The role of science and technology for energy and the environment [electronic resource]
The premise of this paper is that science, and the technology derived from science, is not the answer to energy and environmental problems. Science is a method of answering questions and as modern societies people must be very careful and specific in posing those questions. Many of the environmental...
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Online Access |
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| Corporate Author: | |
| Format: | Government Document Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Los Alamos, N.M. : Oak Ridge, Tenn. :
Los Alamos National Laboratory ; distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy,
1998.
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| Summary: | The premise of this paper is that science, and the technology derived from science, is not the answer to energy and environmental problems. Science is a method of answering questions and as modern societies people must be very careful and specific in posing those questions. Many of the environmental issues addressed at the meeting are the direct result of not being specific enough in the demands placed on the science community. For example, when science was asked to increase chemical production to produce greater and greater quantities of consumer products, society forgot to ask that they be produced without significant damage to the environment. When society developed nuclear deterrents to protect national security interests, it failed to consider the life-cycle costs of these weapons systems. Now society must deal with a legacy of hundreds of billions of dollars in clean-up costs. One impediment has been that energy and environmental problems are intrinsically crosscutting, both across scientific disciplines and the decision-making systems of society. The author suggests that one approach to this problem is better integration across scientific disciplines and the integration of science and technology with political, economic and social factors. Three examples of successes are used to illustrate this. |
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| Item Description: | Published through the Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information. 12/31/1998. "LA-UR--98-3465" "CONF-9809117--" "DE99002296" Mansfield Pacific retreat: beyond Kyoto: energy and the environment in the Asia-Pacific region, Kyoto (Japan), 17-20 Sep 1998. Hjersen, D.L. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States) |
| Physical Description: | 6 p. |