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(Pt3) "Do invasive species harm the environment?" 11/12/09 02:40PM

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Environmental science has no means to measure or describe environmental harm. Since ecology is not a normative science, it cannot identify endpoints of regulation or determine whether one environmental outcome is better or worse than… Abstract:

Environmental science has no means to measure or describe environmental harm. Since ecology is not a normative science, it cannot identify endpoints of regulation or determine whether one environmental outcome is better or worse than another. The attempt by environmental scientists, including ecologists and economists, to make judgments of value has sunk their studies into useless confusion. The concept of harm to the environment such as may be associated with the effects of invasive species must be understood, if at all, in spiritual, aesthetic, historical, ethical, cultural, and political terms. Insofar as any environmental discipline develops a conception of environmental harm, it becomes a branch of religious or cultural studies and loses it way as an empirical science.


To learn more about Dr. Sagoff's research, please see: www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/facstaff/faculty/sagoff.html


This seminar is co-hosted by the LEAP-IGERT program and IESP 11/12/09 02:40PM More