EBOOK Perfect Moral Storm:The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change

Climate change is arguably the great problem confronting humanity, but we have        done little to head off this looming catastrophe. In The Perfect Moral Storm,        philosopher Stephen Gardiner illuminates our dangerous inaction by placing the        environmental crisis in an entirely new light, considering it as an ethical failure.          Gardiner clarifies the moral situation, identifying the temptations (or "e;storms"e;)        that make us vulnerable to a certain kind of corruption. First, the world's most        affluent nations are tempted to pass on the cost of climate change to the poorer and        weaker citizens of the world. Second, the present generation is tempted to pass the        problem on to future generations. Third, our poor grasp of science, international        justice, and the human relationship to nature helps to facilitate inaction. As a        result, we are engaging in willful self-deception when the lives of future        generations, the world's poor, and even the basic fabric of life on the planet is at        stake. We should wake up to this profound ethical failure, Gardiner concludes, and        demand more of our institutions, our leaders and ourselves.