Participation in Federal Nanotechnology Policy
Loka played a catalytic role in persuading Congress to include provisions in the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which was passed and signed by the President in 2003, and we have stayed active since. Loka President Langdon Winner of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, testified on the need for such input before the House Science Committee during the legislative process.
We also mobilized a broad-based group of community activists, academics, and university and philanthropic leaders to sign a letter to elected officials and science policy advisors to include specific participatory provisions in the pending legislation. Shortly after the legislation was signed into law, Loka organized a workshop at Howard University in 2004 for community activists from around the country to make recommendations about how to implement the participation provision after it became law. We continue to participate, in panels, seminars and the like, to promote the voices of everyday citizens -- not just entrepreneurs and policy wonks -- in policymaking for science and technology.
Loka Board Chair Rick Worthington has presented his analysis of the political economy of participation in nanotechnology policy to an international conference of community researchers and science policy activists. In 2007, we submitted comments on a nano risk framework proposed by DuPont and Environmental Defense, and several Loka participants -- Colleen Cordes, Debony Hart, Darshell Silva, Greg Tanaka, Rick Worthington, and Lea Zeldin -- are active in a coalition of public interest, popular education and labor groups that are bringing participatory, environmental, and social concerns into global policy discourse over nanotech. This group developed Joint Principles for Oversight of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies released July 31, 2007 (the group announced the principles in a press release). More than 40 organizations worldwide--ranging from small organizations such as Accion Ecologica in Ecuador and the International Center for Technology Assessment in Washington, to the AFL-CIO and Friends of the Earth--signed the principles. A Loka Alert addressing our take on the politics of nanotechnology--including the case for a pause in commercialization--was issued in August 2007.
Summary of Articles Referenced Above:
Langdon Winner's Testimony on Nanotechnology Research to the House Science Committee
Letter to Congress Advocating Participation Requirement in Federal Nanotechnology R&D Act
Loka - Howard University Community Workshop on Nanotechnology R&D Implementation
Rick Worthington on Participation in Nanotech Policy
Loka Comments on DuPont/ Environmental Defense Nano Risk Framework
Joint Principles for Oversight of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies
Joint Principles Press Release
Loka Alert 11:1, August 7, 2007: Precaution, Participation and Nanotechnology