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Kirk Heinze: Shared moral imperative should guide our green activity
- Michael Nelson talks with Kirk Heinze on WJR
In recent years, there have been a plethora of “green” books flooding the market and, frankly, most of them are uninspired. That is not the case with Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril (Trinity University Press, 2010), co-edited by Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson. I found the book compelling for two reasons: 1) its philosophical orientation and 2) the manner in which the book is structured. Both authors are philosophers, Moore at Oregon State University and Nelson at Michigan State University, and their elegantly stated vision of a sustainable planet is one which is “as rich in life and possibility as the world we live in.” For this to happen, they contend, there must be a commonly shared moral imperative that provides the core impetus for the ethical or “right” green activity. And it is the serious and sustained discussion of just what constitutes this moral imperative that has been lacking in all the green discourse, they argue.
The book includes over 80 short essays from an impressive array of contributors—essays that speak directly to the ethical dimensions of global sustainability. Contributors include Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu, Barack Obama, The Dalai Lama, Thomas Friedman and Wendell Berry. I found the vast majority of the essays thought-provoking, and many were even inspiring. Just reading one or two essays a day left me with an on-going sense of engagement in perhaps the most important single issue of our time.
For more on the book, you can listen to my recent Greening of the Great Lakes interview with Dr. Nelson by clicking the arrow above. And please join me every Friday evening at 7 for Greening of the Great Lakes on News/Talk 760 WJR.
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