Fundamental Obstacles to the Use of Scientific Information in Public Policy Making

Hammond, Kenneth R.; Mumpower, Jeryl L.; Dennis, Robin L.; Fitch, Samuel; Crumpacker, D. Wilson

doi:10.4324/9780429045196-13

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Although an understanding of uncertainty in LCA is critical, it could be a barrier to the use of LCA in public policy, as policy makers prefer precise and unequivocal scientific information (Cohen 2013, Hammond et al 1983. Large uncertainty could also lead to a polarization among stakeholders that do not share the same interests.…”

Section: The Policy-making Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment for Economists

Rajagopal

Vanderghem

MacLean

2017

Annu. Rev. Resour. Econ.

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely utilized technique to quantify inputs and emissions associated with the life cycle of a product, from raw materials extraction through the product's end-of-life. Given the basic economic principle of policy targeting, the case for focusing on emissions associated with a specific good as opposed to targeting each different externality needs development. This review identifies situations that merit a product life cycle approach in environmental regulation and then discusses the use of LCA with different types of policy instruments. We then discuss the methodological and implementation-related issues involved with using LCA as an economic decision aid as well as issues in designing regulations to control life cycle emissions. We conclude by identifying areas for future LCA research that are ripe for the application of microeconomic insights. 15.1RE09CH15-Rajagopal ARI 7 June 13:131 Although one can continue to regress infinitely, depending on the type of LCA, either this is not an issue, or alternatively, heuristic stopping criteria could be employed. For instance, indirect emissions beyond the second order might be ignored.

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Section: The Policy-making Processmentioning

confidence: 99%