"he refers to injecting reflective particles into low Earth orbit as one of the most discussed geoengineering ideas. .. He says SRM would be too expensive and would interfere with spacecraft."
I thought he said "one of the classic ideas" or something like that, and then said only that that particular approach would be too expensive and interfere with spacecraft. I wonder whether he really conflated mirrors-in-orbit with SRM in general, or whether it just looks that way in a short clip. On Apr 9, 4:46 am, "Alvia Gaskill" <[email protected]> wrote: > http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews;_ylt=AgWN.UaI3bpVBdthMQx.sxJdRJ... > > Here is part of the actual video of the interview with Holdren by Seth > Borenstein. In it, he refers to injecting reflective particles into low > Earth orbit as one of the most discussed geoengineering ideas. It is not. > He does seem to be aware of some of the generic arguments for and against > SRM. He says SRM would be too expensive and would interfere with spacecraft. > The other article I posted indicates he has a crude and possibly inaccurate > understanding of aerosol formation and effectiveness. I don't expect all > people at the senior policy level to be conversant with all aspects of these > technologies, but his mixing up and confusion of these ideas concerns me, > especially given the low level of understanding of journalists, leading to a > "blind-leading-the-blind" scenario when the time comes to explain this to the > public. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: David Keith > To: [email protected] ; [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] ; geoengineering > Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 11:22 PM > Subject: [geo] Re: John Holdren puts geoengineering on the table > > I think this comment is (a) factually incorrect and (b) unhelpful. Holdren > has know about this and paid attention for some time, certainly since before > we held the 2007 Harvard meeting. I talked with him in the fall on this > topic. I don't think it's fair to say that he was "backed into a corner". > Further, I can think of several senior folks in DC who take geoengineering > seriously. (Heck, I am there twice in the next few weeks on the topic.) I > think over-statements like this do more harm than good. > > -David > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Schnare > Sent: April 8, 2009 8:37 PM > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected]; geoengineering > Subject: [geo] Re: John Holdren puts geoengineering on the table > > Holdren, unlike folks in the environmental advocacy community, can be > backed into a corner. Holdren is not stupid and he is not an advocate, so he > has to answer the question asked, rather than spin any response into the "on > message" screed. Thus, he said the least that he could get away with. > > Holdren actually understands the moral dilemma of rejecting AGW or > admitting it is too late to "fix" the problem through carbon emissions > reductions policies alone. > > I don't find any more support from Holdren than we have seen from Hawkins. > > I repeat what I have written to this group before. You have no friends in > Washington, D.C. (i.e., the government). > > David Schnare > > On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 1:10 PM, Alvia Gaskill <[email protected]> wrote: > > Not much different than what he said in the Hot Planet documentary. Joe > Romm misrepresented Holdren's views on this in an article he write late last > year by selectively truncating a quote Holdren made about the use of > geoengineering. What he actually said was the same as in these articles. > We can't take any option off the table. The problems with air capture > extend beyond just cost also. It continues to amaze me how journalists > still don't grasp the concept of aerosol precursors. I guess it's like > teaching a dog to make a phone call. It can be done with great difficulty, > but you still can't have an intelligent conversation. > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/08/obama-global-warming-plan_n_... > > Obama Global Warming Plan Involves Cooling Air > digg Huffpost - Obama Global Warming Plan Involves Cooling Air stumble > reddit del.ico.us ShareThisSETH BORENSTEIN | April 8, 2009 11:55 AM EST | > > WASHINGTON - The president's new science adviser said Wednesday that global > warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical > technologies to cool Earth's air. > > John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being > confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being > discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles > into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays. Holdren said such an > experimental measure would only be used as a last resort. > > "It's got to be looked at," he said. "We don't have the luxury of taking any > approach off the table." > > Holdren outlined several "tipping points" involving global warming that > could be fast approaching. Once such milestones are reached, such as > complete loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic, it increases chances of > "really intolerable consequences," he said. > > Twice in a half-hour interview, Holdren compared global warming to being "in > a car with bad brakes driving toward a cliff in the fog." > > At first, Holdren characterized the potential need to technologically tinker > with the climate as just his personal view. However, he went on to say he > has raised it in administration discussions. > > Holdren, a 65-year-old physicist, is far from alone in taking geoengineering > more seriously. The National Academy of Science is making climate tinkering > the subject of its first workshop in its new multidiscipline climate > challenges program. The British parliament has also discussed the idea. > > The American Meteorological Society is crafting a policy statement on > geoengineering that says "it is prudent to consider geoengineering's > potential, to understand its limits and to avoid rash deployment." > > Last week, Princeton scientist Robert Socolow told the National Academy that > geoengineering should be an available option in case climate worsens > dramatically. > > But Holdren noted that shooting particles into the air _ making an > artificial volcano as one Nobel laureate has suggested _ could have grave > side effects and would not completely solve all the problems from soaring > greenhouse gas emissions. So such actions could not be taken lightly, he > said. > > Still, "we might get desperate enough to want to use it," he added. > > Another geoengineering option he mentioned was the use of so-called > artificial trees to suck carbon dioxide _ the chief human-caused greenhouse > gas _ out of the air and store it. At first that seemed prohibitively > expensive, but a re-examination of the approach shows it might be less > costly, he said. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kelly Wanser" <[email protected]> > To: "geoengineering" <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 11:52 AM > Subject: [geo] John Holdren puts geoengineering on the table > > >http://www.startribune.com/nation/42671837.html > > > Obama science adviser: Global warming so dire, we may need to tinker > > with Earth's atmosphere > > > Associated Press > > > WASHINGTON - The president's new science adviser said that global > > warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing drastic > > options to cool Earth's air. > > > John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since > > being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate > > is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting > > pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's > > rays. Holdren said such an experimental measure would only be used as > > a last resort. > > > As he put it: "It's got to be looked at. We don't have the luxury of > > taking any approach off the table." > > > --------- > > Kelly Wanser > > <br > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
