Barry Commoner's leadership in the formation and early years of the Committee for Nuclear Information is described. The Committee's role as a pioneer in providing the public with information on nuclear questions, then the prime environmental issue requiring political action, is outlined. When it changed its name to the Committee for Environmental Information and broadened its scope, the focus continued to be on those environmental issues requiring political decisions. Although both Committees limited themselves to scientific information and did not advocate particular political solutions, they became embroiled in controversies, some of them significant for breaking through barriers of government silence and corporate misinformation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CommonerB.The Closing Circle, Alfred P. Knopf, Inc., New York, pp. 45–51, 1971.
2.
Information From the Greater St. Louis Citizens Committee for Nuclear Information, 1, December 4, 1958.
3.
LoganY.The Story of the Baby Tooth Survey, Scientist and Citizen, 6, pp. 38–39, September-October 1964.
4.
KrasnerW.Baby Tooth Survey—First Results,Nuclear Information, 4, pp. 1–6, January 1962. Based on an article by ReissL. Z. in Science, 24, November 1961, BlumenthalH. T., Strontium-90 in Children, Scientist and Citizen, 6, pp. 3-7, September-October 1964. Based in part on an article by RosenthalH. L., AustinS., O'NeillS., TahouchiK., BirdJ., and GilsterJ. E., Incorporation of Fallout Sr-90 in Deciduous Incisors and Foetal Bone, Nature, 203, p. 615, 1964, and Baby Tooth Survey, A Comparative Study, Scientist and Citizen, 8, pp. 16-17, May 1966.
5.
CunninghamM.The Citizen's View of Scientist and Citizen, 8, pp. 7–18, May 1966.
6.
Technical Division, Committee for Nuclear Information, Local Fallout: Hazard from Nevada Tests,Nuclear Information,5 pp. 1–12, August 1963, and Hazard from Nevada Tests, a reply to the Atomic Energy Commission, 6, pp. 1-2, November 1963, and G. M. Dunning, Discussion of Iodine 131 in Fallout with CNI Comments, in the same issue, pp. 3-13.
Scientific Advisory Board of Scientist and Citizen, Concluding the Project Harbor discussion,Scientist and Citizen,8, p. 31, February-March 1966.
9.
Scientist and Citizen, 7, May-June and August 1965, and 8, p. 8, February-March 1966.
10.
HohenemserC.Blasting a Harbor, and What is Plowshare, with Barry Commoner, Nuclear Information, 2, pp. 1–4, June 1960, and More on Plowshare, 2, pp. 1, 3-4, July 1960.
11.
Project Chariot,3 (1961): June including B. Commoner, M. W. Friedlander, C. Hohenemser, and E. Reiss, The Known and the Unknown—The Nature of Nuclear Decisions, M. W. Friedlander, Predictions of Fallout from Project Chariot, B. Commoner, Biological Risks from Project Chariot, D. C. Foote, Cape Thompson: The Place, The People, and W. O. Pruitt, Jr., The Animals.
12.
BrodineV.Six Questions for Australians, Environment, 11, pp. 16–19, April 1969, and Unsnug Harbor, pp. 34-36, May 1969.
13.
MattisonL.A Quake at Bodega, Nuclear Information, 6, pp. 1–12, April 1964.
14.
More on Bodega,Nuclear Information, 6, pp. 11–13, August 1964.
15.
New York Times, October 27 and 30, noted in Scientist and Citizen, 7, inside front cover, November 1964.
16.
Air Pollution Committee, CNI Technical Division, Air Quality in the St. Louis Area,Scientist and Citizen, 8, pp. 9–10, January 1966, and The Air St. Louisans Breathe, pp. 6-15, May 1966; including R. Karsh, The St. Louis Sulfation Story, R. B. Ferguson, Automobiles and Air Pollution, and P. Gaspar, Industrial Process Emissions.
17.
ShulmanJ.New Standards in the Making, Scientist and Citizen, 9, pp. 16–17, 1967.
18.
Committee for Environmental Information, The Price of Convenience,Environment, pp. 2–15, 44-48, 1970.
19.
NovickS.The Burden of Proof,Environment, pp. 16–29, 1970.
20.
Rachel's Health & Environment Weekly, “On Regulation,” #538, March 20, 1997.
