Radioactive Waste Disposal at Sea: Public Ideas ... - IMO

124 Chapter 7
not prevent it from having a tremendous impact on policy development. As
little was scientifically known about the environmental effects of ocean
dumping, policy entrepreneurs could claim that the oceans were “dying”
without being disastrously disproved by others. The mass media, moreover,
were very important in communicating policy-relevant ideas and policy
proposals concerning ocean dumping to politicians and the public. This
is also confirmed by studies showing how politicians use the media to communicate
ideas and to focus attention on particular issues. 26 Also, policy
makers may often chose to use the media, instead of technical reports and
briefing papers, to focus the attention of other policy makers on policy
problems. 27
The “dying oceans” idea held a moral power that was accentuated at the
point when public opinion and public debate about policy generally was
shifting in favor of environmental protection. The moral power of the idea
further added to its impact on problem definition and policy formulation.
This was evident in the following remark, made by a marine geologist supporting
continuation of controlled ocean dumping at a congressional hearing:
“I recognize also that in the present era of aroused public interest in
the environment, in which ecology has become virtually a ‘motherhood
issue,’ there are certain significant hazards, both politically and professionally,
in what at first may seem to favor what others might term pollution.”
(Smith, “Statement,” in U.S. Senate, Ocean Waste Disposal, p. 206)
“The dying oceans,” an image that resonated well with recent spectacular
examples of dumping accidents, burning rivers, and polluted lakes, thus
was a normative statement that endorsed a need generally to protect and
preserve the marine environment.
The above illustrates that the “dying oceans” idea, after it had been
accepted, exerted a significant influence on the viability and credibility of
other ideas. As was pointed out in chapter 3, there is a clear tendency for
ideas, once they catch on, to dramatically reduce the attractiveness and
sometimes even the legitimacy of alternative ideas. This idea framed the
ocean dumping issue in such a way that the environmental and ecological
viewpoint seemed credible and morally superior to other views, whereas
the view that the ocean could under certain conditions safely accumulate
some wastes seemed without credibility as well as “non-environmental.”
Scientists and experts advocating such a view therefore had negligible influ-