Geoengineering And Climate Denial

Geoengineering broadly refers to the use of sophisticated scientific techniques to deliberately make changes to the climate, for example to reverse the impacts of climate change or perhaps pull greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.

There have been a number of approaches theorized about how one could go about doing these things.   Many are based on sound principles and even seem practical from a logistical and economic perspective.  What we have virtually no insight about are the unforeseen and unintended consequences of taking such actions.  We are talking about large-scale tinkering with the global climate system which could lead to unexpected changes that could potentially be nearly impossible to reverse or control.  For this reason, scientists have been exceedingly cautious in exploring geoengineering even on a theoretical basis.  A common perspective is that addressing climate change with geoengineering would only be a last resort enterprise implemented under the most dire circumstances that we must try to avoid ever happening.

And thus, it is remarkable that the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology held a joint subcommittee meeting on November 8th on the topic of geoengineering.  The meeting was chaired by Congressman Lamar Smith, notably the author of a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece describing climate scientists as alarmists.  In his opening remarks at the November meeting, he stated that “As the climate continues to change, geoengineering could become a tool to curb resulting impacts.”

As denial of climate change becomes increasingly untenable, a troubling new narrative appears to be emerging in its stead.  The idea is that geoengineering can address climate change as an alternative to mandating the reduction of emissions and promoting the adoption of clean energy technologies.   This is an extremely dangerous game to play.

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Web Links

Climate Denier Lamar Smith: Geoengineering Can Curb Impacts of Climate Change

Photo, posted December 1, 2009, courtesy of Ryan Reilly via Flickr.

‘Geoengineering and Climate Denial’ from Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.