Overview of Science and Public Policy: Insights on CTBT, Regulatory Agencies, and Impacts
This overview explores the intersection of science and public policy, focusing on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and its implications for national and international security. Key players include Congress, regulatory agencies, science advisory panels, NGOs, and the media. The discussion highlights both successful outcomes, like the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, and challenges such as the MTBE controversy. It examines the roles of agencies like the FDA and EPA and the influence of science in legal decisions, while addressing the importance of informed decision-making in policy formation.
Overview of Science and Public Policy: Insights on CTBT, Regulatory Agencies, and Impacts
E N D
Presentation Transcript
STS.011 Science and Public Policy
Overview • Introduction & CTBT example • Congress • Regulatory agencies • Science advisory panels • NGOs • Media • Courts
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty • Verifiable ban? Reliable arsenal? • Players: • Weapons scientists • DoD, DOE, OSTP • State Department • NGOs • JASONs, NAS • Other countries • Congress
Congress • Little knowledge of science • “Good” outcomes: • Nuclear Waste Policy Act 1982 • Clean Air Act 1970 • Clean Water Act 1977 • National Environmental Policy Act 1970 • “Bad” outcomes: • NWPA amendment • MTBE • CAFÉ standards
Regulatory Agencies • FDA, EPA, NRC, NTSB etc • “Good” decisions • Thalidomide • “Bad” decisions: • Prozac for teenagers • Direct to consumer advertizing of drugs
Science advisory panels • JASONs, NAS, Bioethics advisory panel • Have looked at: • Global warming • Nuclear waste disposition • CTBT • Laser fusion research • Diet (Steve Hilgartner, Science on Stage)
NGOs • Union of Concerned Scientists www.ucsusa.org • Federation of American Scientists (www.fas.org) • Natural Resources Defense Council www.nrdc.org • Council on Responsible Genetics (www.gene-watch.org)
NGO projects • NRDC: • Science Based Stockpile Stewardship • Nuclear targeting (www.nrdc.org/nuclear.default.asp) • UCS: • Ballistic Missile Defense • Scientists and the election • FAS: Secrecy: mirror site for Los Alamos Congressional Research Service reports
Media • Power to cover or ignore • Leaks: • Charles Bowman & accelerator transmutation • Roy Woodruff and SDI • Cold fusion • Soundbiting • Balance • Limits to expertise
courts • DNA & fingerprint evidence • Woburn cancer cluster • National Ignition Facility review • Environmental impact statements • Daubert 1993 Supreme Court decision
