Good Readings on Precaution

Good Readings on Precaution

I. Overviews of the Precautionary Principle

1. Ted Schettler, Katherine Barrett, and Carolyn Raffensperger, "The Precautionary Principle: Protecting Public Health and the Environment." In my opinion, this is the best short summary of the precautionary principle. Available at: http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=187

2. Nancy Myers, "The Precautionary Principle Puts Values First." This paper describes how the precautionary principle invites decision-makers and citizens to bring their ethical values into matters of science and policy. Available at: http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=188

3. The Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle. This is a consensus statement by participants in a conference on precaution convened by the Science and Environmental Health Network in 1998. The statement is named after the Wingspread Center in Racine, Wisconsin where the conference took place. Available at: http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=189. It is this statement of the precautionary principle that corporations are trying to label "extreme" and perhaps replace with a new "Keystone" version of precaution. Take a look for yourself.

4. Jared Blumenfeld, "New approaches to safeguarding the earth; An environmental version of the Hippocratic oath," San Francisco Chronicle August 4, 2003. Blumenfeld is director of the Department of the Environment for the City and County of San Francisco, California. He wrote this op-ed shortly after the City and County adopted precaution as basic policy in the summer of 2003. http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=227

5. Three good books: Carolyn Raffensperger and Joel Tickner, editors, Protecting Public Health & the Environment; Implementing the Precautionary Principle (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1999). ISBN 1-55963-688-2.

And: Joel Tickner, editor, Precauti on, Environmental Science and Preventive Public Policy (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2002). Paperback: ISBN 1-55963-332-8.

To buy these two books from a unionized book store, go to http://www.powellsunion.com/ and search the store for Joel Tickner.

A third good book: Mary O'Brien, Making Better Environmental Decisions; An Alternative to Risk Assessment (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000). ISBN 0-262-65053-3. Go to http://www.powellsunion.com/ and search the store for ISBN # 0-262-65053-3.

II. Precaution and Government's Duty to Protect the Public Trust

6. The public trust doctrine dates back to ancient Rome and defines the role of government in protecting our common heritage (air, water, and more). As we learned in Rachel's Environment & Health News #775, the government's trust responsibility implies a precautionary approach to protect the trust property. http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?issue_ID=2375

Indeed, the Supreme Court of Hawaii has held that the public trust doctrine REQUIRES government to take a precautionary approach: http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=225

And see item 17, below.

III. Precaution and Religious Organizations

7. Dorothy Anderson, "A Religious Denomination [Methodist] Speaks on Precaution," The Networker, Summer, 2000. The Networker is the newsletter of the Science and Environmental Health Network. Available at: http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=314

8. In response to the trend toward genetic modification of living organisms, the North Dakota Conference of Churches in March, 2003 adopted a statement embracing the precautionary principle: "A Response To Issues And Values Related To Genetically Modified Organisms."

The statement was affirmed by the following organizations: American Baptist Churches of the Dakotas; Northern Plains District of the Church of the Brethren; North Dakota Mission of the Church Of God (Anderson); Episcopal Diocese Of North Dakota; Eastern North Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Moravian Church (Northern Province, Western District); Northern Plains Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, USA; Religious Society Of Friends (Quaker); Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck; Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo; Northern Plains Conference of the United Church Of Christ; Dakotas Area of the United Methodist Church. Available at: http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=315

V. Precaution and Environmental Justice

14. In June, 2003, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) Advisory Committee on Environmental Justice issued its 45-page DRAFT report, recommending steps that Cal/EPA could take to ensure environmental justice in all its programs, policies, and regulations. http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=186 The Committee saw precaution as fundamental to environmental justice. The DRAFT document was subsequently strengthened and adopted in September, though the FINAL document has not yet been published. When it is published, the FINAL report will be avail able here: http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=317.

15. Rachel's Environment & Health News #770 summarized some of the recommendations of the Cal/EPA Advisory Committee on Environmental Justice. See item 14, above. http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?issue_ID=2359

16. Peter Montague, "Environmental Justice Requires Precautionary Action," testimony Jan. 28, 2003 before the Cal/EPA Environmental Justice Advisory Committee. See also items 14 and 15, above. http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=238

17. Peter Montague, "Government has a Public Trust Responsibility to Take Precautionary Action to Achieve Environmental Justice." Paper presented Aug. 21, 2003 at a conference convened by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Diamond Bar, California. See also item 6, above. http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=240

X. What Happens When Precaution is Not Used?

24. The European Environment Agency's report, Late Lessons from Early Warnings: The Precautionary Principle, 1896-2000 offers detailed case studies of major failures of the old risk-based approach. Available at http://www.rachel.org/library/getfile.cfm?ID=301 but be aware that the file is 2 megabytes in size.

There are many other very useful documents on precaution available on the web site of the Science and Environmental Health Network, so take a look at http://www.sehn.org. Finally, the Science and Environmental Health Network and Environmental Research Foundation may be planning a day-long workshop on precaution in your region of the country. To explore this possibility, send E-mail to raffenspergerc@cs.com.

Good reading! --Peter Montague