In setting the standards, the federal government also tends to mandate the technologies and programs needed to achieve them. This approach has resulted in some advances in environmental protection. But it has caused great economic hardship and fostered intense animosity between governments and industry. Under mandates, the only economic incentive to meet standards and follow the rules is to avoid fines or lose funding for other critical needs. Markets before mandates replaces compulsion with incentives.
Science is an essential tool, but it can only go so far.
Both sides in environmental battles can routinely produce scientists to lend credibility for a particular point of view. There comes a time in the process when difficult policy decisions have to be made. The costs and benefits of environmental policies and programs are best identified through a range of plausible options. A cost-benefit analysis should consider the biological, social, legal, economic and political factors associated with the policy. Prior to implementation of a particular option, it is important to identify a viable strategy for addressing the major costs.