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World War II had a very important impact on the development of technology, as a whole.
What is needed now is a transformation of the major systems of production more profound than even the sweeping post-World War II changes in production technology.
The age of innocent faith in science and technology may be over.
It reflects a prevailing myth that production technology is no more amenable to human judgment or social interests than the laws of thermodynamics, atomic structure or biological inheritance.
The weapons were conceived and created by a small band of physicists and chemists they remain a cataclysmic threat to the whole of human society and the natural environment.
My entry into the environmental arena was through the issue that so dramatically – and destructively – demonstrates the link between science and social action: nuclear weapons.
As the earth spins through space, a view from above the North Pole would encompass most of the wealth of the world – most of its food, productive machines, doctors, engineers and teachers. A view from the opposite pole would encompass most of the world’s poor.
In every case, the environmental hazards were made known only by independent scientists, who were often bitterly opposed by the corporations responsible for the hazards.
By adopting the control strategy, the nation’s environmental program has created a built-in antagonism between environmental quality and economic growth.
Environmental quality was drastically improved while economic activity grew by the simple expedient of removing lead from gasoline – which prevented it from entering the environment.