Impact Of Technology On The Environment - 1277 Words

The costs that came from the effects of technology on the environment are literal and figurative, monetary and destructive. The first article being explored is â€Å"Technology and the Environment† by Vernon W. Ruttan. Ruttan looks at the relationship between technology and environmental through the eyes of economics. He compares the usage of technology and its effects on the environment with the economical terms supply and demand, technology being the â€Å"rising demand† and the environment being the â€Å"inelastic supply.† He argues that the advents of technology are rising faster than the environment can replenish or heal itself, and offers a solution of â€Å"redirection of technical effort† , but does not state how to redirect. He goes onto something†¦show more content†¦Because his article was written early in the studies of technology and the environment (with that said he used eighty-four sources that ranged from work of scholars to inf ormation from the U.S Department of Agriculture), besides his economical expertise, the most he really adds to the scholarship is the calls for change, redirection, and investment, which other people will have to answer. Some were not interesting in answering those calls, some were interested in other ideas, and one of those people was Mikhail Bernstam. In his article â€Å"The Wealth of Nations and the Environment† Bernstam explores the idea that the negative effects of technology and innovation have on the environment are only temporary. He argues â€Å"as economies grow (due to innovation), discharges to the environment increase rapidly, then decelerate, and eventually decline.† He supports this argument with multiple tables, charts, and statistics that show the rise and decline of various emissions and pollutants in the United States, Canada, various European nations, Japan, India, and China from the 1950s into the 1980s. What Berstam adds to the