U.S. and European approaches to environmental governance and regulation have diverged about the philosophical basis of precaution versus rational risk management, guided by cost-benefit analyses.

As German environmental policymakers grappled with the effects of air pollution on aquatic and forest ecosystems, commonly known as acid rain, in the 1970s, they articulated a new principle in their planning for environmental protection. The term is vorsogeprinzip, which can be translated as foresight principle, or responsibility principle. It was originally used as a principle to guide deliberate planning. For the purposes of this lesson, it is translated as responsibility principle.