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Len,
I agree. But the viable approach must be indirect. Investigators always say "chase the money". This means that the default reason for anything is economics (and power (sublimated sex)).
Therefore we must make the cleaning up of the problems created by technology very profitable (and sexy of course).

Actually, we need to think big: something that Americans seem to have forgotten. Grand Coulee was (and is) big. The Apollo project was big. The Space elevator and the Solar Power Satellites will be big. It's never been American to be subtle.

Maybe that is one of our problems ... bigger is better mentality. Several dams in Oregon are being removed now so the salmon will survive.

Uh oh...this is a no politics zone...

Len you bring up an interesting issue.
Today the political process in the US is deadlocked because of bickering over narrow issues and partisan posturing. Not to mention the blatant corruptive effect that money has on decision making.
There were many bold projects that were undertaken in the past but today these would not even be contemplated.
We know that we have major issues to deal with such as health care, global warming, decline of education.
Instead of dialogue and an approach to problem solving instead we find shrill, emotional and extremism is the order of the day. Those attitudes cannot advance any cause instead they just hinder the ability to find a common ground on which one can build.

This week I heard two different commentators express the following thought after visiting China to cover Obama's visit:
In China the political system is able to proceed with major projects and plans while in the US the political system is unable to deliver a rapid and effective response.
Does that mean an autocratic system can be a better provider than a democratic one?

Autocrats always get more done than democracies. Consider the Egyptian pyramids, the Great Wall of China, any of the fabulous wonders of the world. If private enterprise didn't create them, then some autocrat did.

we all know benevolent despotism is the greatest form of government but we also know ultimate power corrupts ultimately. wake up you sleepy head there is no answer in sight. every solution we find creates a different problem.

Our technological advances remind me of the guy who goes to Vegas , bets everything he owns on one hand of Blackjack , wins , lets it all ride and wins again and keeps repeating the process for an hour or so . It works every time except THE VERY LAST TIME .

The Industrial Revolution driven by technology had continued through many incarnations because it works. Has there been casualties in this Revolutions? Of course. Will there continue to be casualties? Of course. Most of the time however, the casualties are found among those who cannot or will not change their lives as the Revolution undergoes another incarnation.

An interesting point to consider: 1 out of 5 buyers of Chevrolets and 1 out of 6 buyers of Fords are computer illiterate and they are proud of it. Imagine. Unable and unwilling to even consider learning the rudiments of computers at a time when cybernetics run everything, even their vehicles. Could these luddites be a significant factor for the difficulties of GM and Ford? Does this intransigence explain their visceral fear of the future? In the end, is it this inability to follow the inevitable incarnations of the Industrial Revolutions rather than education per se define success or failure in our society?

Damn! I hate the fact one can't modify one's blog for errors. Line one: should read 'has', not 'had'

Paragraph two, line 6, should read 'that defines', not 'define'. Oh, well.