viewpoint Joel A. Snow National Science Foundation
Ecostrategies and ecotactics Man is but a part of nature, and it is far from profound to observe that it would be unwise for man to damage the natural world on which he must depend. But elaborations and transmutations of this simple remark, supplemented with rank upon rank of potential catastrophies, have been jamming the popular media with a noise that often transcends good sense. In the course of this feverish upwelling of interest, recent popular techniques of political participation have not been neglected, whether or not they contribute to rational discourse, and a manual for participation in such ventures has even been produced-bearing the clever title “Ecotactics.” What the nation more properly needs are “ecostrategies” that will ensure future compatibility between the nation’s economic development and the need for keeping modern man in harmony with nature. The development of ecostrategies will require expansion of the available data base, scrupulous analysis of the network of social and economic alternatives, and stimulation of new technology to extend the range of environmental options. The issues to he dealt with are complicated by wide differences in the immediate goals of the interested parties. No sensible person would wish to damage the health of his fellow citizens or to impair the stability and integrity of the natural ecosystems upon which human life ultimately depends. But matters are not that clear. Environmental health impacts are buried in an immense variety of other stresses upon the human organism, and many of the operating principles of even simple ecosystems are still primarily conjecture. The development of cogent ecostrategies is therefore very much dependent upon the willingness and flexibility of scientists and engineers to find new and broad frameworks within which to assess their work. We must first appreciate that environmental degradation resists swift, simple solutions. There is generally no single cause that lends itself to a single cure. Rather, there is an array of causes that contribute to each problem, and the problems themselves are iuterrelated. We are a society with high per capita consumption based on a sophisticated technology and a complex operating network of social institutions; thus most causes do, on examination, turn out to have a common root. That is, environmental degradation arises from our way of life. It is this feature that has led many “ecotacticians” to attack the entire structure of our society. For those of us who wish to retain the
key characteristics of our present society, it is evident that a detailed knowledge of environmental impacts is needed, and that a careful, cool-headed analysis must be made of the incentives, public and private, that can ameliorate the negative impacts so that our society can gradually evolve corrections to its excesses. One of the most formidable obstacles to the development of ecostrategies is the absence of sufficient quantitative data and theoretical understanding of the natural environment. Yet, without adequate knowledge of the structure and resiliency of the natural ecosystems that support human life, it is hard to assess the impact of technological stresses. Particularly crucial is whether nature can find new points of stability under the stresses imposed by man, or whether modern technology must itself give way. Unraveling the complex aspects of this enormous system of trade-offs is, however difficult, one of the most essential tasks that modern man must undertake. To remain consistent with democratic principles, the public must also be deeply involved, and raising the level of the public discourse on the environment may be a necessary precursor to any establishment of national ecostrategies. In the end, the pressures of population growth, technology, and economic development may force either a rational assessment of national choices or a descent into chaos. Men of goodwill from the community of science shall surely prefer to work toward the former. This goal is an area in which science and technology can prove to be truly responsive to the national need.
Joel A . Snow is head of the Ofice of Interdisciplinary Research at NSF. H e is a physicist by training
Volume 5, Number 2, February 1971 99
