Project 2029! I love it. I’d like to live in the United States that you describe and will work to make it happen. It is so apropos to bring up the precautionary principle, a powerful common sense approach to impending negative consequences. I would describe it differently though and consistent with IISD that when there is a threat of serious, irreversible damage to the environment (or public health), lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost effective measures. In other words, it is not always the best approach to avoid taking action before full proof. This principle has been employed in public health throughout history. Uncountable numbers of lives have been saved from cholera, plague, etc. by taking steps that the facts seemed to support.
Thanks so much for the clarification of Precautionary Principle. I did oversimplify in my piece. The fuller description actually makes it a much more powerful tool.
Project 2029! I love it. I’d like to live in the United States that you describe and will work to make it happen. It is so apropos to bring up the precautionary principle, a powerful common sense approach to impending negative consequences. I would describe it differently though and consistent with IISD that when there is a threat of serious, irreversible damage to the environment (or public health), lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost effective measures. In other words, it is not always the best approach to avoid taking action before full proof. This principle has been employed in public health throughout history. Uncountable numbers of lives have been saved from cholera, plague, etc. by taking steps that the facts seemed to support.
Thank you for this essay.
Thanks so much for the clarification of Precautionary Principle. I did oversimplify in my piece. The fuller description actually makes it a much more powerful tool.