Environmental Alternatives and Social Goals

Abstract

The main environmental decisions we have to make are social as well as scientific in nature. Lack of a consensus on environmental goals, insufficient understanding of opportunity costs, and the growth of an adversarial political process, all make informed decisionmaking difficult. These problems will not be solved quickly or easily, since varying definitions of environmental protection—providing healthful living conditions for man vs. minimizing man's effect on nature—combine with differing political and social beliefs to create basic conflicts. But the process can be improved if those who are able to look at issues holistically and objectively foster interdisciplinary research into environmental problems. Political and social scientists can help by assessing opportunity costs, by clarifying the issues through analysis of the basic values of contending groups, and by communicating research results to the public, which should then be able to choose more wisely.