Precaution As Policy

The "principle of precautionary action" or the "precautionary principle" for short, is a principle for guiding human activities to protect human health and prevent further degradation of the environment. As an articulated idea espoused by organized groups of people, it's about ten years old. If one simply cares about good health -- of people and the planet -- then it is as old as common sense.

The precautionary principle takes aim at corporate and bureaucratic benchmarks for what is good and what is bad for us. It specifically addresses "risk assessment," a formula widely used by industry and government for determining the level of damage "acceptable" to environmental and public health. Unlike risk assessment, the precautionary principle takes a holistic approach; acknowledging the existence of the unknowable dregs of civilization on ecosystems and the untold synergistic effects of technologies, industrial processes, and chemicals on life. It puts the adage "enough is enough" in a policy package accessible to decision-makers and presents a platform on which the public can stand against harmful practices.

The adoption of the precautionary principle leads to a way of behaving -- of engaging in business or leading one's life -- that intends to prevent harm. The mechanics of the principle were hashed out at a conference at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wisconsin in 1998. A statement issued by the participants said, "When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically." This is the heart of the matter. The principle notes that a reasonable suspicion of harm from a technology, process, or chemical should be enough to either alter its application or stop it altogether. The burden of proof lies with the proponents of the activity, not the general public. And the constitution of "proof" has a good dose of common sense in it.

The next time you cannot think of all the reasons corn should not be genetically modified to include bacillus thuringiensis in its seeds or you just can't peg what it is about irradiated food that makes it feel so wrong, cite the precautionary principle. Homo sapiens sapiens, the scientific name given to modern humans, means "wise wise man." Science is obviating wisdom at a time when scientific activities have utterly profound consequences. The precautionary principle brings wisdom back to the activities that will ultimately determine whether we shall remain Homo sapiens sapiens or Homo mortis mortis.

Laura Orlando

Recommended Reading

"Protecting Public Health & the Environment : Implementing the Precautionary Principle" by Carolyn Raffensperger (Editor), Joel Tickner (Editor), Wes Jackson
352 pages (June 1999)
Island Press; ISBN: 1559636882

Center for Investigative Reporting on-line archive of the Precautionary Principle Links to an international host of applications and definitions of the principle.

ReSource Musings Archive