Should Engineers Counteract Environmental Extremism?

This paper argues that extreme environmentalism, akin to a religion, is causing the expenditure of massive amounts of limited resources of both money and attention to solve relatively unimportant problems. The public perception of environmental problems is far removed from that of the scientific consensus. The attempt to reduce risk from man-made sources to zero, while ignoring much more substantial natural sources, diverts funds from real problems that could be addressed to alleviate suffering and disease. The author argues that engineers should promote quantitative solutions to environmental problems, and should appreciate the economics of pollution control and risk reduction.