Base policy on evidence

摘要

Chile needs a system for formulating public policy on the basis of sound scientific information. The government's decision in March not to create a ministry of science passed up a valuable opportunity for that. The current disconnect between science and policy within the government is worrying, as two recent examples show. First is the devastating fire that swept through parts of the city of Valparaiso in April. For decades, authorities ignored ecologists' warnings about expanding highly flammable eucalyptus plantations that are now near many cities in central Chile, and where the Valparaiso fire started. Second, Chile has experienced seven earthquakes measuring magnitude 7 or more in the past decade. Here, too, scant attention was paid to scientists' predictions about the accumulation of seismic strain.