premise: We are such optimists and opportunists that we find it hard not to adopt every new technology as soon as it comes along. As a result, we tend to discover the adverse consequences of these new practices the hard way. When problems emerge, as they inevitably seem to do, we set about a search for a better technology to help solve or alleviate the problems created by the first. However, some commentators argue that the debate over the introduction of new technology to genetically modify crops was not about an existing technology but about a proposed one, and for once they claim we tried to identify the benefits and risks before running blindly into them. The example is held up as a new way of assessing technologies before adopting them, and governments are urged to require companies to test and environmentally model new technologies before they are introduced. The difficulty with such a recommendation to governments is that not all will adopt them and most new technologies are introduced by multinational companies that exist beyond the control of one or a few governments. These companies therefore can choose to avoid new controls over their commercial activities by simply taking their developmental work elsewhere.
hypothesis: Some governments are already requiring companies to test and environmentally model the impact of new technologies before introducing them.