AW: AARST Radon Scientist Claim Nation's Policy a Failure -Inflammatory Claims of Harm

["Franz Schoenhofer" <franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT>]

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Von: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]Im Auftrag von Bradt, Clayton

Gesendet: Freitag, 10. Jänner 2003 16:33

An: Radsafe-Digest (E-mail)

Betreff: Re: AARST Radon Scientist Claim Nation's Policy a Failure

-Inflammatory Claims of Harm





I agree that the press release is alarmist and misleading.  But what strikes

me most about it is the writer's apparent frustration with the fact that in

this country, at least for now, individuals can't be forced to remediate

elevated radon levels in their own homes.  Excuse my cynicism, but Americans

are a lot less concerned about cleaning up their environment when they have

to pay for it out of their own pockets.  When someone else is paying, no

expense is too great for protecting the planet or our children.  When we

know that we will be getting the bill, our risk aversion plummets.   The

surest way to rationalize environmental policy in this country would be to

shift the costs of regulation directly to taxpayers.  That which we value is

that for which we are willing to pay.



-------------------------------------------------------------



I had a look at the AARST website and noticed that the board members and

"normal" members are (almost) exclusively persons of companies which make

their money with measurements and remediation. So it should be clear, why

and how these claims of harm came into being and were written down!



Your above remarks really get to the point, but I can assure you that this

attitude is not restricted to the USA. In my home country Austria it is

totally clear for the population that the federal government  h a s  to pay

for all damage done by nature, like for instance by the very severe floods

of last summer or by avalanches. Much to my surprise, the radon issue has

not yet come up, though we have of course areas where recommended values are

exceeded by far. We direct all our anxiety, radiophobia and radiation

paranoia towards foreign nuclear power plants...........



Best regards,



Franz





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