Where should the United States focus its long-term efforts to improve the nation's environment? What are the nation's most important environmental issues? What role should science and technology play in addressing these issues? Linking Science and Technology to Society's Environmental Goals provides the current thinking and answers to these questions.


Based on input from a range of experts and interested individuals, including representatives of industry, government, academia, environmental organizations, and Native American communities, this book urges policymakers to:




Use social science and risk assessment to guide decision-making.
Monitor environmental changes in a more thorough, consistent, and coordinated manner.
Reduce the adverse impact of chemicals on the environment.
Move away from the use of fossil fuels.
Adopt an environmental approach to engineering that reduces the use of natural resources.
Substantially increase our understanding of the relationship between population and consumption.


This book will be of special interest to policymakers in government and industry; environmental scientists, engineers, and advocates; and faculty, students, and researchers.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Part I: Committee Report
Summary
Society's Environmental Goals
Use Social Science and Risk Assessment to Make Better Societal Choices
Focus on Monitoring to Build Better Understanding of Our Ecological Systems
Reduce the Adverse Impacts of Chemicals in the Environment
Develop Environmental Options for the Energy System
Use a Systems Engineering and Ecological Approach to Reduce Resource Use
Improve Understanding of the Relationship Between Population and Consumption as a Means to Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Population Growth
Set Environmental Goals Via Rates and Directions of Change
Bibliography
Part II: Commissioned Papers
National Environmental Goals: Implementing the Laws, Visions of the Future, and Research
Measurement of Environmental Quality in the United States
Attitudes Toward the Environment Twenty-Five Years After Earth Day
Environmental Goals and Science Policy: A Review of Selected Countries
Can States Make a Market for Environmental Goals?
Setting Environmental Goals: The View from Industry. A Review of Practices from the 1960s
Status of Ecological Knowledge Related to Policy Decision-Making Needs in the Area of
The Federal Budget and Environmental Priorities
Part III: Keynote Addresses and Presentations
D. James Baker, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Thomas Grumbly, U.S. Department of Energy
Barry Gold, U.S. Department of the Interior
Harlan Watson, House Committee on Science
David Garman, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
John Wise and Peter Truitt, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Judith Espinosa and Peggy Duxbury, President's Council on
Gilbert S. Omenn, University of Washington
Part IV: Appendixes
A Committee Member and Staff Biographical Information
B Forum Agenda
C Forum Participants
D Summary of Responses to Call for Comments
E Respondents to Call for Comments
F Summary of Breakout-Group Discussions
G Detecting Changes in Time and Space
H Contents and Executive Summary of a Report of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government
Index