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ENERGY AND IDEOLOGY

quotes from Train, et. al.

corruption of engineering
The individual or company that makes proposals to develop something he
doesn't believe will really work has been corrupted.  The solar surrey
as an example.  (Confess not having full facts.  If it doesn't apply to
that then it applies to something else.
People work on some form of energy because proposals have been solicited,
but then they parrot the slogans.

Code of ethics: I fear asking for too much but anyway - A company should
refuse to bid on tree climbers when asked to do so as part of a project
for reaching the moon.  Well if you must bid on the tree climbers then
don't parrot the puffery that says that tree climbers are the best way
to reach the moon.

Bluntly I fear that much of the solar work described here is a consequence
of this kind of corruption, but you know better than I do.  Certainly, the
$500 per peak kilowatt goal is based on wishful thinking about how much
other sources of energy will cost.

his values are that you are a bad guy

the object of this talk is understanding not arousal

issues and political power

Why does anti-technology dominate the politics of one of the most
productive centers of technology in the world?
Engineers should be cultured, but what if the not-so-subliminal message
of the professors of culture is that engineers are inferior people?

You can't beat something with nothing.  We need a positive esthetic
of technology.

It's good to save labor.

Underground nuclear explosions cannot be of any use.  See if Panofsky says
something over strong.

	I have been asked to speak in place of Edward Teller.  I can't
do that.

	I remember when all I knew of Edward Teller was the Dr. Strangelove
caricature of the media.

guilt and the phony we

specific nuclear safety issues, the global environmental impact statement,
conflicts of interest within the gov't, use Beckman as a source, maybe
advertise Beckman.

the "public policy community"

McCloskey got elected as an eco-vandal, but no thanks to us, he hasn't
turned out badly.  Calvo is a disgrace to the Santa Clara valley.
His opponent Greg Morris was better, but eco-vandalism was not an issue.

The suit against agricultural research is an example of vandalism resembling
what happens when a bunch of 10 year old boys wreck a school.

great physicists have been anti-technologists,

the loss of momentum, nuclear airplane, Orion, the space program, the grocery
code

How bad could it get?

When I told my daughter that I was substituting for Professor Teller, she
asked, "What role are you going to play - nephew of the hydrogen bomb"?
Well, I can't do that, I don't even have a clearance.

There aren't two cultures - barely one and a half.

Appreciation of technology per se.  Actually there is a lot of it.  Some
people buy calculators almost as works of art.

memes of anti-technology

our own gripe against the English professors

Technology has become more politicized recently.  Thus, Carter has
created a DoE by appointing people of different persuasions in proportions
that best reflect his pre-election commitments, maximize the probability
of assent to his policies (by co-opting representatives of different
groups), and maximize the probability of re-election.  The appointees
are obliged to agree on policies, and though this is not logically
required, tend to arrive at a consensus statement about the facts of
the energy situation that supports the compromise policies.  This
consensus view contains assertions about physics, medicine, economics,
geology and engineering.  For all of its political legitimacy, there
is no reason to suppose it true or even consistent.  Indeed there is
every reason to suppose that it is inconsistent.

The extent of this politicization of the facts of the energy
situation is recent, and it raises new problems for engineers and
scientists.  In so far as the consensus is erroneous, one should try
to avoid believing it or repeating it.  When the political situation
changes, and the need for the government to have a compromise view
of the facts of energy problem evaporates, it will be necessary to
arrive at more honest ways of reaching a scientific consensus.