Emotion, Science and Rationality: The Case of the Brent Spar

Abstract

In June 1995, a campaign by Greenpeace forced the multinational oil company Shell to cancel its planned disposal of a redundant oil installation in the Atlantic. The Brent Spar incident attracted massive publicity and was influential in changing government policy on marine disposal of waste. During and following their campaign, Greenpeace were criticised as emotive and irrational by Shell and academic scientists. This paper looks at the arguments used during the debate, using literature, interviews and questionnaires. We investigate the use of key environmental words and phrases and ask what is meant by rationality in this context. We discuss some of the lessons that should be learnt from the incident by policy makers and scientists.

Green Groups and Grey Areas: Scientific Boundary-Work, Nongovernmental Organisations, and Environmental Knowledge

“…All that scientists can say to Greenpeace is: sorry, your application for membership of the scientific community has been carefully considered öand rejected'' (Milne, 1993, page 27). Such views were compounded by the Brent Spar episode across Europe [see quotations in Huxham and Sumner (1999); and general criticism by Jordan (2001)] and illustrate a general point about the perceived location of environmental NGOs outside`proper' science. We can analyse this using the concept of boundary-work, which Gieryn (1983; has used to show how scientists have demarcated their professional practices and credentials from other forms of social activity, building and reinforcing boundaries around`science' and gaining legitimacy and influence.…”

Expertise revisited, Part II: Contributory expertise

“…In the case of deliverables, experts in the target domain employ experts from another domain to supply certain technical services such as compiling literature reviews, solving a set of equations or 9 See Huxham and Sumner, 1999 analysing data-sets. The difference with technical referred expertise is that the target domain experts take responsibility for melding the deliverable expertise into the target domain.…”

Native Forests and Agriculture in Salta (Argentina)

“…The government’s strategy was to present the new map as relatively proenvironment by contrasting it with the proposal of senator Olmedo (5 million hectares in Category III). Criticism of the new map from environmental sectors was dismissed as irrational or emotional, a typical argument in these cases, as pointed out by Huxham and Sumner (1999). Yet despite what the figures might suggest, discrepancies between the government and senator Olmedo on this issue were not that large.…”