The Cold War and the Apollo Program were not pursued in the expectation of profiting from software spinoffs, LED lighting,CAT scanners, cell phones and microwave popcorn.
Although the consequences, physical and economic, are global, one sees little societal complaint about the unregulated outcome of this research , though many profit from it and more aspire to do likewise. On Saturday, August 24, 2013 12:46:23 PM UTC-4, Ken Caldeira wrote: > > Al Gore is not opposing geoengineering research because he wants to profit > off of climate change, as suggested by Eugene. > > Asserting this is as nutty as asserting that people commonly support > geoengineering research because they hope to profit off of the technologies > developed. > > Let's try to be more generous in our attribution of motives. > > > _______________ > Ken Caldeira > > Carnegie Institution for Science > Dept of Global Ecology > 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA > +1 650 704 7212 [email protected] <javascript:> > http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab @kencaldeira > > Assistant: Sharyn Nantuna, [email protected] <javascript:> > > > > > On Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 9:41 AM, <[email protected] <javascript:>>wrote: > >> Somewhat confusing and very tough! It is generally believed that the >> monetary investment return (my choice based on your use of the terms >> portfolio and type) of research if there is a return is at least 20 years. >> I suspect that for global warming research the financial investment return >> delay would be much longer. In contrast the return on development is much >> earlier and more certain but it is too early for development. I suspect >> that few here will make a personal financial investment. The personal >> investment is related to career and how large is also personal. Governments >> seldom make financial investments unless politics is part of the equation. >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From: *"Simon Driscoll" <[email protected] <javascript:>> >> *To: *"Ken Caldeira" <[email protected] <javascript:>> >> >> *Cc: *"Salif KONE" <[email protected] <javascript:>>, >> [email protected] <javascript:> >> *Sent: *Saturday, August 24, 2013 12:09:59 PM >> *Subject: *RE: [geo] Al Gore on geoengineering >> >> >> "If we take a portfolio view, the question is how large and what type of >> investment should we be making in solar geoengineering research." >> >> Agreed. >> >> ________________________________________________ >> >> Simon Driscoll >> Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics >> Department of Physics >> University of Oxford >> >> Office: +44 (0) 1865 272930 >> Mobile: +44 (0) 7935314940 >> >> http://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/contacts/people/driscoll >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* [email protected] <javascript:> [[email protected] <javascript:>] >> on behalf of Ken Caldeira [[email protected] <javascript:>] >> *Sent:* 24 August 2013 17:09 >> *To:* Simon Driscoll >> *Cc:* Salif KONE; [email protected] <javascript:> >> *Subject:* Re: [geo] Al Gore on geoengineering >> >> >> >> There is a pleasing simplicity to answering a question as if it were a >> binary, but I suppose if you got these people in a room and spoke with them >> quietly, the question could not be answered with a yes or no, but rather >> with an expression of what kind and how much. >> >> If we take a portfolio view, the question is how large and what type of >> investment should we be making in solar geoengineering research. I suspect >> that even Al Gore and Ray Pierrehumbert would favor some climate modeling, >> strategic analyses, etc. 'Small and limited' is not as catchy 'they're >> just crazy' as a rhetorical device. Sometimes the will to entertain >> supercedes the need to make a nuanced point. >> >> >> On Saturday, August 24, 2013, Simon Driscoll wrote: >> >>> Salif, >>> >>> my belief is that he suggests other avenues are far more sensible and >>> that this avenue isn't one to seek a solution from, hence his: "We >>> shouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about them. Some people will anyway, >>> but they’re just crazy." Admittedly, it's quite full on, albeit similar >>> sentiments have been echoed before by some of the world's most prominent >>> scientists/policy researchers etc., e.g.: >>> "In delivering the prestigious Tyndall Lecture at the annual American >>> Geophysical Union meeting last December, he said the idea of putting >>> sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere was “barking mad.” Pierrehumbert also >>> rejects the value of doing field experiments. “The whole idea of >>> geoengineering is so crazy and would lead to such bad consequences, it >>> really is pretty pointless. We already know enough about sulfate albedo >>> engineering to know it would put the world in a really precarious state. >>> Field experiments are really a dangerous step on the way to deployment, and >>> I have a lot of doubts what would actually be learned.”" >>> >>> It seems that Tim Palmer holds the belief that impressions will change a >>> lot when models become better (although he doesn't use a comparable tone): >>> "the >>> nations of the world should come together to fund the sort of >>> supercomputers that would allow us to simulate the climate of the coming >>> century with much greater reliability than is currently possible. The >>> impact that this will have for mitigation, adaptation and geoengineering >>> policies is likely to be enormous.", and so on. >>> >>> Al Gore does discuss other things he think may bring about solutions >>> though - just not involving SRM in any way. >>> >>> And anyway, it seems quite obvious that there exists no necessary >>> condition for a statement involving the pointing out of what an individual >>> considers to be a major obvious issue/flaw to be coupled with a solution, >>> no? >>> >>> Simon >>> >>> ________________________________________________ >>> >>> Simon Driscoll >>> Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics >>> Department of Physics >>> University of Oxford >>> >>> Office: +44 (0) 1865 272930 >>> Mobile: +44 (0) 7935314940 >>> >>> http://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/contacts/people/driscoll >>> ------------------------------ >>> *From:* Salif KONE [[email protected]] >>> *Sent:* 24 August 2013 15:19 >>> *To:* Simon Driscoll; [email protected] >>> *Subject:* Re: [geo] Al Gore on geoengineering >>> >>> I do disagree with this Al Gore' statement " ...We shouldn’t waste a >>> lot of time talking about them. Some people will anyway, but they’re just >>> crazy.". He exposes the problems without proposing a solution; >>> Geo-engineering is trying to find a solutin through techniques as SRM... >>> >>> **************************************************** >>> *Salif KONE, * >>> M.Sc.Université Joseph Fourier/OSUG Grenoble/ >>> UniversitéMontpellier II, 2007. >>> *Enseignant* à l’Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs >>> Abderrhamane Baba Touré (ENI-ABT) >>> Adresse: 410 Av. Van Vollenhoven BP.: 242, Bamako-Mali. >>> *PhD Student*(Oct. 2011- present), ISFRA-Bamako. >>> Tel.:+223 76 39 60 09 / +223 64 59 67 99 >>> BP.:7048, Bamako-Mali. >>> Email:[email protected] >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> *De :* Simon Driscoll <[email protected]> >>> *À :* "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >>> >>> *Envoyé le :* Vendredi 23 août 2013 21h20 >>> *Objet :* [geo] Al Gore on geoengineering >>> >>> Al Gore: "Let me deal with the geoengineering part of your question >>> first. That’s complex because there are some benign geoengineering >>> proposals like white roofs or efforts to figure out a way to extract CO2 >>> from the atmosphere , though no one has figured out how to do that yet. But >>> the geoengineering options most often discussed, like putting sulfur >>> dioxide into the atmosphere or orbiting tinfoil strips — these are simply >>> nuts. We shouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about them. Some people will >>> anyway, but they’re just crazy. >>> >>> To the broader part of your question, innovation is already playing a >>> major role in bringing about new potential solutions to the climate crisis. >>> The tech world had a bitter experience after the burst of enthusiasm in >>> 2005 and 2006 because of a perfect storm made up of four elements: First, >>> the great recession, which had a huge, destructive impact on business >>> generally. Number two, the Chinese juggernaut, which subsidized the >>> production of several prominent renewable energy technologies to the point >>> where their sales price fell below the price of production in the West. >>> Third, the shale gas boom dropped the retail price of electricity to levels >>> below what many renewable energy plans needed to be viable. And fourth >>> there was the policy failure I mentioned earlier in the U.S. Senate and >>> Copenhagen. And all the while there was this massively funded climate >>> denier campaign by the Koch Brothers and Exxon-Mobile and others that hired >>> tobacco industry veterans to work with them on consumer advertising and >>> lobbying activities. >>> But that setback was only temporary because reality has a way of >>> reasserting itself. There has been a 100-fold increase in the number of >>> extreme, high-temperature events around the world in the distribution >>> curve. And people have noticed for themselves — the rain storms are bigger, >>> the droughts are deeper and the fires are more destructive. All of these >>> things have not escaped notice and people are connecting the dots. The >>> cumulative amount of energy trapped by manmade global warming pollution >>> each day in the earth’s atmosphere is now equal to the energy that would be >>> released by 400,000 Hiroshima bombs going off every 24 hours. It’s a big >>> planet, but that’s a lot of energy. >>> The consequences are now hard to escape. Every night on the news, it’s >>> like a nature hike through the book of revelations. Eleven states today are >>> fighting 35 major fires! People are noticing this. And simultaneously >>> they’re noticing the sharp drop in the cost of carbon-free, greenhouse >>> gas-free energy, and the combination is pushing us over this political >>> tipping point and the trend is unstoppable." >>> >>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/21/ >>> al-gore-explains-why-hes-optimistic-about-stopping-global-warming/ >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "geoengineering" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >> >> >> -- >> _______________ >> Ken Caldeira >> >> Carnegie Institution for Science >> Dept of Global Ecology >> 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA >> +1 650 704 7212 [email protected] <javascript:> >> http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab @kencaldeira >> >> Assistant: Sharyn Nantuna, [email protected] <javascript:> >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "geoengineering" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<javascript:> >> . >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
