Risk vs Risk Tradeoffs in Protecting Health & the Environment (Paper)

We see the stories in the newspaper nearly every day: a drug hailed as a breakthrough treatment turns out to cause harmful side effects; controls implemented to reduce air pollution are shown to generate hazardous solid waste; bans on dangerous chemicals result in the introduction of even more risky substitutes. Could our efforts to protect our health and the environment actually be making things worse? In Risk versus Risk, John D. Graham, Jonathan Baert Wiener, and their colleagues at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis marshal an impressive set of case studies which demonstrate that all too often our nation's campaign to reduce risks to our health and the environment is at war with itself.

John Graham is Professor of Policy and Decision Sciences and Director, Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard School of Public Health.

Jonathan Baert Wiener is Perkins Professor of Law, Professor of Environmental Policy & Public Policy Studies in the School of Law and the School of Environment, Duke University. He is also Director of the JD-LLM Program in International & Comparative Law, and Faculty Committee Chair, of the Nicholas Institute.

Cass R. Sunstein is Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School. Recently named Senior Counselor to the US Department of Homeland Security, he is the author of many books, including Conformity and How Change Happens.