, polluting conditions. He cited the example of ranchers in Montana collaborating with non-profit organizations to preserve trout populations.
“We ought to be able to turn resource and environmental conflicts into mutual cooperation,” Steele said.
Steele said private property rights were effectively employed in New Zealand to help combat overfishing. The local government implemented individually transferable quotas there, which gave fishermen tradable property rights to a certain number of living, uncaught fish. The ITQs created incentives to conserve and prevent over-capitalization, Steele said.
Junior Gabrielle Lewis, president of the conservation club, said she doesn’t think Hillsdale students talk enough about conservation.
“By focusing on economics as well as a platform for people to ask questions, we’re trying to change the way that students here view conservation,” Lewis said. “It does have a place within the capitalist mindset, and there are more ways to solve climate change than just government interference.
