Harmonizing Methods of Scientific Inference With the Precautionary Principle: Opportunities and Constraints

摘要

Virtually anyone with an interest in environmental pol-icy is familiar with the allegations that traditional methods of statistical inference are biased against preventa-tive environmental standards. They surely also know of the Precautionary Principle as the broad theory often cited by environmentalists to support this critique and to argue that regulated industries should bear the burden of proving that their products and activities are safe. This collision between scientific method and environmental principle has had great salience in environmental law and policy for many years. However, the debate loses much of its force and momentum because it is premised on a relatively superficial understanding of theninderlying statistical methods. This Article seeks to move beyond the heuristics of the current discourse.