Protecting Future Generations

Abstract

In this paper I intend to address the question of how much responsibility this generation should assume for the protection of future generations. One example of this type of concern is the question as to whether the historical, present day and future benefits from the invention and development of the automobile compensate for the enormous death toll due to the automobile, the non-availability to future generations of the cheaper oil, copper, lead, zinc and iron, extracted from the Earth's crust and the despoilation of the land surface by roads and urban sprawl.

This can also he expressed as "how much should we invest to protect future generations from harm or from a reduction in potential good?" A further expression of this is "how much should this generation's benefits be reduced in order the future generations not be deprived?" In posing this complex kind of question, one cannot expect to develop simple answers. There are aspects of philosophy, ethics, history, environmental assessment, economics and many other disciplines involved.

In addressing these questions, I have consulted a very wide literature, developed a possible method for answering such questions and, to test out the method, have worked through an example. The example serves both to derive the method and to illustrate its problems.