LSAT 156 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Politician: Tightening air quality standards that regulate …

QUESTION TYPE: Principle – Justify

CONCLUSION: Air quality standards should not be raised.

REASONING: Raising standards would reduce pollution but also cause job losses, and there isn’t enough evidence that the benefits outweigh the costs.

ANALYSIS: The politician isn’t saying raising standards is definitely bad.

They’re just saying don’t change the policy because we don’t have evidence that it leads to a net positive outcome, i.e. better results overall.

The principle should reflect that.

___________

1. The politician never claims industry growth should always be top priority.
2. There’s no discussion of public acceptance.
3. CORRECT. This directly supports the idea: only change policy if there’s strong evidence it leads to better outcomes.
4. This is too vague. It doesn’t tell us what to do when both sides have pros and cons.
5. This helps determine what the consequences are, but doesn’t help decide when to enact a policy.