To the extent that an increased salmon catch was due to OIF, the Haida experiment turns the usual CDR issue on its head. Instead of a CDR idea looking for any possible economic justification to bring it over the line into financial feasibility, this would be a financially feasible aquaculture technique with a potential add-on subsidy from carbon pricing. Has anyone compared what the Haida spent vs. what the salmon industry got out of it, to calculate a rough ROI? (Allowing for a range of estimates of how much was due to OIF*). I can easily imagine a bunch of fishermen in a Ketchikan bar swapping stories about what a great season they had because of the Haida project, then talking about subsidizing this money-maker with carbon credits. ‘Slippery slope’ arguments are usually used to warn against GE research (e.g. Hamilton’s ‘No, Let’s Not “Just Do The Research”) but there is a slippery slope in carbon pricing too. The carbon prices cited by environmental advocates as sufficient to change the energy system quickly would be far higher than those required to get many CDR schemes into action, including ones like OIF that are anathema to many of the most vocal supporters of carbon pricing. And if an OIFapproach can already make money unsubsidized for existing, and influential, economic interests then investment will flow to it. If you support a strong carbon price - and that’s the organizing principle of climate change advocacy across the board - you may already pulling an oar in this particular rowboat, even if you hate the idea.
Which is OK by me. But perhaps the people who so annoy Tulip say the things they do because they figured this out too. Any suggestions of other fisheries that might be amenable to this approach? Clearly most species do not gather at as convenient a feeding-trough as a Haida Eddy, but surely there are some. *Of course how effective the Haida OIF was as CDR is a separate issue. > -- 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/d/optout.
