Precaution, Environmental Science, and Preventive Public Policy
The "precautionary principle"—the idea that society should guard against potentially harmful activities even if some cause and effect relationships have not been fully established—has often been attacked for being unscientific. However leading scientists studying the issue have begun to make the case that the precautionary principle is in fact science based, and that it creates a need for more rigorous and transparent science in examining complex and uncertain environmental risks.
Precaution, Environmental Science, and Preventive Public Policy is the first book to explore the role of science in developing a more precautionary approach to environmental and public health policy. The book brings together leading scientists, legal experts, philosophers, environmental health professionals, and environmentalists to offer a multi-disciplinary perspective on the controversial debate over science and precaution. The book:
- discusses the critical need for science in promoting sustainability
- outlines the ethical imperative of a more precautionary science and the philosophical foundations of that new approach
- considers some of the ways in which the current conduct of environmental science works against precautionary policies
- examines how the role and use of science differs across cultures and political systems
- provides the components of an approach to environmental science that more effectively supports precautionary decisions
Contributors include Juan Almendares, Katherine Barrett, Kamaljit Bawa, Finn Bro-Rasmussen, Donald Brown, Theofanis Christoforou, Terry Collins, Barry Commoner, Carl Cranor, Stephen Dovers, David Gee, Elizabeth Guillette, Cato ten Hallers-Tjabbes, James Huff, Matthias Kaiser, Richard Levins, Mary O'Brien, Carolyn Raffensperger, Jerry Ravetz, Vandana Shiva, Boyce Thorne-Miller, Joe Thornton, Reginald Victor, and Alistair Woodward.
Precaution, Environmental Science, and Preventive Public Policy presents a broad overview of the role of science in implementing the precautionary principle and makes a compelling case that science should be used not just to study problems but to develop solutions.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Joel A. Tickner
Part I. Scientists' Perspectives on Precaution,
Science, and Policy
Chapter 1. The Role of Environmental Science
in Precautionary Decision Making
Joel A Tickner
Chapter 2. Elements of the Precautionary Tale
Barry Commoner
Part II. Precaution, Ethics, and the Philosophy
of Science
Chapter 4. Ethics, Science, and Precaution: A View
from Norway
Matthias Kaiser
Chapter 5. Science, Human Rights, and the
Precautionary Principle in Honduras
Juan Almendares
Part III. The Implications of Uncertainty on Science and
Public Policy: Case Studies from the Field
Chapter 6. Fisheries and the Precautionary Principle
Boyce Thorne-Miller
Chapter 7. Risk, Uncertainties, and Precautionary
Principle:The Case of Endocrine Disruption
Joe Thornton
Chapter 9. Uncertainty and Global Climate Change:The Case
of Mosquitoes and Mosquito-Borne Disease
Alistair Woodward
Chapter 10. The Precautionary Principle as a Guide to
Environmental Impact Analysis: Lessons
Learned from Global Warming
Donald A. Brown
Chapter 11. Certainty Claimed:Science and Politics in
Canadian GMO Regulations
Katherine Barrett and Stuart Lee
Chapter 12. Uncertainty and Biodiversity Conservation
Reinmar Seidler and Kamaljit Bawa
Part IV. Science in Governance and Governance
of Science
Chapter 13. Late Lessons from Early Warnings: Improving
Science and Governance Under Uncertainty
and Ignorance
David Gee and Andrew Stirling
Chapter 14. Biodiversity Conservation in Developing Countries:
Managing Uncertainty in Strategies and Action Plans
to Support Precautionary Action
Reginald Victor
Chapter 15. A Living Legacy:The Precautionary Ideal
in American Law
Sheila Jasanoff
Chapter 16. The Precautionary Principle in European
Community Law and Science
Theofanis Christoforou
Part V. Science for Solutions: A New Paradigm
Chapter 17. Precautionary Assessment: A Framework
for Integrating Science, Uncertainty, and
Preventive Public Policy
Joel A. Tickner
Chapter 18. Science in the Service of Good:The
Precautionary Principle and Positive Goals
Mary O'Brien
Chapter 19. Toward Sustainable Chemistry
Terry Collins
Part IV. Science to Support Precautionary
Decision Making
Chapter 20. What Could Precautionary Science Be? Research
for Early Warnings and a Better Future
Carl F. Cranor
Chapter 21. The Children of the Yaqui Valley: Precautionary
Science and Communities
Elizabeth A. Guillette
Chapter 22. Science Communication and Precautionary Policy:
A Marine Case Study
Cato C. Ten Hallers-Tjabbes
Chapter 23. Whose Scientific Method? Scientific Methods
for a Complex World
Richard Levins
Part VII. Conclusions and Afterword
Conclusion, Precaution, Environmental Science, and
Preventive Public Policy
Joel A. Tickner
Afterword. Scientists and the Real World
Lee Ketelsen
Appendix
Lowell Statement on Science and the
Precautionary Principle
About the Authors
Index
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