1st Edition

Worst Things First The Debate over Risk-Based National Environmental Priorities

By Adam M. Finkel, Dominic Golding Copyright 1996
    368 Pages
    by Routledge

    368 Pages
    by Routledge

    For any government agency, the distribution of available resources among problems or programs is crucially important. Agencies, however, typically lack a self-conscious process for examining priorities, much less an explicit method for defining what priorities should be. Worst Things First? illustrates the controversy that ensues when previously implicit administrative processes are made explicit and subjected to critical examination. It reveals surprising limitations to quantitative risk assessment as an instrument for precise tuning of policy judgments. The book also demonstrates the strength of political and social forces opposing the exclusive use of risk assessment in setting environmental priorities.

    ForewordTerry DaviesPrefaceAdam M. Finkel and Dominic GoldingPart I: IntroductionConference Background and Overview1. Should We---and Can We---Reduce the Worst Risks First?Adam M. FinkelKeynote Address2. Rationalism and Redemocratization: Time for a TruceAlice M. RivlinPart II: The EPA ParadigmFraming the Debate3. EPA's Vision for Setting National Environmental PrioritiesF. Henry Habicht II4. An Overview of Risk-Based Priority Setting at EPACharles W. Kent and Frederick W. Allen5. Integrating Science, Values, and Democracy through Comparative Risk AssessmentJonathan Lash6. A Proposal to Address, Rather than Rank, Environmental ProblemsMary O'BrienMethodological Concerns7. Current Priority-Setting Methodology: Too Little Rationality or Too Much?Dale Hattis and Robert L. Goble8. Quantitative Risk Ranking: More Promise Than the Critics SuggestM. Granger MorganProcedural Concerns9. Paradigms, Process, and Politics: Risk and Regulatory DesignDonald T. Hornstein10. Is Reducing Risk the Real Objective of Risk Management?Richard B. BelzerImplementation Concerns11. State Concerns in Setting Environmental Priorities: Is the Risk-Based Paradigm the Best We Can Do?Victoria J. Tschinkel12. The States: The National Laboratory for the Risk-Based Paradigm?G. Tracy Mehan IIIConsolidating the Discussions13. Working Group DiscussionsAdam M. Finkel and Dominic GoldingPart III: Three Alternative ParadigmsThe Prevention Paradigm14. Pollution Prevention: Putting Comparative Risk Assessment in Its PlaceBarry Commoner15. Hammers Don't Cut Wood: Why We Need Pollution Prevention and Comparative Risk AssessmentJohn D. GrahamThe Environmental Justice Paradigm16. Unequal Environmental Protection: Incorporating Environmental Justice in Decision MakingRobert D. Bullard17. Risk-Based Priorities and Environmental JusticeAlbert L. NicholsThe Industrial Transformation Paradigm18. An Innovation-Based Strategy for the EnvironmentNicholas A. Ashford19. Promoting Innovation 'The Easy Way'James D. WilsonPart IV: Conclusions20. Summary of Closing Panel DiscussionAdam M. Finkel and Dominic Golding21. Recurring Themes and Points of ContentionAdam M. Finkel and Dominic Golding22. AfterthoughtsAdam M. FinkelAppendix

    Biography

    Adam M. Finkel, Dominic Golding