Alda Yuan
Professor Alexandratos
MHC 200
Week 11 Response
It is very assuring to hear that New York City has such a far-reaching plan in place and that its government is continually working on it. As we have seen in this class and as I have noticed from the news, it is often the penchant when undertaking such projects to set goals and yet take no steps until the target date approaches and it becomes too late to make an impact. The fact that such a large and commercial city is taking these steps is especially heartening for it indicates at least something of a shift in values of the government officials that has proceeded through time.
The preservation of the watershed in order to reduce the necessity of constructing a costly water treatment plant was no doubt fueled largely by the fiscal benefits. Nevertheless, this instance of forward thinking became a boon to the environment as well as the city. And even if it was an effort triggered by purely a instrumental outlook, it has at the very least led to different ways of thinking in the city’s management of our natural resources, in a way that can be considered more in line with the mantra of avoiding “killing the bees.” This is simply a more eloquent restatement of the idea that people need to consider the ramification and consequences of their action. Something that might seem a small loss today may turn out to be a big detriment in the future when the details are better understood. As always, the arguments cycles back to the division between intrinsic and instrumental.
Somewhere between this parsing of terms and words lies the difference between intrinsic and instrumental viewpoints. Instrumental value is forever stuck with the body of knowledge accessible at the present time. The only things that have value are the ones, which has benefits or foreseeable benefits. But this a judgment is confined and limited by the time and information available to you at any given point. The idea of intrinsic value encompasses and goes beyond this limitation. In saying that that everything has value, we regard the parts of the whole as well as the whole itself to be of significance and worth the effort to understand and study.
As to the logistics of the plan, it seems to me at once both ambitious and flawed. Ambitious simply because there is a plan and because it recognizes that all the factors must be improved at once if there is to be improvement overall. Besides, it is much more than the majority of the world or even the majority of the country is willing to attempt or even discuss. And indeed, many of its aspects are laudable. Most impressive to me was the effort on Staten Island to extend the natural drainage system. Here is an example where natural processes are adapted and engineered by human ingenuity to maximize benefits for all. This is a great example of green engineering and demonstrates what humans can achieve if they direct their intelligence and resourcefulness toward the right avenues.
On the other hand, the lack of publicity about this plan seems to be a flaw. For instance, I had no idea that this was an ongoing process before this class. And yet, I knew of many of the individual components of the plan, such as the 2nd avenue subway. Perhaps there are difficulties of which I am unaware but I cannot imagine that it would too difficult for government officials to communicate to the public that these efforts are all part of a comprehensive plan that will help to ensure New York City’s environmental health. This would help make average citizens more conscious of the situation, which should be a major end goal. For environmental efforts can not perpetually be imposed from the top down. The necessity of the undertaking must be accepted at all levels if we are to claim success.
