Remember when, in the movie Jaws, the local dignitaries did not want to warn vacationers that there was a man-eating great white shark in their waters for fear that they’d lose out on their summer tourism dollars? Do you remember when Attorney General Eric Holder admitted that he had to balance punishing bad behavior on Wall Street against causing economic hardship for the American people?

When there is an economic or commercial reason not warn the public about health concerns, or to let criminals go unpunished, that is quite often what happens. So, the public can be forgiven for being highly skeptical that they are getting the full truth about the consequences and risks associated with the Fukushima radioactive fallout. The Obama administration hasn’t been pro-active about giving any information out, and conspiracy theories and worst-case scenarios have proliferated.

It’s nice to be reassured that the fallout that reaches the West Coast will present virtually no health risk, but we ought to be told what will present a health risk. Is Tuna caught in Japanese fishing waters and sold here as sushi safe? Are the people assuring us that it is truly independent? Certainly, there can’t be no health risks for Americans associated with Fukushima. So, why don’t we know what they are?

Radiation is scary, so this subject is particularly vulnerable to panic and overreaction. But, for exactly that reason, there should be more communication and some acknowledgment that you can’t have an ongoing meltdown on the scale of Fukushima without it having a some detrimental effects here in America.

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