As much as I appreciate John Stewart's view that sensational media has worsened the polarization of political views, I think it does an even worse service to environmentalism. The article above is the latest example. Chromium Hexavalent, the star compound of that Erin Brokovich movie, has made a lot of headlines lately. This story I guess replaces the alarmist view of exposure to radiation from the new backscatter body scanners at the airport (reportedly you are exposed to 10x as much radiation from the atmosphere during your plane flight), and before that we had the turmoil over hydrofracking for natural gas in Pennsylvania and New York (the frak fluid is largely saltwater, and images of burning gas from sinks is from methane, totally unrelated).
When I tell people I work in water resources, they often express their dismay at these processes, which only highlights their ignorance (Onondaga lake is another big one). I don't expect people (or myself) to have the time to research and learn about topics to their full depth, but I have grown as weary of environmental knee-jerk reactions and opinion pieces as political ones. The American press has come to be as valuable as state-run media in other countries.
Bunch o garbage.
I can't think of a single area where I trust any information produced for the masses.
ReplyDeleteCookbooks. Thats it.
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