Clean, green, and unseen. Nanotechnology and the environment

Description

The town of Sunnyville is thrilled with the jobs and development promised by a new factory, which will make efficient, inexpensive solar cells. However, nanomaterials used in the manufacturing process pose an unknown level of risk to city residents and the environment. In this Fred Friendly Seminar, Peabody award-winning correspondent John Hockenberry leads expert panelists through a series of hypothetical dilemmas, putting their knowledge and principles to the test. Should plant construction go forward? Who determines the risks - the company, the government, or the university that holds the solar cell patent? Do we need new regulations to govern production and use of nanomaterials, or are current laws adequate? Seminar panelists include Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist at Environmental Defense in Washington, D.C.; Christine Daniel, Deputy City Manager of Fremont, California; Jennifer Scott Fonstad, Managing Director of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Dr. Daniel M. Kammen of UCal Berkeley's Department of Nuclear Engineering; and Maureen Gorsen, Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances.

Runtime

58 min

Series

Subjects

Genre

Date of Publication

[2009], c2008

Database

Films on Demand

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