<< In pre-industrial societies people traditionally
treated nature with respect, considering
themselves a part of, rather than set apart from, the
natural world.

In industrialised societies our attitude is
different. >>

Foxy, our attitude was different long before the time of industrialised society.

‘Go forth and multiply and subdue the Earth. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’

http://biblehub.com/genesis/9-7.htm

Apparently it is all Tony Abbott's fault: he is while, male and not Labor. Go sic'em, Foxy.

There is an excellent website relating to a question: 'Is there a dominion mandate?' and looks at both elements from a what many call a 'human' and 'animal' perspective.

It is very well put together, and has a very good philosophical basis and analysis to it - with direct connections to the bible and other sources. I have read some of the website and it is excellent.

Its conclusions says however: "Therefore, the dominion mandate, which states that all mankind has a standing command or order to have dominion over the earth, due to the dominion granted to Adam, is not a biblically supported idea."

The website is at: https://answersingenesis.org/environmental-science/stewardship/is-there-a-dominion-mandate

The website is https://answersingenesis.org/environmental-science/stewardship/is-there-a-dominion-mandate/

Atmospheric pollution is not an inevitable outcome
of industrial technology; it derives also from
political decisions to tolerate pollution rather
than bear the costs - probably including slower
economic growth - of limiting it.

Further control of
pollution is politically difficult, however, for the
economic interests behind "smokestack" industries
are a powerful political lobby that is reluctant to
commit the necessary resources to the task.

Dear Ludwig,

In preindustrial societies, human technology made
comparatively little demand on the resources of the
environment. Populations were relatively small, and
for the most part people's material needs were fairly
limited and easily satisfied.

Industrialisation, however, has brought about rapid
population increases - and also an apparently
endless expansion in people's material desires.

The most technologically advanced societies are now
digging ever deeper into the planetary environment for the
raw materials and energy they need to fuel their
economic development.

If this pattern continues to persist in the future
in all industrialising societies, an expanding demand
may well exceed the planet's finite resources.

If world population continues to grow rapidly,
if industrialisation spreads around the world, and if
pollution and resource depletion continues at an increasing
rate - we need to ask where is human society headed?

The most optimistic answer to this question is -
one way or another, sweeping social changes await us.

cont'd ...

cont'd ...

Dear Ludwig,

All over the world, and especially in the less
developed societies, the pressure of the human
population and its technologies is devastating natural
ecosystems.

This pressure takes many forms -
urbanisation and highway construction; transformation of
virgin lands into farmland, chemical pollution of
fresh water, dredging and landfil in coastal areas,
uncontrolled hunting and poaching, especially of African
wildlife, deliberate and accidental poisoning of wildlife
with pesticides; disruption of natural predator-prey
relationships' strangulation of millions of birds and fish
with discarded styrofoam pellets, plastic bags and other
synthetic flotsam; and massive deforestation.

Biologists estimate that there are millions of species on
earth. Of these, only a small amount have been classified.
The rest - plants, insects, fish, reptiles, birds,
and even some mammals - are still almost complete
mysteries to us.

They have never been named, catalogued, or studied, yet
many are becoming extinct even before we know of their
existence. This wholesale extinction of life forms
occurs primarily in the tropical rain forests. These
forests cover less than 6 percent of the planet, yet they
contain most of the species. Under pressure these rain
forests are being cut down and burned.

If this process continues, more than a million species
will be extinct by the end of the century by which time
most of the remaining rain forests will be degraded or
destroyed.

To some people, the disappearance of other species as a
result of human activity is of no particular
consequence. To others it represents the height of
human hubris.

There are many practical reasons why human society should
protect other life forms.

Tropical forests are a stabilising factor in the global
climate, for they absorb vast amounts of atmospheric
carbon dioxide.

Many plants are medically valuable, most anti-cancer
compounds for example, come from plants of the rain forest,
and the pharmaceutical cornucopia is still mostly untapped.

The rain forest is itself a vast and irreplaceable "library"
from which genetic engineers of the future may draw raw
material.