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Rachel's Precaution Reporter #29

"Foresight and Precaution, in the News and in the World"

Wednesday, March 15, 2006............Printer-friendly version
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Table of Contents Edition

City of Oakland, California Adopts Zero Waste as a Goal
  Oakland, California, a port city of 400,000, has formally adopted
  the goal of zero waste by 2020 -- a precautionary approach to
  municipal discards. Mayor Jerry Brown says zero waste can protect
  the environment, enhance the local economy, and serve social justice.
California Could Pioneer a New Industry: 'Green Chemistry'
  The long-awaited "Wilson Report" shows how California could take
  the lead in developing safer chemicals.
Editorial: The Poverty of Public Health in a Dominant Power
  Worldwide, the keystone idea of public health is prevention. But
  hurricanes Rita and Katrina revealed that, in the U.S., decades of
  budget-cutting have left us with a public health infrastructure that
  is frayed, overburdened, and unable to prevent major harm from natural
  disasters, epidemics of infectious disease, or the well-documented
  health burdens of poverty, social exclusion, job-related insecurity
  and stress.
A Response to 'Does God Oppose the Precautionary Principle?'
  In RPR #28, a writer argued that God opposes the precautionary
  principle if it deters humans from modifying plants with genetic
  engineering. Here a writer offers a different view of the theology of
  genetic engineering and the precautionary principle.
Europe Seeks More Precaution in Genetic Engineering Decisions
  Europe is still in considerable turmoil about genetically modified
  (GM) foods. Many countries believe the scientific uncertainties
  surrounding GM foods are still too large to allow GM products to be
  promoted and sold. Better safe than sorry, they say.

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  Rachel's Precaution Reporter offers news, views and practical
  examples of the Precautionary Principle, or Foresight Principle, in
  action. The Precautionary Principle is a modern way of making
  decisions, to minimize harm. Rachel's Precaution Reporter tries to
  answer such questions as, Why do we need the precautionary
  principle? Who is using precaution? Who is opposing precaution?

  We often include attacks on the precautionary principle because we  
  believe it is essential for advocates of precaution to know what
  their adversaries are saying, just as abolitionists in 1830 needed
  to know the arguments used by slaveholders.

  Rachel's Precaution Reporter is published as often as necessary to
  provide readers with up-to-date coverage of the subject.

  As you come across stories that illustrate the precautionary 
  principle -- or the need for the precautionary principle -- 
  please Email them to us at rpr@rachel.org.

  Editors:
  Peter Montague - peter@rachel.org
  Tim Montague   -   tim@rachel.org
  
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Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 160, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903
rpr@rachel.org
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