We have spent decades operating under the principle that only once something is proven without a doubt to cause us harm do we consider restricting it (eg. second-hand smoke, asbestos, lead)...since we have proven to be relatively horrible at predicting what will or will not harm us, it is time for use to be much more cautious.
Toxicology: The learning curve
"What if, for a large and potent class of compounds, lower doses pose higher risks? A growing number of academic researchers are making just such a claim for endocrine disrupters, a large group of synthetic chemicals able to interact with cellular hormone receptors."
One of the consequences of not requiring private companies to include the cost of an adequate infrastructure maintenance fund in their business model (as well as insurance to pay for any damage from the failure of that infrastructure) is that the real cost of a product is undervalued, and rewards those who put short-term gain ahead of long-term protection.
Sunken Hazard: Aging oil pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac an ever-present threat to the Great Lakes
"According to Enbridge Energy’s emergency response plans, it takes the company a minimum of eight minutes to shut down a ruptured pipeline and isolate the flow of oil from the leaking pipe. Enbridge has estimated that a “worst case” discharge for line 5, with the eight minute shut off, would be up to 1.5 million gallons of oil released. However, that is hardly worst case. Enbridge did not react to the Kalamazoo River spill for 17 hours despite warnings from their leak detection system, and instead had to be told about that release by a local utility."
Now, hopefully, we can use technology and communications to better understand the true risks of the industries we develop and the choices we make that allow those industries to mature and take root.
U.S. to study cancer risks near 6 nuclear plants
"The commission is acting out of growing concern that using uranium to produce electricity may be dangerous even without accidents at nuclear plants. In addition, recent epidemiological studies in Germany and France suggest that the children living near nuclear reactors are twice as likely to develop leukemia."
As much as some of us rail against regulation, it provides us a measure of security thinking that our choices in our daily life cannot harm another person. The truth is, our regulations do not fully protect human life, and business without regulation could do harm to even more people.
Tribe near Vegas appealing EPA coal plant air rule
"Anderson said he's seen friends and neighbors sickened by soot, chemicals and ash waste produced by the three-unit, 557-megawatt plant built in the mid-1960s. Health officials have not verified those complaints because sample sizes of health studies are small."
If one's hope is that American ingenuity and spirit of innovation will win out, then we need to change the model for how we solve problems, because the truth is, we have gotten worse at solving problems, not better.
Why we can't solve big problems
"The venture capital business has always struggled to invest profitably in technologies, such as biotechnology and energy, whose capital requirements are large and whose development is uncertain and lengthy; and VCs have never funded the development of technologies that are meant to solve big problems and possess no obvious, immediate economic value. The account is a partial explanation that forces us to ask: putting aside the personal-computer revolution, if we once did big things but do so no longer, then what changed?"
Happy Friday!!
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