Water Scarcity and Environmental Ethics Essay

Arizona Water Scarcity and Environmental Ethics Essay

Introduction

During the first half of class, we learned central ideas in social research on environment and society, including topics pertaining to the social construction of nature, population, scarcity, political economy, environmental ethics, and human-environment relations. Write an essay that answers the following questions:

Question

Part 1: Answer each of the following questions in 2 – 4 paragraphs for each number associated with a cluster of questions.

How does agriculture shape the political economy of Arizona? Explain the Gov.’s recent declaration about water uses for Saudi farms to talk about the history of agriculture in the state and the globalization of Arizona’s agriculture in recent years.

See: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4236066-arizona-governor-revokes-saudi-owned-alfalfa-farm-lease/, and also,

https://theworld.org/media/2023-10-04/saudi-agribusiness-thirsty-arizonas-dwindling-water.

What are scarcity issues involving water in the state? The authors talk about the difference between Tucson and Phoenix? What is the difference in water use between these two cities? What are the similarities? What would sustainable water use look like in Arizona?

1. Based on your previous answer, explain how your idea of water use is tied to an idea of environmental ethics? Why do you believe the things you do about water? What do you speculate are larger implications to the environment based on your understanding of environmental ethics?

Part 2:

Using one of the topics introduced in the second half of the class, i.e., wolves, food sovereignty, climate change, environmental justice, tell me how your selected topic tells us something about people and the environment today? Identify major issues and dilemmas, who are the interested stakeholders? What are the political economy dynamics? What are the market dynamics? Again, what, ultimately, does this say about people and the environment?