#fml #fuku
I wrote an email to my representatives. I can’t decide if I’m more upset that I wrote this or that I feel like I had to:
My name is Oliver Gould. I am a 28 year old Software Engineer living and working in San Francisco at Twitter, Inc., though I am writing you as a citizen today.
Since the tragic earthquake in Japan, I have trusted that the experts and authorities would act in the public interest and provide accurate information in a timely manner. However, it has become increasingly clear that this is not the case. With reputable physicists now speaking publicly about this issue (for instance, Michio Kaku on CNN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrxmy6R3m90), I am beginning to feel that the public’s trust is being betrayed.
There is clearly nothing that can be done to change the realities we are faced with; however, I think it is absolutely critical that the EPA present the public with data on radiation levels throughout the Pacific rim, but especially the West Coast. Today, I spent almost an hour scouring the epa.gov website for recent information on Fukushima or radiation, and it is basically completely devoid of relevant information.
The fact that Japanese and IAEA officials have not been forthright with accurate information only serves to undermine trust and to feed our worst fears. I am personally a proponent of nuclear energy, however, as an engineer, I simply cannot trust an authority that does not back their claims with independently verifiable data.
My mother is extremely worried about my safety and is urging me to leave California. I do not want to do this — I love living at Ocean Beach; and I love working at Twitter. At this point, though, I simply have nothing to allay my mother’s fears that I am in danger.
