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large areas of land and other parts of the environment with radioactive materials and,
in the worst case scenario, could do substantial harm to the global climate resulting in a
“nuclear winter.”
So, what can green chemistry do to prevent terrorist attacks and mitigate their
effects? Actually, green chemistry is a key discipline in such endeavors. For example,
one of the basic tenets of green chemistry is to use the safest possible chemicals as
safely as possible. When particularly dangerous chemicals are not made or used, they are
not available to cause mischief. The practice of green chemical manufacturing calls for
minimizing the accumulation of hazardous chemicals and seeks to eliminate hazardous
chemical wastes. Safer materials made under the practice of green chemical technology
minimize hazards from more dangerous substances. Highly sensitive analytical
techniques developed by chemical science can be used to detect miniscule quantities
of explosives or toxic substances slated for use in terrorist attacks. Biochemistry and
recombinant DNA science have the potential to enable the development of better vaccines
against pathogenic biological warfare agents and antidotes to chemical and biological
toxins. More subtly, the use of green chemistry and chemical technology to produce
effective substitute materials can reduce potential for “resource blackmail” that can
lead to vulnerability to terrorist activity. A prime example is the substitution of biomass
alternatives for petroleum feedstocks that to a certain extent many nations must obtain
from other nations that are not necessarily friendly.
This chapter addresses potential terrorist threats with emphasis upon those that
employ chemical and biological agents. Having identified threats that may occur, it then
discusses ways in which chemistry, especially the proper practice of green chemistry,
can minimize such threats.
13.2. Protecting the Anthrosphere
The anthrosphere constructed with a high degree of human ingenuity has provided
a generally safe and comfortable environment for human beings. The underpinning of
this entire support system is the infrastructure, which includes systems to purify and
deliver water, electricity generation and distribution systems, communications, fuel
distribution networks, highways, and railroads. The sophistication and complexity of
the infrastructure is what makes it work so smoothly (for the most part), but also makes
it vulnerable to attack. A key aspect of this susceptibility to attack is vulnerability due
to interconnectivity, which arises from the high degree to which various parts of the
infrastructure are interconnected and mutually dependent.^1 No part of the infrastructure
illustrates vulnerability due to interconnectivity more so than modern electrical grids,
which can stretch across vast geographical regions and across national borders. A reminder
of this vulnerability occurred on August 14, 2003, when a failure of the electrical grid
in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada resulted in a power outage for tens of
millions of people in New York City, Detroit, Cleveland, and Toronto. In this incident a
total of 68,100 megawatts of generating capacity — equivalent to 68 very large, modern
power generating facilities — was lost as dozens of high-voltage transmission lines shut
down. This occurred within about 5 minutes, and the event that caused it probably took