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Story: Nanotech brings out the Luddites

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I don’t consider myself an environmental activist, just a concerned individual.

I don't believe consuming GM food will have any adverse effects on me. I do believe producing GM food has the potential to do serious harm to ecosystems.

The environment is so fundamental to our existence, that “hypothetical and poorly understood” threats, should not be ignored when considering its protection. Just because a large sum of money may have been invested in some new technology, and somebody is looking for a return on their investment, is not a good enough reason to ignore any potential risks to the environment.

Why should we rely on “voluntary standards” of conduct, when things have gone so wrong in the past (lead in petrol, DDT, endocrine disrupting PCBs, CFCs etc)? Why should we trust scientists and technologists to look after our most precious possession, the environment, when their record is not that good?

I wouldn’t necessarily advocate a world government, but a World Environment Organisation, similar to the World Trade Organisation, and the World Health Organisation, would seem to me to be a good start.

Thankfully, the prophets of doom are not always right, but they only need to be right once.

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