Comment▼ What I learned in Europe . . .
I
spent a week in December visiting our new ES&T editorial office in Utrecht (The Netherlands) and the European ES&T office in Zurich. Although I have traveled there many times before, this time I was struck by expanding trends that are not fully appreciated by most Americans. #1—European students don’t want to visit the U.S. I talked with many students at both locations about their willingness to enter the U.S. for future studies or even a vacation. Almost to the person, they expressed no interest. They preferred more exotic locations for vacation travel, like Central or South America, Asia, or Africa. And for scholarly studies, they would rather choose Australia or the U.K. than the U.S. It’s nothing personal, more a dislike for the policies of the Bush Administration and a disinterest in all things American as a result. It’s like that weird relative (whom you’re not quite sure about) from whom you would like to keep your distance. One environmental engineering student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology told me, “Why should I enter the U.S.? Last time, I was fingerprinted, they scanned my eyes, and the authorities were belligerent. I will fly far distances just to avoid even transiting through the U.S.” The students with whom I spoke don’t want to buy American products, and they certainly do not want to emulate Americans. #2—Europeans are much more seriously engaged in sustainability than U.S. citizens. In Utrecht, bicycles are everywhere, and riders cover all demographics. The Dutch take sustainability personally. At the lunch table, I heard conversations about the pinpoint weather radar forecast and the optimum time to bike home to avoid rain. Can you imagine people in the U.S. arranging their work schedules around when and where the rain will fall? It’s so refreshing. In Utrecht, they also have “Bicycle Days”, when everyone is encouraged to ride their bikes to work, and people actually do it. There are traffic jams (of bikes), and the air is made clean, if only for a day. It raises consciousness about their relationship to the environment, demonstrates that bicycling is not so difficult or onerous, and suggests a natural way to stay in good physical health. Of course, government policies that subsidize bike paths and the willingness of businesses to accommodate flexible schedules are an important part of making the European system a kinder, gentler one. In Basel, Switzerland, there’s a 2000 Watt Society, a pilot region where community research projects try to achieve a substantial reduction from the Swiss average usage of 5000 watts per capita (average continu© 2007 American Chemical Society
ous energy consumption). The U.S. average is about 12,000 watts per person. You can take their quiz to see where you stand: http://randomquests.blogspot. com/2006/05/2000-watt-society.html. I was somewhere around 14,000 watts and still rising when I quit the last few queries. I also toured the futuristic office building of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), which houses our European Office of ES&T. It was built at a cost of 30 million Swiss francs and dedicated in September 2006 (www.eawag.ch/media/20060901/ index_EN). It uses no external heating or air conditioning whatsoever. Instead, it uses 1232 adjustable blue glass fins on all five stories to passively capture the sun’s energy or to envelop the structure like a cocoon when heat seeks to radiate out. #3—Global warming is not a controversial issue. Europeans gave up doubting the threat of global warming long ago. They are prepared to make changes in their daily lives to offset it. Empowering government to act on their behalf, they have few qualms about the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and they anticipate more stringent steps in the future. I first visited Eawag in the early 1980s. I distinctly recall a cafeteria conversation with a Swiss colleague about the regulatory differences between the U.S. and Europe. Discussion turned to the red cherries in our dessert, and he exclaimed, “Of course, there is red dye #2 in it—the Swiss will never ban it, even though it was banned in the U.S. in 1976. In Switzerland, we are very slow to take action.” My, how the times have changed. I believe we can learn a great deal more from them than they can from the U.S. Sustainability is on people’s minds in Europe. Even if they haven’t achieved the 2000 Watt Society ideal, they are at least thinking about the choices and trade-offs in their everyday life. Academic programs in environmental science and technology are vibrant and expanding. In the U.S. and around the world, we must continue to seek their research, news, and comments, if we want to be on the cutting edge at ES&T.
Jerald L. Schnoor Editor
[email protected] FEBRUARY 1, 2007 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 667
