WavingSparklers

When I was in University, my ‘Ethics in Engineering’ professor talked about the book, Cadillac Desert, by Marc Riesner. My prof. had been deeply affected by the book, which describes how, in the 1930s, civil engineers started re-directing water into the deserts of California. This mass redirection allowed cities to be built in terrain that would otherwise be un-inhabitable. And build people did – not just homes, but homes surrounded by lush green lawns and golf courses requiring enormous amounts of water – water drawn from reservoirs that were, and are, non-renewable, and are rapidly depleting. My professor asked: was it ethical for these engineers to bring man into an artificial environment completely at odds with nature?
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