HR: 1340h
AN: ED33A-0881    [Abstracts]
TI: Lessons from Oil Pollution Research: Consensus, Controversy, and Education of Policy Makers and the Public.
AU: * Farrington, J W
EM: jfarrington@whoi.edu
AF: John W Farrington, MS#25 Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department WHOI 360 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States
AB: Controversies concerning scientific research findings, consensus of a majority of expert scientists, and attempts by vested interest groups to offer alternative interpretations from the consensus with the goal of influencing policy makers" and the public's understanding is not a new phenomenon with respect to complex environmental issues. For example, controversies about new scientific research findings from studies of oil spills and other aspects of petroleum and petroleum refined product inputs, fates and effects in the marine environment intensified in the late 1960s to early 1970s and continues today as evidenced by ongoing debates surrounding the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. This paper provides an overview of the interactions between authentic new scientific findings with respect to oil pollution in the marine environment in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the consensus gained in the ensuing years by continued research, and through various science - policy processes, and a spectrum of concomitant public education efforts. Lessons learned from this ongoing process may be instructive to current debates in other arenas of environmental science.
DE: 1724 Ocean sciences
DE: 4251 Marine pollution (0345, 0478)
DE: 4800 OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (0460)
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting