I was raised in a staunchly pro-environment household where I was constantly provided with evidence of the damage humans have done to the earth as well as countless reasons why the natural environment should be protected. Although my outward commitment to environmentalism never wavered, I nevertheless harbored doubts about its very foundation. Perhaps I was (and still am) an unusually morbid child, but my reasoning went thus: if all species (or at least the great majority) go extinct at some point, what’s to stop one from supposing that environmental degradation is not the natural order of things, that is, the necessary and inevitable process of our own extinction? To put it bluntly, who’s to say we don’t all deserve to die? Should we just do whatever we want to the Earth and let fate handle the rest? Should we just accept that at some point it will be “our time” and stop worrying about preventing it?
Obviously, each species is biologically driven to secure its survival and therefore it is only natural that we humans should be concerned about our own survival. But is our concern for the environment really so self-interested? Is there not some higher concern, some ultimate reason why we should protect this planet of ours?
Over the years, I’ve come to a more or less satisfying answer to these questions. My first step was to recognize that humans occupy a unique position on this planet. That’s not to say that I think we are superior to other living things and consequently more deserving of life. Rather, I believe that our unique capacity for reason and consciousness bestows upon us a special set of responsibilities.
Firstly, humans are at the top of the food chain. Although at first glance a lion or a crocodile may seem more fearsome than a human, through reason we have developed tools and technologies that enable us to exert a vast influence over other species. This means that our bad decisions aren’t just bad for us-- humanity's abuse of the planet has already led to the extinction of many other species. It also means that we have enormous power to do good. Personally, I believe in the maxim “with great power comes great responsibility.” If we die out, there is no way of knowing what the consequences will be, we can only predict that they would be significant.
Secondly, as far as we know, humans are the only creatures capable of moral feeling. We are capable of “evil” in a sense that non-human animals are not: we can intentionally commit wrong even when we know there is a better way. Traditional science has taught us that other animals act mainly out of instinct and do whatever it takes to survive. Therefore any act on their part considered “wrong” by our standards is not done out of malevolence. I believe that our ethical awareness requires the human individual to do what he or she believes to be right and just regardless of whether or not it promotes his or her individual survival.
In a nutshell, the unusual abilities possessed by humans compel us to protect the environment because we are in fact capable of protecting it and also because we know it to be the most beneficial thing to do for all of earth’s inhabitants.
Moreover, even if one concludes that extinction for all species is inevitable, that does not mean that we should just give up the struggle for survival. That would be like saying "Well I'm not gonna eat this candy bar because I know in the future it will be gone and I won't be able to enjoy it anymore." Whatever time we have left, we should fight for it and make the most of it, not roll over and let ourselves be ruined.
