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Environmental Action
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The following is paraphrased by Peter Montague from
the scientific Restoration of the Earth, published in 1973.
ASSUMPTION 1
We protect the earth by deciding how much of any destructive activity
the Earth (or any portion thereof) can safely absorb without harm.
We call this the "assimilative capacity" of an ecosystem... or a human
being...or a population of fish.
According to this assumption, scientists can reliably decide
how much damage a river or the Florida Panther or a human can absorb without
suffering irreversible harm.
The purpose of every risk assessment is to predict the limits of
this "assimilative capacity."
ASSUMPTION 2
Once the "assimilative capacity" of a person or system is established
for a particular toxicant or destructive activity, limits are imposed
so that irreversible harm will not occur. These restrictions are set,
river by river, forest by forest, factory by factory, chemical by chemical,
everywhere on the planet, so that the total, cumulative effects do not
exceed the "assimilative capacity" of the earth or any of its ecosystems
or inhabitants.
ASSUMPTION 3
WE ALREADY KNOW which substances and activities are harmful.
In the case of substances or activities we never suspected of being harmful,
we ought to be warned of their possible dangers by traumatic
but sub-lethal (except for firemen) shocks that alert us to the danger
before it is too late.
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