Germany: ‘élite precaution’ alongside continued public opposition

The public perception of precaution.

In their recent Talking Point articles, Martin Peterson and Andrew Stirling debated whether the precautionary principle could act as a basis for rational decisionmaking in the face of unknown or unclear dangers (Peterson, 2007; Stirling, 2007). In addition to the problem of measuring the effectiveness of implementation, there is— more fundamentally—little understanding at present of how impleme...

Precaution Environmental Science and Preventive Public Policy

The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production has sought to engage scientists, policy-makers, advocates, and students in a broad public discussion about whether the tools and methods of environmental science and its integration in policy are adequate to address complex, highly uncertain environmental and health risks. It did so in an International Summit on Science and the Precautionary Principl...

Globalization and Public Opinion Characterizing the Opposition

Exploring Homeowner Opposition to Public Housing Developments

Cellular Phones, Public Fears, and a Culture of Precaution