Abstract.Resource and environment are the material base on which a nation relies for survival and development. With the improving productivity and advancement of science and technology, the ability, scale and degree of using the resources have undergone a qualitative change, and brought huge material wealth. However, when enjoy the huge material wealth, human are destroying the natural environment at such a unprecedented speed and scale, causing the environment problem a horrible threat to the survival and development of human, and growing environmental ethics crisis, especially in the cities driven by coal resources. So, it is obviously important to discuss the environmental ethics construction in coal cities. This paper elaborates the inner relationship between sustainable development and environmental ethics theoretically, analyzes the serious environment problems and reasons caused by the exploitation of coal resources, taking Yulin City as a typical case. The reasons are: Little understanding of nature; extensive economic growth mode; deficiency of the related laws and regulations. The suggestions are; Establish the idea that green GDP must come first, not the government GDP; enhance the education of environmental ethics; optimize the industrial structure, change economic growth mode; great efforts should be made to improve the relevant system of laws and regulations and enforce the laws more strictly; put forward resource usage compensation mechanism.
Key words: Sustainable development；Coal city，Environmental ethics；Yulin City
1.Introduction
As a theory, environmental ethics formed from 20 to 30 years in the 20th century in western. The French scholar Schweitzer，A. mentioned the idea of regarding life with reverence in his The philosophy of civilization, and the American scholar Leopold A mentioned explained the “earth ethics” in his Conservation Science Ethics and A Sand County Almanac. So far, it can be divided into "anthropocentrism" and "non-anthropocentrism". Anthropocentrism put the human interests above the relationship of human and nature, man and the environment, and its representatives are Norton"s "weak anthropocentrism" Modi’s "modern anthropocentrism"; non-anthropocentrism believes that the non-human beings have its objective and intrinsic value, it should get human moral concern, and the obligation to protect nature. The main schools have the right of animal liberation theory, biological theory and ecological center theory. Under the condition of the global environmentalism, the environmental ethics has appeared in China in the 1980s. The main scholars were Changmou Yu, Songling Xu, Ping Ye, Xiangrong Liu, Chunqiu Li, Zhengrong She and Yaoxian Wang. From cultural, moral, and framework angles, they studied environmental ethics. Western concerned the city"s ecological environment of coal city earlier. Germany began to landscape the open coal mines in the early 1920s; Association of Indiana coal production in American coal did the planting test in coal gangue in 1918, and Mining Leasing Act of 1920 also called for the protection of land and natural environment.
Over the past decade, Europe and North America, workers of ecology and environment of have been engaged in industrial pollution or destruction of land recovery and reconstruction. Ecological environment for the domestic coal city research lags behind the rapid development of the coal city; academics put forward comprehensive ecological approach from different perspectives but no system of theories and ideas.
In summary, although many researches on the environmental ethics at home and abroad than more, few research on environmental ethics and ecological environment of coal city as a whole, especially for a sustainable development of a certain coal city environmental ethics research. This paper, from the sustainable development perspective, explores the regional construction of coal city"s environmental ethics, to find a balance path between its economic and ecological environmental development.
2.The Relationship Between Sustainable Development And Environmental Ethics
Sustainable development means both development and sustain. On the one hand, it requires human beings meet their rational material and cultural needs through economic and social means; on the other hand, it requires that all human behavior must be based on respecting nature, loving nature, and harmonious relationship. Environmental ethics is the re-understanding by human and the natural environmental ethics, changing the development model of exploiting nature, at the expense of consuming natural resources, building up the harmonious ethical relationship between human and nature to solve human environmental crisis. In order to alleviate common problems of environmental degradation, sustainable development and environmental ethics have been proposed, both of them emphasize the importance of natural environment for human survival and development.
2.1.Environmental ethics is the ethical basis of sustainable development
In essence, environmental ethics is the ethics of sustainable development, based on theory that the nature is the foundation for human to discuss the sustainable development. It promotes human development from the traditional concept of plunder to the style of modern harmony development type, reflecting the people should examine the ecosystem from the moral point of view. Sustainable development can only become true based on eco-ethics; eco- ethics provides a solid ethical foundation for sustainable development.
2.2. Sustainable development is the logical continuity and development of environmental ethics
Sustainable development refers to the harmonious and sustainable progress of human society, the ultimate purpose is to safeguard fundamental interests of survival and development, the social sustainable development includes and depends on the environmental sustainable development; environmental ethics is to give future generations a good environment for sustainable development, eventually focus on the best interests of the social sustainable development. Therefore, sustainable development is the logical continuity and development of environmental ethics.
2.3.Sustainable development and environmental ethics share the common guide target
Sustainable development focuses on co-development of people, harmonious relationship between society and nature is the fundamental principle of sustainable development. It contains profound environmental ethics, emphasizing the importance of coexistence of man and nature, respecting for the natural existence, valuing the natural development and appropriate compensation to the natural world to achieve the eternal development of human society. Environmental ethics emphasizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, human beings should not only focus on their interests, but also assume the ethical responsibility of protecting the environment. Therefore, in a sense, the sustainable development concept is a new type of environmental ethics, in essence, it emphasizes on that environmental ethics in essence is sustainable development concept, the two share a common guide target.
3.Research On Environmental Ethics Of Coal City- Take Yulin City As An Example
Coal city refers to the development of city mainly relies on coal resources, and the coal mining industry plays an important role in the industrial structure of the city. For a long time, coal-based cities have made outstanding contributions to economic development in China, but its excessive pursuit of economic interests in violation of ethical principles at the same time, ignoring the environment relies on sustainable development. the ecological environment hazards during the utilization has become a serious obstacle to sustainable development in many resource-based cities. Yulin city is rich in coal resources, is one of the important energy resource bases, and ecological environment one is extremely fragile. Based on Yulin city, this paper mainly researches on lack of environmental ethics of coal city.
3.1. Main issues of environmental ethics in Yulin City
Yulin City is located in northernmost of Shaanxi Province, bordering the area of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, with a total land area of 43,578 square kilometers. Yulin is rich in mineral resources, and national energy and chemical base in the construction. Over the past decade, the expanding energy development Yulin has brought the City huge benefits, but also a heavy price to the fragile ecological environment. The total value of output resources was 62 billion yuan of Yulin 2005, and estimated repair cost of the causing damage to environment that year was 98 billion and 80 million yuan. So, large-scale development and unreasonable use of the ecological environment in Yulin are not optimistic. Now some prominent ecological environment problems in Yulin are as following.
3.1.1Problems of water environment
Yulin seriously lacks of water resource, the contradiction between the supply and requirement of water resources is becoming aculeate increasingly. As the coal mining must penetrate the impermeable rock, it destroyed the structure of underground aquifers, resulting in falling of water tables and disorders of groundwater systems. 10 rivers drought up in Shenmu County, more than 20 spring wells drying, Ulan Moron River was accounted for 90% of the riverbed, the 869 lakes were reduced to 79 in Yulin, mine water shortages have emerged in some places. In addition, Yulin City in 2008 emission of industrial wastewater was 21 million, 98 thousand and 540 tons leading more severe water shortage in Yulin.
3.1.2Air environmental problem
Yulin is a coal energy-oriented city with coal-burning pollution, industrial enterprises, emission of industrial enterprise is in a larger proportion. Yulin has 647 industrial enterprises, according to statistics, coal energy consumption by industrial enterprises totaled 24,725,192 tons, exhaust emission was 165 664 890 000 m3, industrial sulfur dioxide emission was 108,821 tons, soot emission was 25 702 tons, industrial dust emissions was 76186.78 tons. Only in Daliuta of Shenmu County, the nitrogen dioxide, the index of total suspended particles and sulfur dioxide are 4 times, 17 times and 24 times of pre-developing, with the further development and unreasonable utilization of coal resources, the air environmental problem is more prominent.
3.1.3Environmental pollution problems of solid waste
With exploitation and use of coal resources and need of energy the market, the amount of solid waste Yulin City generated by increasing year by year. In 2008 the amount of industrial solid waste produced 10.0267 million tons, which mainly concentrated in Shenmu County and Fugu County. Its broad and deep influence of has become a serious social nuisance. On the one hand, it makes hundreds of square kilometers of large crop failure, resulting in varying degrees of air pollution in Yulin City; on other hand, it makes most of the waste rock, waste, and living environment in industrial field be under serious threat.
3.1.4Problem of land resources
As the over-exploitation of mine and simple processing means, making the contradiction of the land resources is prominent in Yulin City. Recent years, a large number of mountains mined, a large area of forest vegetation destroyed, villages were forcibly relocated, a large number of agricultural collapsed, cultivated land decreased, making the local people"s lives and property a serious threat. According to statistics, by March 2007 the mining collapse area had reached 65 square kilometers in the city, Shenmu was the most serious area, with 56.16 square kilometers, accounting 93.4%of the city. The over-exploitation of some companies pursues high efficiency, the "cut chunks" type of exploitation may split the earth surface, the uncontrolled extending cracks, lead to many serious risks. Large collapse areas also threat to local roads and rural roads and other infrastructure, causing breakdown of electrical transmission line pole and interrupt of communication line. Only from 2005 to 2007, it caused the direct economic losses of more than ten million yuan.
3.2. Causes of lack of environmental ethics in Yulin City
3.2.1 Lack of awe for nature
Nature is a source to meet the interests of humanity, origin and destination of humanity. Human should respect and be in harmony with nature in the survival and development process. In the era of rapid economic development, human lacks respect for nature, sets itself up above nature, regards nature as a huge "public warehouse " offering “possession" and "consumption" "of human, and control and use resources. So, Yulin City ignores the fact that economic development should maintain a balanced relationship with nature, and the use and transformation should in harmony with protection of nature, but plunder and squander the "free" natural resources, leading the resource and environmental crises.
3.2.2 Extensive economic growth pattern
Since reform and opening, economic and social development and scored remarkable achievements in Yulin. The extensive economic growth mode of Yulin was “high input, high consumption and high emissions, lack of coordination, difficult cycle, and low efficiency”. Although the mode promoted economic growth of the city, in a short period of time, but economic growth depends on a lot of natural resource, resulting in high resource consumption and high waste. According to expert estimates, a ton of coal will damage 2.84 tons of surface water, and construct and consume 8 tons of mineral resources; damaged value of the ecological resources was 66.1 yuan. 2008 coal production of Yulin was 155.33 million tons, only the environmental costs reached 10.267 billion yuan, which was much larger than local finance revenue, 7.001 billion yuan the year.
3.2.3Test indicator of “government GDP first”
Since reform and opening, local governments were in a spate of economic development, taking the GDP as first indicator, poverty alleviation as the greatest moral pursuit and fashion. In this context, driven by the benefits, Yulin economic development equaled the "development" as "economic growth", too much emphasis on the economic element made advanced mining to win a higher GDP. As the GDP accounting system neglected natural resources and habitat value, making a dramatic increase in economic capital, while at the expense of the natural environment and natural resources. 。GDP first” has led to inefficient and disorder of practical work in government environmental management, and inefficient management of various resource development, resulting a variety of damage to natural resources and the environment.
3.2.4Incomplete relevant laws and regulations
The lack of environmental law is one of important reasons of environmental degradation in China. There are some laws on mineral resources development, like "Mineral Resources Law", and “Environmental Protection Regulations of coal, oil and gas development in Shaanxi Province" and other laws and regulations, following the principles of who creates pollution, who controls; who destroys who compensates. But no uniform requirements and specific implementation measures for reparation and compensation of geological disasters were caused by exploitation, and there was no strong regulatory mechanisms, so ecological management have not been completely resolved. In addition, in 2002 China promulgated the "Environmental Impact Assessment Law", and some regulations in "Mineral Resources Law" and "Coal Law"; it regulates the environmental impact assessment should be preceding procedure before setup of a coal mine enterprise, coal permits, and coal production license.
4.Build Environmental Ethics Of Sustainable Development In Coal City
Yulin city， as a coal resource city, must follow the concept of sustainable development in its economic and social development; peed up economic development, and control and optimize the environment, based on the whole and long-term interests of the city development, and the local ecological environmental situation; strengthen environmental management and ecological protection, reconstruct harmonious environmental ethics, making it a sustainable development coal city with a prosperous economy, good and beautiful ecological environment ,and civilized society.
4.1.Intensifying publicity and education on environmental ethics
To improve the environment, the city should first strengthen the education on environmental ethics, popularize and improve awareness of public environmental ethics, and strengthen their self-regulation of environmental behavior. For publicity and education of environmental ethics, on the one hand, the forms of experts, people discussion and public ads, create a thick atmosphere of eco-ethics education; establish a variety of ecological and cultural organizations; invite well-known environmental science experts and professors to give lectures about ecological and cultural knowledge; On the other hand, put the eco-ethical moral education into the school, and strengthen the ecological ethics education. Increase publicity and education on environmental ethics through various channels. Arouse the awareness of “ecological environment is the environment investment" and "ecological construction is economic development". Only citizens have a sense of environmental ethics, can the attitude to ecological environment be increased to the moral level, think and deal with environmental problems, and consciously regulate the behavior towards the environment.
4.2. Abandon the idea of “GDP first”, set up the idea of “green GDP”
The current GDP accounting system reflects the economic performance of countries and regions, but ignores the enormous environmental costs economic growth behind. Ecological environment is a part of comprehensive economy to a country or region, but also a base of long-term development. One-sided pursuit of GDP cannot be the only assessment of economic development level. Ecological environmental factor and Green GDP are necessary. Eager for rapid economic development like Yulin, the coal region, is more likely to overlook the ecological environment. The green GDP pursues the number of economic development, and emphasizes the quality of economic development, stressing the harmonious development between man and nature, and strengthen the "green" consciousness, to realize the sustainable development.
4.3.Optimize the industrial structure; change the mode of economic development
The economic growth of coal city is at the expense of natural resources, its low economic efficiency and low industrial structure level make the resources-based industries account for most of the weight. In this case, rapid economic development will consume a lot of resources, and affect sustainable development of the coal city. As far as Yulin City, firstly, the new and old coal mine should be upgraded, adherence to "high-yield, high-efficiency, safe, intensive", fully use coal resources, and reduce resource consumption and pollutant emissions. Secondly, improve effective utilization of waste water and waste gas to improve recycling capacity of resources. And recruit investment. Recruit foreign investment, introduce and promote the development of related resources, and converse technologies, making energy and chemical base develop rapidly. Finally, speed up the adjustment of industrial structure, focusing on recycling economy of Yulin City Speed up the change from industry-dominated industry to service-dominated the industrial structure, realizing the economy mode from raw materials export to intensive processing, from resource-based to recycling economy.
4.4.Improve relevant laws and regulations, strengthen law enforcement
Improve relevant laws and regulations, and increase law enforcement efforts favor the government to use state power, protecting the environment, and resisting to destruction of environment, at the same time, the laws and regulations make the concept of environmental protection popular, and the form a broad and deep environmental awareness. On the one hand, improve the natural and ecological protection laws, enhance the operability of the implementation details, clarify legal responsibility to protect the natural ecology of the governments at all levels, and adopt accountability system. On the other hand, perfect a law enforcement of unified and efficient environmental protection; build a team of competent, efficient, and honest law enforcement, officers; improve the conditions of law enforcement; strengthen legal supervision, administrative supervision, public supervision and other social supervision of ecological protection.
4.5.Implement compensation mechanism of resource consumption
The predatory mining methods of coal city have resulted in adverse consequences and many social problems, the government should take necessary macroeconomic policies. On the one hand, implement the policy of compensation for the use of resources, with the principle of “who develops who protects, who destroys who recovers, who uses who compensates”; improve the regulations of existing resource tax and mineral resources compensation, to strengthen the protection of coal resources and rational development and utilization; On the other hand, implement the coal company access system. Establish the access system of coal exploration and development, improve the market level of access for the coal industry, perfect the regulations of setting up coal enterprises, restrict exploitation of unqualified units, rectify the coal mines do not national policies and laws not meet the policies and laws, and check the persons who engages in speculative trading of resources.
5.Conclusion
Coal City is an important city type of resource-based, its sustainable development bases on environmental and resource capacity, with the correct environmental ethics as a guide. Environmental ethics restricts sustainable development of the coal resource-based city. The thinking of environmental ethics in Yulin, is based on the perspective of sustainable development, through its ethical analysis and research of environmental pollution caused by economic development, explain close relationship between the economic development and resource, rethink the traditional model of economic development. With the full effort to develop the economy, we must correctly handle the relationship between sustainable development and the environment. Only in this way, can we realize the coal resource-based cities with good production and ecology and rich life, and continue the sustainable development.
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