Energy-Environment Misinformation: The U.N. Needs Help

Abstract

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Toronto, a clean, relax ing
city. Among its attractions was the BCE Place Galleria, a glas s-roof mall
enclosin g the low er levels of an entire street, including a charming his-
toric bu ild ing. The resulting space was comfortable, inviting and archi-
tecturally fascinating. The mixed -use technical creation allowed Canadi-
an s and tourists alik e to enjoy sidewalk cafes eve n in the dr iving rain
and win d we watched thr ough the walls of our engineered womb.
The United Nations Association in Canada (UNAC) had set up a
di splay to solicit don ations in the m iddle of this mall. 135 winning en-
tries from the United Nations En vironmen t Programme 's photography
contest depict ed situat ions of environm en tal beauty and cata strophe
around th e globe. Three photos were chosen for the theme po ster to
convey, with out captions or explanation, "Th e Good, the Bad and the
Ugly." D olphin s frolick ing with a Homo sapiens were chosen to repre-
sen t "th e Goo d ." No problem .
"The Ugly" was a puz zle to view ers. Was it an owl, a butt erfl y, a
leaf arr an gem ent ? Up on in quiring, I wa s told, "I'm not sure what it is,
but it sur e is ugly!"
"The Bad" cau sed me a problem. The photograph showed two hy-
perb olic cooling towers at a di stance, silhouett ed by the faint light of
da wn. Naturally , with the ambient night air at the dew point, huge
plum es of condens ed moi sture rose far into the peaceful morning sky
from the tow ers.
"What is thi s picture?" I asked.
"Well, that' s en vironm ental damage," cam e the reply.
UN AC's stated purpo ses are " to study internat ion al problems .. . to
foster mutual und er standing ... " and "to furnish information ... " Local
ad vocates see k to " de ve lop environmental fact sh eet s."