How economics silences your thunder: The influence of economics over natural science in policy

The scientific community and environmentally oriented interest groups are o ften frustrated when trying to influence policy outcomes in controversial e nvironmental issues. Scientific information and recommendations seem to tak e second place relative to projected or perceived economic impacts. Does th e political community simply ignore scientific warnings and expertise? Or i s the scientific community insufficiently integrated into the political pro cess? This paper attempts to explain how and why economics has more influen ce in environmental policy formation. We examine the response of strong eco nomic interests when an attempt was made to convert science into environmen tal policy. The response emerges from and protects the paradigm of unlimite d economic growth that provides the foundation for today's global economy. The factors that allow this response to effectively influence the policy pr ocess include: the actors and the paradigms, the different approaches to in corporating uncertainty in science and economics, and the different time fr ames of natural science and economics that affect the entire process. The g lobal warming debate illustrates the important effect of economics in publi c policy formation.