The Science Charade in Toxic Risk Regulation

Wagner, Wendy

doi:10.2307/1123193

Cited by 134 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…§ § 473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, 1897June 4, , as amended 1905June 4, , 1911June 4, , 1925June 4, , 1962June 4, , 1964June 4, , 1968June 4, and 1976, U.S. federal and state land management has at its core a belief in the objectivity and superiority of science-based decision making. Yet increasingly, scientific expertise is questioned in areas of high scientific uncertainty in which science may be vulnerable to politicization [61][62][63][64][65]. Use of adaptive management as a tool for adaptive governance in situations of scientific uncertainty may, in fact, reverse this erosion of public confidence [66].…”

Section: Results-based Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Current governance of regional scale water management systems in the United States has not placed them on a path toward sustainability, as conflict and gridlock characterize the social arena and ecosystem services continue to erode. Changing climate may continue this trajectory, but it also provides a catalyst for renewal of ecosystems and a window of opportunity for change in institutions. Resilience provides a bridging concept that predicts that change in ecological and social systems is often dramatic, abrupt, and surprising. Adapting to the uncertainty of climate driven change must be done in a manner perceived as legitimate by the participants in a democratic society. Adaptation must begin with the current hierarchical and fragmented social-ecological system as a baseline from which new approaches must be applied. Achieving a level of integration between ecological concepts and governance requires a dialogue across multiple disciplines, including ecologists with expertise in ecological resilience, hydrologists and climate experts, with social scientists and legal scholars. Criteria and models that link ecological dynamics with policies in complex, multi-jurisdictional water basins with adaptive management and governance frameworks may move these social-ecological systems toward greater sustainability.

show abstract

Section: Results-based Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The premise behind science-based decision making is that the process will be objective and the results will improve. The use of scientific expertise as a source of legitimacy is increasingly questioned as agency science shows vulnerability to politicization (Wagner 1995, Doremus and Tarlock 2005, O'Reilly 2007, Cosens 2008, Ruhl and Salzman 2010; however, implementation of adaptive management may serve to cure that vulnerability (Camacho 2009). …”

Section: Results-based Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience and Water Governance: Adaptive Governance in the Columbia River Basin

Cosens¹,

Williams²

2012

E&S

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. The 1964 Columbia River Treaty between the United States and Canada is currently under review. Under the treaty, the river is jointly operated by the two countries for hydropower and is the largest producer of hydropower in the western hemisphere. In considering the next phase of international river governance, the degree of uncertainty surrounding the drivers of change complicates efforts to predict and manage under traditional approaches that rely on historical ecosystem responses. At the same time, changes in social values have focused attention on ecosystem health, the decline of which has led to the listing of seven salmon and four steelhead populations under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Although adaptive management is considered one approach to resource management in the face of uncertainty, an early attempt at its implementation in the U.S. portion of the basin failed. We explore these issues in the context of resilience, taking the position that while adaptive management may foster ecological resilience, it is only one factor in the institutional changes needed to foster social-ecological resilience captured in the concept of adaptive governance.

show abstract

“…§ § 473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, 1897473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, , as amended 1905473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, , 1911473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, , 1925473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, , 1962473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, , 1964473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, , 1968473-478, 479-482 and 551, June 4, , and 1976 The infusion of science into decision making has at its very core the belief that the process will be more objective and the results better. Reliance on scientific expertise is increasingly questioned as a source of legitimacy because agency science shows vulnerability to politicization (Wagner 1995, Doremus 2005, Ruhl and Salzman 2006, O'Reilly 2007, Cosens 2008. Statutory language requiring use of "best available science," (e.g., U.S.…”

Section: Results-based Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Safe Drinking Water Act 42 USC §300g-1) has been adopted in some environmental laws because trust for objective science-based decision making has eroded. However, exactly what is the "best available science" when decision making involves areas of scientific uncertainty is often unclear and that uncertainty can be used to distort decision making in favor of a particular political agenda (Wagner 1995, Doremus 2005, Ruhl and Salzman 2006, O'Reilly 2007, Cosens 2008.…”

Section: Results-based Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Legitimacy, Adaptation and Resilience in Ecosystem Management

Cosens

2011

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Ecologists have made great strides in developing criteria for describing the resilience of an ecological system. In addition, expansion of that effort to social-ecological systems has begun the process of identifying changes to the social system necessary to foster resilience in an ecological system such as the use of adaptive management and integrated ecosystem management. However, these changes to governance needed to foster ecosystem resilience will not be adopted by democratic societies without careful attention to their effect on the social system itself. Delegation of increased flexibility for adaptive management to resource management agencies must include careful attention to assuring that increased flexibility is exercised in a manner that is legitimate and responsive to the social system. Similarly, democratic systems proceed in incremental steps and are not likely to adopt wholesale changes to achieve integrated ecosystem management. This paper uses the concept of legitimacy in governance as a necessary component of any change to achieve greater social-ecological resilience and will turn to network theory as a means to facilitate legitimacy across multiple jurisdictions.

show abstract

The Science Charade in Toxic Risk Regulation

Cited by 134 publications

References 0 publications

Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change

Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change

Resilience and Water Governance: Adaptive Governance in the Columbia River Basin

Legitimacy, Adaptation and Resilience in Ecosystem Management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About