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Public Participation in the Environmental Review Process, with Special Reference to Coal-fired Power-plant Siting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Richard J. Tobin  and
Richard A. Carpenter
Richard J. Tobin
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA
Richard A. Carpenter
Affiliation:
Research Associate, Environment and Policy Institute, East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii 96848, USA.
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Extract

However one chooses to accommodate public concerns about siting of power-plants, it does seem that public participation is essential for effective environmental assessment. This is because the ultimate questions about environmental consequences of economic development are: who cares and why? Technical assessors can measure changes in biogeophysical terms, and economists can monetize these effects. The social sciences are often not capable of delivering (with adequate certainty) information that is dependant on subjective human reactions and cultural values. Serious mistakes in power-plant siting can result, if decision-makers do not communicate with affected individuals and groups.

The chances for mistakes increase if the nation concerned does not have a market economy where consumers have free choice, or a political process that regularly and effectively incorporates public values and opinions. As all nations are less effective than could be desired in these two classic means of citizen expression, it is incumbent on governments to foster public participation as an integral third channel.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , Winter 1983 , pp. 315 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1983

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