The Critical Theory of Jurgen Habermas

The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy

This paper critically reviews a number of cross-national studies of perceptions of risks which have been conducted in accordance with the 'psychometric paradigm' developed by the Oregon research group in the 1970s. It considers attempts to study risk perception comparatively, from other theoretical and methodological perspectives, and discusses various issues that are highlighted in a comparative framework, relating to distinctions between 'objective' and 'perceived' risk, the role of communication and the media, the political system and various societal determinants such as marginality, gender and ethnicity. One of the main conclusions is that comparative studies of risk perception need to be further refined, both methodologically and theoretically.

Comparative studies of risk perception: a review of twenty years of research

The UK is witnessing a new line in political debate around new nuclear energy generation as one potential feature of future energy policy, specifically for contributing to climate change mitigation alongside energy security. Little is known about how ordinary citizens might be responding to this reframing. This paper reports the results from a major British survey (n=1491) undertaken in the autumn of 2005. The consistent message is that while higher proportions of the British public are prepared to accept nuclear power if they believe it contributes to climate change mitigation, this is a highly conditional view, with very few actively preferring this over renewable sources given the choice. People see both climate change and nuclear power as problematic in terms of risks and express only a ‘reluctant acceptance’ of nuclear power as a ‘solution’ to climate change. The combined data from this survey can also be interpreted as an indication of the complexity surrounding beliefs about energy futures and the difficulty of undertaking simplistic risk–risk tradeoffs within any single framing of the issues; such as nuclear energy versus climate change. The results also indicate that it would be unwise, in the UK as elsewhere, to simplistically assume that there exists any single or stable public ‘opinion’ on such complex matters. We conclude with a discussion of the role and implications of the survey evidence for the policy process.

Climate change or nuclear power-No thanks! A quantitative study of public perceptions and risk framing in Britain

Today, 12 years after the first field release of a genetically modified plant (GMP), over 15 000 field trials at different locations have been performed. As new and unique characteristics are frequently introduced into GMPs, risk assessment has to be performed to assess their ecological impact. The possibilities of horizontal gene transfer (HGT; no parent-to-offspring transfer of genes) from plants to microorganisms are frequently evaluated in such risk assessments of GMPs before release into the field. In this review we indicate why putative HGT from plants to terrestrial (soil and plant associated) bacteria has raised concern in biosafety evaluations. Further, we discuss possible pathways of HGT from plants to bacteria, outline the barriers to HGT in bacteria, describe the strategies used to investigate HGT from plants to bacteria and summarize the results obtained. Only a few cases of HGT from eukaryotes such as plants to bacteria have been reported to date. These cases have been ascertained after comparison of DNA sequences between plants and bacteria. Although experimental approaches in both field and laboratory studies have not been able to confirm the occurrence of such HGT to naturally occurring bacteria, recently two studies have shown transfer of marker genes from plants to bacteria based on homologous recombination. The few examples of HGT indicated by DNA sequence comparisons suggest that the frequencies of evolutionarily successful HGT from plants to bacteria may be extremely low. However, this inference is based on a small number of experimental studies and indications found in the literature. Transfer frequencies should not be confounded with the likelihood of environmental implications, since the frequency of HGT is probably only marginally important compared with the selective force acting on the outcome. Attention should therefore be focused on enhancing the understanding of selection processes in natural environments. Only an accurate understanding of these selective events will allow the prediction of possible consequences of novel genes following their introduction into open environments.

Horizontal gene transfer from transgenic plants to terrestrial bacteria--a rare event?

The main "dramatis personae" at the Sizewell B Inquiry objectors and commentators at the Sizewell B Inquiry setting the scene for the Sizewell B PWR the changing character of the Public Inquiry fullness, fairness, thoroughness and legitimacy of the Sizewell B Inquiry the procedures and calendar of the Sizewell B Inquiry the treatment of government policy the appraisal of need and economics safety and public trust uranium, plutonium and decommissioning the Suffolk dimension the tactics of the Sizewell B Inquiry funding the Sizewell B Inquiry - perspective and legacy.

Sizewell B: An Anatomy of the Inquiry

Environmental policymakers and regulators are often in the position of having to prioritize their actions across a diverse range of environmental pressures to secure environmental protection and improvements. Information on environmental issues to inform this type of strategic analysis can be disparate; it may be too voluminous or even absent. Data on a range of issues are rarely presented in a common format that allows easy analysis and comparison. Nevertheless, judgments are required on the significance of various environmental pressures and on the inherent uncertainties to inform strategic assessments such as "state of the environment" reports. How can decisionmakers go about this type of strategic and comparative risk analysis? In an attempt to provide practical tools for the analysis of environmental risks at a strategic level, the Environment Agency of England and Wales has conducted a program of developmental research on strategic risk assessment since 1996. The tools developed under this program use the concept of "environmental harm" as a common metric, viewed from technical, social, and economic perspectives, to analyze impacts from a range of environmental pressures. Critical to an informed debate on the relative importance of these perspectives is an understanding and analysis of the various characteristics of harm (spatial and temporal extent, reversibility, latency, etc.) and of the social response to actual or potential environmental harm from a range of hazards. Recent developments in our approach, described herein, allow a presentation of the analysis in a structured fashion so as to better inform risk-management decisions.

Characterizing environmental harm: developments in an approach to strategic risk assessment and risk management.

Investigation as legitimacy: the maturing of the big public inquiry

Environmental Politics in the 1980s: the public examination of radioactive waste disposal

Public attitudes to risk have developed into an important area of concern for both operators and regulators of industrial processes as they face increasing demands to explain the likely consequences of potentially hazardous products and activities to both workers and the general public, and to the environment. There is public concern about the long-term health risks arising from industrial processes and products; risks from accidental releases; the effects of exposure to chemicals at low dose levels; and the inter-generational effects of such exposures. These problems are not only crucial areas of concern for the health and safety of the public, they also raise important questions of equity, distributional effects, efficiency of resource use and economic planning. The sine qua non of any action to address such issues has to be a careful assessment of the role and effects of information generation and dissemination - the question of risk communication.

Ray Kemp

Papers

Sizewell B: An Anatomy of the Inquiry

Characterizing environmental harm: developments in an approach to strategic risk assessment and risk management.

Investigation as legitimacy: the maturing of the big public inquiry

Environmental Politics in the 1980s: the public examination of radioactive waste disposal

Social Implications and Public Confidence: Risk Perception and Communication