Precaution: A New Way of Making Decisions Peter Montague

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Presentation transcript:

Precaution: A New Way of Making Decisions Peter Montague

How does Precautionary Action differ from the present system?

The present way of doing business 1. Requires definite proof of harm for each hazard before taking preventive action 2. Places the burden on the public (or government agencies) to show that each chemical, material, technology or action is harmful

3. Does not consider potential health and environmental impacts when designing new materials and technologies 4. Discourages public participation in decision-making about control of hazards and introduction of new technologies

Let's run through that again, so we know what we're up against: Under the present way of doing business:

1. Anyone is free to introduce a new hazard into the environment 2. Governments must wait until an overwhelming body of evidence is accumulated before they can or will intervene

3. Each new regulatory action is challenged by the dinosaur polluters, for the purpose of slowing down or stopping public oversight of production and distribution of technologies and chemicals and wastes

4. We have witnessed delays in regulating a long list of hazards whose risks were clear long before effective action was taken to control them: many pesticides, toxic lead, asbestos, benzene, dioxins, PCBs, the chemicals that make plastic soft (phthalates), many flame retarding chemicals, the list goes on...

The four main ideas in the Precautionary Principle: 1. Taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty 2. Shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of an activity

3. Exploring a wide range of alternatives to possibly harmful actions 4. Increasing public participation in decision- making.

You may hear that the precautionary principle is vague, that there are many ways to define it. This not true. In EVERY definition of the precautionary principle, there are three common elements:

1. When we have reasonable suspicion that harm is occurring or may occur 2. and we have scientific uncertainty 3. then we all have a duty to act to prevent harm.

The precautionary principle does not tell us what action to take But advocates for the principle have suggested the following...

Eight kinds of precautionary action we can take 1. Set goals (dream, then plan) 2. Monitor (pay attention -- no sleep- walking) 3. Heed early warnings (be prepared to act on results of monitoring)

4. Consider all the evidence (no cherry-picking data, no ignoring inconvenient facts) 5. Engage the affected people in decisions; really engage them

6. Evaluate all reasonable alternatives and choose the best alternative for achieving the goal 7. Give the benefit of the doubt to nature and to public health (reverse the burden of proof). It is not up to the public to prove harm.

8. Monitor (pay attention – no sleep-walking).

Put simply, the precautionary principle seeks to avoid unintended consequences of particular actions. Precaution is not anti-science. Rather than "overriding" science and data, this principle explicitly acknowledges the central role of scientific data in decision-making.