Oil Spill Off Alaska Shore

Although it is not yet clear how extensively the Valdez oil spill will damage the Alaskan coast, the incident serves as a lesson in risk assessment. Certain occurrences simply must not be allowed to happen. Therefore, activities that could lead to their occurrence, even with very small probability, must not be sanctioned. Sometime, somehow, the machines will break down or the humans will falter and the dreaded event will take place.

Is all the oil in Alaska worth the destruction of Alaska? Is all the nuclear power generated today or in the future worth the destruction that could result from an accident or accumulation of radioactive waste? If the answer is no, then alternatives, even though they may seem like drastic breaks with our past way of thinking, must be developed and instituted.

ROSE CLAUM

Santa Monica