#2 - Since the 1970s, environmentalists have largely succeeded in convincing legislators to enact

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[AMB337]

Hi, I still don't understand why its its C. When taking a look at this I understand why A, E, and D are not correct. But I was torn between C and B.

Can someone explain?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Let's take a look, AMB.

In this question, the author concludes that more environmental regulations are not the solution to environmental problems, because we've already passed a lot of regulations, and the environment still is getting worse. However, that's the wrong comparison. We don't want to compare how things are now with how things were before the regulations. We want to compare how things are now to how things WOULD be if there were not regulations. That's what answer choice (C) describes. The author does not consider the fact that without regulations the environment would potentially be even worse. Answer choice (B) is incorrect because the author doesn't conclude that the absence of environmental regulations would prevent environmental degradation; they just conclude that environmental regulations haven't stopped environmental degradation.

Hope that helps!