Critical time

>
> <> such
> things as nuclear power systems, or GM crops, or the economics behind
> power
> generation. They don't like these things, and people are not usually
> interested
> in learning about things that they don't like. As a result, most
> environmentalists are ignorant to the fact that reactors are not hot,
> until
> you
> turn them on. If it has something to do with nuclear, then it is opposed
> on
> principle. This is why most nuclear companies, gave up trying to be
> reasonable
> with these people quite along time ago>>
>
> Sorry, but at least from a European standpouint, this is not correct.
>
> Reassuring as it may be to attribute public anxiety and mistrust of
> nuclear
> power and GM crops to general irrationality and/or hysteria, there's
> really
> no evidence to back that up. In the case of GM crops, for example, the
> negative public attitude can be traced back fairly clearly to a specific
> trigger -- the attempted importation into Europe of unlabelled GM material
> mixed in with non-GM material. There is no evidence of any significant
> negative public attitude toward GM material before this happened -- as a
> result of it, however, the GM food industry in Europe is now effectively
> dead.
>
In my Australian & Asian experience hollroa's cliched assessment is equally
incorrect; & i suspect that its no more reflective of USAmerican
environmentalism than it is of anywhere else's... actually, i would go so
far as to suggest that by & large, environmentalists understand the issues
involved in risk assessment rather better than the technology advocates who
despise them. Not surprisingly, i guess; given the number of platitudinous
reassurances that this, that or the other new toy was safe, which have
suddenly no longer proved to be operative.

If you wish to sell your technological concepts - & you do have to sell
them... the mere fact that you personally feel that something is a good idea
doesn't mean that others have to agree with you - you would be strongly
recommended to listen to environmentalist's criticism & learn from it. The
lessons may be uncomfortable - you'll probably find that the general public
doesn't consider space exploration worth the cost of reinvigorating the
collapsed nuclear market which huge new development budgets which may or may
not eventually lead to exploration - but your discomfort doesn't make these
lessons stupid or illinformed.

All the best,
Robert Clements Robert.Clements@...
endeavour2 project http://www.geocities.com/robtclements/endeavour2.html>