Mark Sagoff, a Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, as well as president of the International Society of Environmental Ethics and a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board, will present “Climate Change: Ethics vs. Economics” on Wednesday, April 11, at The College of Wooster. The lecture, which is part of the Global Climate Change Symposium, begins at 7:30 p.m. in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall (303 E. University). A dessert reception will precede the event at 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
Sagoff approaches environmental problems as a gadfly who challenges cherished preconceptions and stirs up controversy. Throughout his career he has engaged in interdisciplinary research and published widely in journals of philosophy, law, economics, and public policy, including Atlantic Monthly, Amicus Journal, Nature Conservancy, and Orion. His two recent books with Cambridge University Press: Price, Principle, and the Environment (2004) and The Economy of the Earth: Philosophy, Law, and the Environment (Second Edition, forthcoming 2007), provide a critical examination of the view that a price can be put upon nature and a healthy environment. He argues that we need to preserve nature because of its beauty and aesthetic value. Despite his criticisms of economics, he has also argued that economic analysis can provide insight, which can help solve environmental problems.
Sagoff, who is particularly effective at bringing a technical analysis of an issue to a general audience, has also taught at Princeton University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Cornell University. In addition, he has received major grants from several foundations, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.