A river tumbles through forested ravines and rocky gorges towards the sea. The state hydro-electricity commission sees the falling water as untapped energy. Building a dam across one of the gorges would provide three years of employment for a thousand people, and provide longer-term employment for twenty or thirty. The dam would store enough water to ensure that the state could economically meet its energy needs for the next decade. This would encourage the establishment of energy-intensive industry thus further contributing to employment and economic growth.

The rough terrain of the river valley makes it accessible only to the reasonably fit, but it is nevertheless a favoured spot for bush-walking.

The river itself attracts the more daring whitewater rafters. Deep in the sheltered valleys are stands of rare Huon Pine, many of the trees being over a thousand years old. The valleys and gorges are home to many birds and animals, including an endangered species of marsupial mouse that has seldom been found outside the valley. There may be other rare plants and animals as well, but no one knows, for scientists are yet to investigate the region fully.

(Singer, 1993, p. 264)

Peter Singer’s discussion of ethics and the environment begins with this scenario. His description is loosely based on a proposed dam on the Franklin River in Tasmania. Singer notes that this is an example of a situation in which we must choose between very different sets of values. Please answer the following question, as put by Singer: Should the dam be built?

(Note: in Chapters 11, 12 and 13 we shall work through the way that economists would deal with this question and some of the criticisms that have been made of their approach – you may want to come back to Singer’s question after reading those chapters.)