In response to claims of alien abductions, famous astronomer and author Carl Sagan stated “extraordinary
claims require extraordinary evidence” (Sagan, 1980, p. 339). I offer its counterpart to the
field of organization and environmental studies—environmental claims require environmental data.
While research on the socially mediated relationships of organizations with their environment can
highlight certain aspects of organizational processes, only data on the material environment can tell
us about the resource consequences of those relationships.