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July 17, 2007
Al Gore's turn to Answer the Call
by Sylvia S Tognetti
Al Gore may not have any plans to run again, but James Boyce has a plan for him, which I second. As Boyce points out, we don't need any more candidates to learn from losing. Al Gore has been there, done that, and learned already. The best part:
Al Gore thinks he is a lousy politician, he's right. He is. We need some lousy politicians who say what they mean and mean what they say. We need some lousy politicians who can't stop themselves from rolling their eyes when a member of the press asks a moronic question. We need someone who points out how stupid the captions are on t.v. shows. We need Al Gore.
One of the lessons that should have been learned when Reagan won, is that it it possible to stick to your principles and still win an election. Whether you agreed with Reagan or not (and I did not), we all knew where he stood. At the time of that election, I was taking a political science 101 class in which we were all told Reagan would never win because he was a fringe candidate - to win, candidates have to play for the middle ground. As election day drew near, the professor predicted that Reagan would win if if rained on election day because Republicans vote rain or shine. ok, there was also a hostage crisis. But it doesn't negate my point. We know where Al Gore stands and if he would just answer the call, those who haven't been paying attention would know too. He is the only person with the vision and the experience to chart a new course - starting with the way to run an election campaign (see Boyce).
Update:
Michael Yaki, in an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, expresses a similar view:
if Gore is truly serious about leading the effort to solve, as he has termed it, "the most dangerous crisis we've ever faced," he must look to himself, because that effort must depend on credible, bold leadership inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Posted by Sylvia S Tognetti at 3:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 12, 2007
NRC: Nobody Really Cares, and history repeats
by Sylvia S Tognetti
A lesson I learned from working on nuclear health and safety issues in the 1980s is that the regulatory process is a sham and that NRC really stands for "Nobody Really Cares" - the GAO finally proved it. Today a Reuters article reports that the so-called Nuclear Regulatory Commission was caught in a GAO sting operation, when they issued a license to a dummy company, to buy enough radioactive material to make a dirty bomb. The GAO investigators never even left their desks. Hat Tip: TPM Muckraker.com
A bit of history: Since my work on the subject was in the pre-internet era, I can't link to any online documents but this sure brings back memories - of when they issued a license to company that had a criminal conviction, for the restart of TMI Unit 1, which was shut down for maintenance at the time of the accident in Unit 2, i.e., at the time that They Melted It. Subsequent investigation demonstrated that Unit 2 should have also been shut down for maintenance because of radiation leaks from the steam tubes that exceeded the permitted levels. I was an assistant to a couple of attorneys - one of whom, Joanne Doroshaw, intervened in that license proceeding, unsuccessfully, on grounds that character should be a criteria for being licensed to operate a nuclear facility. The other one, Rob Hager, was responsible for writing an Amicus Brief that was signed by 20 State Attorney Generals, who supported Karen Silkwood in the Supreme Court case against Kerr-McGee, on grounds that the appeals court ruling, interfered with their duty to protect the health and safety of their citizens. The appeals court had ruled against Silkwood on grounds that the punitive damages for plutonium contamination found in Silkwood's house, awarded by a jury acting under state law, was preempted by federal law. Her house wasn't the only place plutonium was found and the jury didn't buy it. The Supreme Court sided with the jury. So the NRC then sought to overturn the Silkwood case through legislation. In a memo I dug up at the time via the Freedom of Information Act, the then NRC Commissioner Frederick Bernthal complained that the decision "makes every jury a local NRC." Exactly! As far as I know, it still stands... We were unable to obtain a memo sent from the NRC to the then Vice-President, George H. Bush, on grounds that it was privileged since it was sent to the executive branch, and pertained in some way to decision-making. So we appealed on grounds that the Vice-President is not a decision-maker, unless it was sent to him as President of the Senate. They didn't go on record but I received a phone call assuring me that it had been sent to him as President of the Senate...
Then I started organizing the Silkwood Awards, which went to quality control inspectors who had been fired for doing their jobs, and to some local union leaders who had been fighting for participation in decisions about health and safety conditions in their places of work.
Posted by Sylvia S Tognetti at 11:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 8, 2007
PNT Exclusive - Stephen Colbert answers the call
by Sylvia S Tognetti
Special to the Post-Normal Times. If you watched the Colbert report last week, you may recall, that Stephen had a fit because USA Today, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal all received iphones before he did. Saturday evening, after he pitched the first pint of "Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream" ice cream to Jerry (of Ben & Jerry's) at the Charleston Riverdogs baseball game, he was presented with the one pictured above. So he answered it. I guess we will get his review when he goes back on the air next week. Jerry dished out ice cream. Then the game got rained out. But Americone Dream is now available at all area Piggly Wiggly's. Proceeds go to the Americone Dream Fund to support various charities. So you may eat it in good conscience.
As for the iphone, I didn't get one to review either, but I caught a glimpse of the other kind, belonging to a friend - it was impossible to get out of the hands of a child. I don't like it because you can't read books on it. So I guess its perfect for Stephen - since he doesn't read.
This is Sylvia Tognetti, reporting from The Low Country behind the scenes, in The Colbert Nation.
[revised, 8:30 am]
Update: NoFactZone.net has footage of Stephen pitching the pint and several more blog posts and pictures from the River Dogs game, including a cross-post of this post. Via a comment left over there, by RiverDog, I now know who it was that stepped in to give him the "iphone":
Good catch. Me and one of my employees are big Colbert fans and I pointed out we should present him with a Colbert ‘08 jersey and my employee is the one who created the iPhone…complete with the apple on top!
Lastly, I'm not sure whose call Stephen answered - the title of the post reflects my attempt to stick to the main topic of this blog - environmental science and policy. To "Answer the call" from Al Gore, click here.
For those visiting this blog from outside the United States, who may not have heard of Stephen Colbert, I should also add that, I often post clips from his comedy show because, as I explained in this previous post, he does a much better job than most scientists at conveying the value of science for the common good. Besides that, he is "America's Benigni."
Posted by Sylvia S Tognetti at 1:46 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 7, 2007
A carbon [tax] experiment
by Sylvia S Tognetti
It turns out, Dingell wasn't just talking about the possibility of needing a carbon emission tax fee a few weeks ago. OK, he hasn't actually introduced a bill yet but, in the NYT this morning, he elaborates on his plans to introduce a bill, and says he is "counting on failure." In other words, this will be an experiment intended to show that "Americans are not willing to face the real cost of reducing carbon dioxide emissions" and shake up the political debate about global warming. Responding to global warming or any other form of change ultimately rests on the capacity to make controversial decisions, which is what is really being put to the test here - so the heat is on!
I'm away from home so will unfortunately miss the just announced DC Live Earth concert but found out that there is a Live Earth Concert right here in Charleston SC - where I happen to be, with the lead performance by none other than Danielle Howle, who often plays in DC. She is a storyteller par excellence so maybe I'll blog that later this evening. And just before that, none other than Stephen Colbert will make the first pitch - of a pint of "Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream" ice cream, to Jerry, (of Ben & Jerry's), at the Riverdogs baseball game. Then he will be part of the radio broadcast for an inning of the game, and lead the crowd to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." I may never make it home....
Posted by Sylvia S Tognetti at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 1, 2007
Reality has become a black swan
by Sylvia S Tognetti
An article by Denise Caruso in today's NYT discusses the policy implications of new scientific perspectives on how genes function, reported in findings of ENCODE - a human genetics research consortium that is part of NIH. From this perspective, "genes appear to operate in a complex network, and interact and overlap with one another and with other components in ways not yet fully understood" rather than as a “tidy collection of independent genes.” The policy problem is that intellectual property laws, and products of recombinant DNA, e.g., GloFish, and the entire $73.5 billion biotechnology industry, are all based on the "one gene, One protein" principle.
Among other things, according to Caruso, this "evidence of a networked genome shatters the scientific basis for virtually every official risk assessment of today’s commercial biotech products, from genetically engineered crops to pharmaceuticals." But an assessment of risks that arise from network effects would require access to proprietary gene profile data for which there are no reporting requirements, so it is no surprise that challenges to the safety of these products are dismissed as "unscientific."
As Caruso acknowledges, this network view is not entirely a new idea. What this case illustrates is a contrast between two different scientific frames that I refer to as deterministic and adaptive. The deterministic view has long been outdated but that has taken of a life of its own because it is reinforced by the economic interests invested in it, and by a way of life that seems increasingly delusional. The only way reality will ever fit into a world that values GloFish will be through social learning, as part of an adaptive approach... I wrote more about the contrast between these frames in a 1999 journal article, on Science in a Double-Bind, in which I revisited the work of Gregory Bateson. I have also raised similar issues regarding the development of "markets for ecosystem services," as a way to make environmental costs part of the cost of doing business, and to create economic incentives for conservation management practices (last year in this post). Since ecosystem services are not yet a $73.5 billion industry, the rules of the game are still a work in progress - so there may be an opportunity to design a new business model that is consistent with a more complex reality, and supports human well-being.
Update: Denise Caruso adds a bit more detail and a correction on her blog, hybridvigor.net
Posted by Sylvia S Tognetti at 5:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack