Do we have a moral obligation to the non-human biotic network oflife and inanimate matter? Sometimes, this vast network is called'the environment'. Human influence upon the environment has beenprofound, in the last few thousand years, but particularly so inthe last 300 years, with the start of the Industrial Revolutionthat has helped to make our species ubiquitous and dominant amongthe other species. One a small side-line species, now, human beingsare 'king of the hill'. The price of this dominance isoverdevelopment, pollution on an epic scale. As we survey ournatural world and what our species has done to it, often for theworse, what moral obligation have we to change our manner andcollective 'footprint' on the planet - and other planets, if weinclude our nascent space programs?
