A person who discounts or ignores societal or
environmental problems because they believe that intelligence and
technological prowess make humanity exempt from the natural processes that govern other species.
Also, a person who defers
accountability to others.
Exemptionalist: The earth, environment, and all life are disposable in the wake of humanity.
Population growth? Good for the economy. Species going extinct? Not to worry. That is nature's way. Think of humankind as only the latest in a long line of exterminating agents in geological time. Besides, if we have to destroy a rainforest, we are smart enough to place another one somewhere else. If we have to witness the extinction of a species, we are smart enough to create breeding programs. Resources? The planet has more than enough resources to last
indefinitely. It always has and it always will. The fact that
industrialization is destroying environments faster than anything humanity has ever seen doesn't change this fact. Don't worry. Be happy!
Environmentalist: The fate of mankind is closely knit to the well-being of biodiversity and the environment. Food is becoming more and more scarce and will worsen when the melting ice caps and rising ocean levels decrease arable land. We exhaust resources at a much faster rate than they can be replenished. We cause the extinction of species faster than they can be created. Destruction or degradation of biodiversity is irreplaceable because there is so much intricacy that we still don’t know. Millions of plants and animals die with deforestation that, unknowingly, may have been life-saving for humanity. Humanity must work to save the planet, and in doing so we save ourselves.
