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The Precautionary Principle |
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Introduction |
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Our discussions of global warming have touched on the difficulty of |
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making long-term forecasts. Suppose the Carbon content in our atmosphere |
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triples (or more) over the next 100 years ... what will happen to the weather? |
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The answer is almost impossible to determine because it depends on a number of |
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known (and unknown) positive and negative feedback mechanisms. |
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In this exercise, we will explore the different arguments about what to do in the |
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face of this uncertainty, which is unlikely to go away any time soon. We are going to |
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study the "Precautionary Principle" as it applies to global warming (it also can be |
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applied to genetically modified foods and numerous other poorly understood areas in |
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the biological sciences). To introduce you to this topic, please read the introduction |
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from Wikipedia on the Precautionary Principle. There are some good "pro" and "con" |
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arguments on this page as well for you to use later, so keep this link in mind. |
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The Debate |
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Your TA will assign you to one side of the debate randomly. We will work to ensure about an equal number of participants choose the "pro" and "con" |
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positions with respect to the Precautionary Principle (PP). Once it is decided |
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which side you will research, you will have some time to build your case. |
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We have provided good links below to each side of the debate. |
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On your worksheet, before your time is up, write a summary of five arguments |
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in support of your position. |
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At the end of the exercise, participants on each side will need to write a 3-5 sentence |
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summary of their opponent's position, followed by a 3-5 sentence statement of which |
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side they agree with more and why. |
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Links |
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Here are some links for the "pro" PP side of the debate: |
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The Precautionary Principle handbook is a link-rich site with lots of information on various aspects of the PP. Many different articles to explore here. |
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A "pro" perspective on the PP from a mathematician. |
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http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/MaeWanHo/PrecautionP.html |
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Here are some links for the "con" PP side of the debate: |
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How the Precautionary Principle applies to global warming and the recent Kyoto treaty advocating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by some industrialized nations, from a "con" perspective: |
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https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/precautionary-foolishness |
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From a fan of Ayn Rand's Objectivism philosophy, this website is a concise summary of a variety of criticisms of the PP. It is up to you to decide which criticisms are fair and warranted. |
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From the American Enterprise Institute, a lengthy article touching on many key topics, many of which can be used as an argument against the PP. |
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https://www.aei.org/articles/the-problems-with-precaution-a-principle-without-principle/ |
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