Kamilla,
Good question! My understanding is that one does not have to be a scientist
to belong to the Union of Concerned Scientists; one only has to exhibit a
certain degree of concern and fork over some cash. In general, advocacy
groups tend to distort the truth by omitting data that does not agree with
their position and/or recycling statements that have shown to be
incorrect.(now where have we seen this before?) By their nature, advocacy
groups want to make a point and, to do that, they have to catch the
attention of the media and the public and that is best done by making
outrageous statements and claims and hope that the general public is dumb
enough to fall for it (we know that media is, by and large, scientifically
illiterate)
Let me give you a few examples from my area of expertise:
"highly radioactive plutonium" [most Pu isotopes have a long half life and
are therefore not very radioactive]
"plutonium, the most toxic material on earth" [one nuclear scientist had a
standing offer to eat 1 gram of Pu if a nuclear critic would eat 1 gram of
nicotine; never had any takers]
"nobody has shown a way to deal with radioactive waste." [the US and Finland
are disposing of low-level radioactive wastes and many countries (e.g.,
Canada, Sweden, Finland) have shown that high-level radioactive waste can be
disposed of with negligible risk to the population]
"Chornobyl caused many deaths and many cancers" [there were less than 50
deaths attributable to the Chornobyl accident]
Very often, these advocacy groups trot out statements like these without
backing them up. A good test is to look at some of the literature that
these groups put out and ask where they got the data, and then follow the
trail back to the source. In many cases, these groups will cite statements
made by other, like-minded groups. Try it sometime. For example, the
statement is often bandied about that "at one time, nuclear energy was
considered too cheap to meter" or words to that effect. My understanding is
that ONE person ONCE made this statement, yet it is trotted out again and
again. Another scare tactic to to make connections between something that
is opposed and something nasty: linking nuclear bombs to nuclear power (we
don't link gasoline to napalm] or Western nuclear power plants to Chornobyl
[we don't link the Goodyear blimp to the Hindenburg, or a plastics plants to
Bhopal].
It may be difficult to believe this but, IMHO, sources of "good information"
are the experts, who work in a given industry. I would much rather get
information on the safety of nuclear power plants from nuclear physicists
and nuclear engineers who know what makes these things tick than from some
activist who wants to make a point.
You may also want to question people in these advocacy groups very closely
and tenaciously. For example, if they say that wind power is cheaper than
nuclear, let them provide the evidence. If they say that the US could abide
by the Kyoto Protocol by replacing the fossil fuel plants with solar and
wind, let them show you. At least, let them provide an independent analysis
of there comparisons.
You may think that these advocacy groups can do no wrong and that it is
always better the err on the side of caution. I don't agree: if these
advocacy groups have a skewed vision of risks and benefits, they made well
force a decision on society that is based on a flawed analysis. Let me give
you a simple example: it has been argued that chlorination of drinking water
produces chlorinated hydrocarbons that are potentially harmful. Yet the risk
of having micro organisms such as E. coli in the water (which led to seven
deaths in a small town in Ontario a year ago) is greater than a postulated
and extrapolated risk of contracting cancer as a results of the chlorinated
hydrocarbons.
Hope this is of some help.
Chuck Vandergraaf
-----Original Message-----
From: Kamilla ludwig [mailto:kamillal@worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Wednesday May 30, 2001 4:47 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Organizations
I am wondering which organizations and advocacy groups are the most reliable
sources of good information.
What can any of the listmembers tell me about, for instance:
Union of Concerned Scientists
Center for Science in the Public Interest
WorldWatch Institute
I am particularly interested in those organizations that are active in
public health. Are there any other organizations that might be better
sources for information and for possible involvement?
Also, before I forget again, I have looked around a bit for some of the
answers about our earlier discussion in GM foods, particularly the claim
about Monarch butterfly toxicity. It seems that those claims were wildly
exaggerated. Just goes to show you can't trust someone just because they
have a tenured position and a PhD after their name!
Thanks,
Kamilla
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