Ethics in Engineering:Environment & Research

From the ASME Code of Ethics, The Code of Canons #8:

“Engineers shall consider environmental impact in the performance of their professional duties.”

Source: www.ASME.org

The Engineer’s Responsibility to the Environment

The National Environmental Policy Act

was passed by Congress in 1969

Extremely important and influential environmental law. Some excerpts [1]:

“a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment”“assure for all Americans safe, healthful, productive, and aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings”

Mandated the environmental impact statementLed Congress to create the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

1. Source: 42 United States Code (USC) sect. 4331 (1982) Note 20

What Does This Mean to the Engineer?

Most environmental laws focus on making the environment ‘clean’, or free from many pollutants

What does ‘clean’ mean?

In Engineering Ethics Concepts and Cases, Harris, Pritchard, & Rabins consider the following definitions of ‘clean’:

Source: Harris, Pritchard, & Rabin, 2009, Engineering Ethics Concepts and Cases, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Chapter 9

1. Comparative Criterion

The environment is clean if it imposes no

greater threat to human life or

health than do other risks

What if the levels of pollution

currently accepted are too high?

Example:Workers should

not expect working conditions

to be safer than the drive to and

from work

2. Normalcy Criterion

The environment is clean if the

pollutants present in it are normally present in nature

to the same degree

The levels of pollution in nature

vary and may sometimes be accepted only

because they are unavoidable

Example:Radiation levels far

exceeding the norm are currently acceptable in parts

of Japan

3. Optimal-Pollution Reduction Criterion

The environment is clean if funds required

to reduce pollution further could be used

in other ways that would produce more overall human well-

being

Consider that costs and benefits may be unfairly distributed

Example:The funds required to

reduce a pollutant further would save more lives if used

elsewhere

4. Maximum Protection Criterion

The environment is clean only if any

identifiable risk from pollution that poses a

possible risk has been eliminated

(given technology and applicable laws)

The rigidity of this criterion may require elimination of many substances whose

toxicity is doubtful or extremely limited

Example:Cell phones?

5. Demonstrable Harm Criterion

The environment is clean if every

pollutant that is demonstrably

harmful to human health has been

eliminated

Some pollutants are harmful in

different levels to different people, or not harmful at low

levels

Example:Wallow fire smoke:Cost prohibitive, and impossible

Consider a Degree-of-Harm Criterion

If pollutants pose a clear and perhaps pressing threat to human health

They must be REDUCED BELOW REASONABLE THRESHOLD OF HARMCost cannot be considered a significant factor

If harm is irreversible, PREVENTION gets the priority

Where does this leave the engineer?

Consider all implications

Obtain additional information and opinions where needed

Make informed decisions

Do not forget personal principles

Fracking Case Study – Discussion

Ethics in Research

Professional societies provide guidelines

Example: American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics Member of the Publications Committee Ethics

Subcommittee

Typically cases involve some aspect of plagiarism

May involve intellectually property Who owns your research?

May be a cultural issue – all countries do not follow the same guidelines

May be misunderstanding

May be an error (did I cite everything properly?)