Industry Talks Back

U.S. industry is apparently fed up with taking the blame in silence for a host of environmental problems. Last week spokesmen for two of the most blamed industries talked back:

>> In Washington, Sherman R. Knapp, president of the Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc., denounced "sudden hysteria" over the environmental impact of nuclear power plants. While conceding that the nation's 17 existing "nukes" discharge heat (he said low-level radiation is under control), Knapp declared that "there is not a single case of thermal emission seriously damaging the ecology." He particularly decried conservationists' lawsuits that block the growth of nuclear plants. Those who hinder power generation, Knapp said, only guarantee "ever darkening skies and diminishing amounts of fossil fuel resources--or an even more hazardous environmental threat, insufficient electricity to meet our nation's demand."

>> Detroit changed gears, largely in response to the Senate's call for a virtually pollution-free car by 1975. Henry Ford II told an audience in Chicago that politicians and the press have unfairly labeled automakers as "bad guys" --mainly, he charged, to help win votes and gain circulation. In New Orleans, a Chrysler emissions expert, Charles Heinen, argued against "over-control" of auto exhausts, and said that Americans have been "needlessly frightened" by reports of car-caused smog. Added General Motors President Edward N. Cole: "National efforts to reduce overall air pollution must involve all major sources of pollution--not only motor vehicles but also industrial and electric generating plants, home and business heating facilities and refuse disposal operations."

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