Former EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus was fond of quoting Thomas Jefferson:
“If we think [the people are] not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a
wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their
discretion.” Ruckelshaus usually added, “Easy for him to say”.
Part of the problem of informing the public about hazardous waste facility siting is that the
skills required to explain technical information to the lay public are uncommon skills. They
are especially uncommon, perhaps, among those who possess the requisite technical
knowledge. There are techniques to be learned: a standard called “communicative
accuracy” to help determine which details may be omitted and which may not; various sorts
of “fog indexes” to measure readability and comprehensibility; and other ways of
simplifying, clarifying and dramatizing without distorting. The range of media available for
the task als
The post ESTABLISH AN OPEN INFORMATION POLICY appeared first on Assignment Freelancers.
