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18Nov

Karen Kovaka (University of California): "Why are bad environmental policies so popular?"

Event category: Popper Seminar
Venue: LAK 2.06 Lakatos Building London, WC2A 2AE United Kingdom
Tuesday 18 Nov 2025 2pm - 3.30pm

Title: "Why are bad environmental policies so popular?"

Abstract: Focusing on the case study of fire suppression policy in the United States, I develop the idea that we can best understand the stickiness of bad environmental policies in terms of the interaction of three factors. First, science is difficult, so it can take time for an empirical understanding of the badness of a policy to emerge. Second, widespread cultural misconceptions, such as a default presumption against environmental interference and the idea that there is a “balance of nature,” bias us toward bad policies. Third, agents of disinformation, especially those funded by industry, exploit the first two factors in order to keep environmentally bad but financially good (for industry) policies around as long as possible.

Karen Kovaka is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California, San Diego.

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