Utility seeks openness on issue of exposure
- Public Service Electric and Gas Company, Newark, NJ (United States)
The coupling [open quotes]of scientific uncertainty with public alarm creates a quandary of U.S. electric utilities[close quotes] on the electromagnetic-field issues, says Robert W. Kinkead of the Public Service Electric and Gas Company of Newark, New Jersey. Techniques to reduce exposure levels are available, he explains, but they can be very expensive if exposure is to be brought down low enough to satisfy some critics. The issue also creates a quandary in communications: Since few answers are available, is it better for utilities to maintain a low public profile, responding only when asked, or is it better for them to step forward with comprehensive public communications programs Most utilities tend toward the former approach, but Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE G) adopted the latter. If fashioned programs specially designed to inform its employees, opinion leaders, and the public. The goal, explains Kinkead, is to establish PSE G as a credible source of electromagnetic-field information, not to [open quotes]sidestep the unavoidable controversy that will continue to surround the issue until research produces more definite information about its effects.[close quotes]
- OSTI ID:
- 7230180
- Journal Information:
- Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy; (United States), Vol. 9:2; ISSN 0887-8218
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
HEALTH HAZARDS
PUBLIC INFORMATION
PUBLIC UTILITIES
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
HAZARDS
INFORMATION
290300* - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
560400 - Other Environmental Pollutant Effects