COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH Dale R. Corson (Chairman), Cornell University, Ithaca, New York D. James Baker, Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C. Paul L. Busch, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., White Plains, New York K. Elaine Hoagland, Association of Systematics Collections, Washington, Crawford S. Holling, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Simon A. Levin, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey Gordon H. Orians, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington CLS Liaison: Paul G. Risser, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, Ohio Advisor: Terrence Surles, Argonne National Laboratories, Argonne, Illinois Staff: Alvin G. Lazen, Program Officer from January 1992 Barry Gold, Program Officer until January 1992 James J. Reisa, Director, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology David J. Policansky, Senior Program Officer, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology Eric A. Fischer, Director, Board on Biology Raymond A. Wassel, Senior Program Officer, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology Sharon Holzmann, Staff Assistant Adrienne L. Staggs, Project Assistant Editor: Norman Grossblatt NRC Liaison Staff: Susan Garbini, Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems Paul Stern, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES Thomas D. Pollard (Chairman), Johns Hopkins University School of Bruce M. Alberts, University of California, San Francisco, California J. Michael Bishop, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, David Botstein, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California Michael T. Clegg, University of California, Riverside, California Emil A. Pfitzer, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, New Jersey Malcolm C. Pike, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California Paul G. Risser, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, Ohio Jonathan M. Samet, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico Harold M. Schmeck, Jr., Armonk, New York Carla J. Shatz, University of California, Berkeley, California Susan S. Taylor, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, P. Roy Vagelos, Merck & Company, Inc., Rahway, New Jersey Staff: Paul Gilman, Executive Director Alvin G. Lazen, Associate Executive Director Solveig M. Padilla, Administrative Assistant The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, selfperpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of public policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council. PREFACE The national and global environmental problems we face are acute. They include the familiar subjects of chlorofluorocarbons and the ozone hole in the stratosphere, global warming, and toxic-waste disposal (experts quote numbers as high as $50 billion to clean up the Hanford nuclear-energy site alone). We are beginning to understand the implications of the loss of biological diversity and extinction of species. These and other environmental problems derive from a combination of population growth and the increasing rate of natural-resource consumption stimulated by the rising standard-of-living aspirations of peoples everywhere. Some of the problems affect the very future of life on our planet. Environmental problems are international in character, and some international cooperation and coordination exist, but not nearly to the extent we think essential. The problem is eloquently stated in the Carnegie Commission report International Environmental Research and Assessment: The free passage of winds and currents, without passports, makes environmental matters peculiarly and quintessentially international. Sustained, effective international action requires that the poor develop into the rich and that the rich improve their behavior with respect to the environment and resources." Because international considerations are beyond our charge, we do not deal with them in this report. However, the Carnegie Commission's report has called attention to these critical issues. The federal government spends a large amount, $5 billion a year in round numbers, on research and development that addresses environmental problems, much of it of high quality. Some of the research is coordinated, the global-climate change program, for example. Other programs appear uncoordinated. In spite of the large expenditures, our country has no adequate way to set national goals and a national environmental research agenda agreed to and participated in by federal agencies and national laboratories, by industry, and by academic institutions, a program understood and supported by an informed citizenry. Environmental policy, both legislative and regulatory, is often produced without benefit of the best science available. Scientists often pursue research programs without adequate consideration for the policy-makers who must make policy in the face of inadequate information and understanding. |