perm filename TRAIN.REF[CUR,JMC] blob
sn#120228 filedate 1974-09-19 generic text, type T, neo UTF8
ANALYSIS OF AN ARTICLE BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Mr. Russell Train, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
spoke in a session on energy of the 1974 annual meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science and wrote an article published
in \F1Science\F0 for 7 June 1974. The article is entitled "The Quality of
Growth". The opinions expressed in the article are likely to affect
government policy, and, in my opinion, the effects will be very bad. Hence
this analysis. The reader should form his own opinion on whether the
characterization of the article, reprinted as an appendix, is fair.
The article contains the following:
1. An expression of disenchantment with "the quality and character of
our lives". In this expression, the American life style is taken as an
undifferentiated whole. There is no indication that some people may prefer
one life style and others another and therefore no discussion of any possible
limitations on the extent to which social policy may legitimately
be used to redirect peoples' life styles.
2. A tendency to use emotive terms when the argument is weak.
The space program is the "last hurrah".
It is also "largely an engineering and acrobatic extravaganza".
"the new priority which we must accord to energy efficiency should finally
put to rest any plans to squander further private or public funds on the SST".