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Humility, Climate Change, And The Pursuit Of Scientific Truth, John Nagle

Journal Articles

This Essay begins with the understanding that environmental law could not exist without science. The tolerable amount of pollution, the proximity of a species to extinction, and the threats presented by climate change are just some of the questions that environmental law depends on science to answer. Often environmental law insists that science alone is relevant to a particular regulatory action, such as an air pollution standard or an endangered species listing. It is not surprising, therefore, that many disputes about environmental law are really disputes about science.

Science, however, does not always yield the information that environmental law needs …