Text Readings:

O'Brien, M., Making Better Environmental Decisions: An Alternative to Risk Assessment (2002) Cambridge MA: MIT Press., Chapters 6-8; 17.

Web Readings:

O'Brien, M., Alternatives Assessment: Part of Operationalizing and Institutionalizing The Precautionary Principle (1998) Paper prepared for the Wingspread Conference on "Implementing the Precautionary Principle" 23-25 January, Racine, Wisconsin. 

Learning Objectives:

On completion of this class, student will be able to:

1. Articulate the ways in which society properly uses and misuses risk assessment as a tool in environmental health.
2. Identify limitations in the use of comparable risk assessment.
3. Recognize perverse incentives that can lead businesses, government and scientists to utilize risk assessments in perverse ways.
4. Identify alternative social arrangements that may serve to eliminate or reduce the number and severity of environmental problems.

Assignment for Session Six:

1. O'Brien in chapter 6 of Making Better Environmental Decisions, asserts that society isn't serious about environmental health and provides a case example involving soil fumigated with methyl bromide. Please briefly describe this case and how it serves to illustrate O'Brien's point.
2. Identify the four ways in which risk assessment benefits scientists in the U.S. and abroad.
3. Why does "business" love risk assessment, according to O'Brien?
4. Why does "government" love risk assessment?
5. What is comparative risk assessment?
6. Provide an example of unnecessary social triage associated with risk assessment.
7. What are the questionable assumptions supporting risk assessment?
8. Describe three predicaments associated with the use of risk assessment.
9. What alternative does O'Brien provide to comparative risk assessment?
10. Identify three alternative social arrangements provided by O'Brien that she believes would lead to the prevention and reduction of a number of environmental problems.
11. Identify and briefly describe 8 barriers to alternatives assessment.