In the face of technology failures in preventing oil from reaching beaches and coasts after catastrophic oil spills in the 1960s and early 1970s, the oil industry and governmental officials needed to quickly reconsider their idea of prevention. Initially, prevention meant stopping spilled oil from coating beaches and coasts. Exploring the presentations at three oil-spill conferences in 1969, 1971 and 1973, this idea of prevention changed as the technological optimism of finding effective methods met the realities of oil-spill cleanup. By 1973, prevention meant stopping oil spills before they happened. This rapid policy transformation came about because the oil industry could not hide the visual evidence of the source of their technology failures. In this century, as policymakers confront invisible pollutants such as pesticides and greenhouse gases, considering ways to visually show the source of the pollution along with the effects could quicken policy decisions.

中文翻译：

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“不可避免的后果：”在灾难性事件之后改变预防观念

面对在 1960 年代和 1970 年代初期发生灾难性石油泄漏后阻止石油到达海滩和海岸的技术失败，石油行业和政府官员需要迅速重新考虑他们的预防理念。最初，预防意味着阻止溢出的石油涂在海滩和海岸上。探索在 1969 年、1971 年和 1973 年三场溢油会议上的演讲后，这种预防观念发生了变化，因为寻找有效方法的技术乐观满足了溢油清理的现实。到 1973 年，预防意味着在石油泄漏发生之前阻止它们。之所以出现这种快速的政策转变，是因为石油行业无法隐藏其技术失败根源的视觉证据。在本世纪，当决策者面对杀虫剂和温室气体等无形污染物时，