Word: optioning
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...would societies respond, for example, if the oceans were to rise by 3 ft. to 5 ft. over the next century, as some scientists have predicted? One option would be to construct levees and dikes. The Netherlands, after all, has flourished more than 12 ft. below sea level for hundreds of years. Its newest bulwark is a 5.6-mile dam made up of 131-ft. steel locks that remain open during normal conditions, to preserve the tidal flow that feeds the rich local sea life, but can be closed when rough weather threatens. Venice is beginning to put into place...
Plant genetics is another option that needs to be energetically pursued. At / the University of California at Riverside, plant physiologist Anthony Hall is working on a way to make cowpeas more tolerant to heat. Other scientists are using genetic engineering to transfer genes from bacteria that act like natural insecticides. But though they have tried, scientists have not yet been able to develop farm crops that are drought resistant. Says Hall: "You can't grow plants without water...
What can be done to prevent the world from wallowing in waste? Most important is to reduce trash at its source. At the consumer level, one option is to charge households a garbage-collection fee according to the amount of refuse they produce. Manufacturers too need more prodding. Higher fines, taxes and stricter enforcement might force offending industries to curb waste. Industry must also re-examine its production processes. Such an approach already has a successful track record. The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. has cut waste generation in half by using fewer toxic chemicals, separating out wastes that...
...little to lose in testing the P.L.O.'s sincerity. The Jordanian option, the long-favored attempt by the U.S. and Peres to make King Hussein the surrogate peacemaker for the Palestinians, withered away last July when the King gave up all responsibility for the occupied West Bank. Washington's stubborn holdout in the face of Arafat's peace offensive had bound Uncle Sam in the unaccustomed straitjacket of the spoiler. Shultz's announcement not only ended months of intense criticism from West European and Arab friends but also restored U.S. credibility and influence as an honest broker in the Middle...
...issue of emigration, Gorbachev pledged to remove the whole issue of refuseniks from the agenda by revising the secrecy laws that prevent many Soviet citizens from leaving the U.S.S.R. After a set period of time, he pledged, any person who wants to emigrate or travel will have the legal option to do so. More broadly, he spoke of the futility of maintaining restrictions designed to seal off the Soviet Union from the world. "Today, the preservation of any kind of 'closed' society is hardly possible," he said. Just before his arrival, the jamming of Radio Liberty ended...