FAR-REACHING SOLUTIONS DON FUQUA U. S. House of Representatives The sun has been revered and worshipped since the beginning of civilization as the great provider. Ancient civilizations built monuments and statues to it; religious cults prayed to it; and early man marked time by it. As his knowledge and understanding grew, primitive man progressed from a wanderer and food gatherer to a food grower and his dependence on the sun increased. The sun's energy also created our planet's bountiful supply of fossil fuels on which we have increasingly depended to drive an ever expanding technological society. Today we stand at a crossroads—knowing that the earth's fossil fuels are finite and will be depleted in time, but knowing also that man's ingenuity and imagination will once again find ways and means to create new sources of energy to sustain contemporary civilization and its future generations. Once more we will look to the sun as the great provider. With the aid of our technolgical expertise, man has the potential to duplicate the sun's process of fusion here on earth, as well as collect the sun's energy in space through the exciting concept of Solar Power Satellites and other space-related energy systems. Although Solar Power Satellites may not require any major scientific breakthroughs to become reality, they do, nevertheless, pose an enormous engineering endeavor in addition to some serious environmental and economic concerns. The Solar Power Satellite Research, Development and Evaluation bill, proposed by my colleague, Congressman Ronnie Flippo, has been reported out by the Committee on Science and Technology for consideration by the House of Representatives. It provides for a technology verification program that will allow us to fairly assess SPS, compare it with other technologies, and permit us to explore the critical question of microwave effect. We are moving into the new era of environmental impact verification where the public conscience demands preventive rather than remedial action. The biological effects of microwave radiation must be studied to resolve the differences of opinion that exist regarding safety standards. We must also determine how much radiation would be received off-target from these systems. Without answers of substance to these environmental questions, the proper public decision cannot be made. The concept of Solar Power Satellites also raises the major philosophical question of centralized vs decentralized energy approaches. SPS's requirement for large investments in equipment and project construction in a central location place it clearly in the category of a centralized approach. Opponents of this idea contend that our energy problem does not require a centralized approach, but rather can be met by a dispersed system of energy generation units which allow individuals maximum conRepresentative Don Fuqua (D-Fla.) is Chairman, Committee on Science and Technoloev. U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.
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