http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20171029/political- scene-house-panel-is-nations-first-to-study-geoengineering
Poster's note : apologies for ruined formatting; please read online Political Scene: House panel is nation’s first to study ‘geoengineering’ Prev, HIDE CAPTION Frias HIDE CAPTION Price HIDE CAPTION Edwards HIDE CAPTION Raimondo HIDE CAPTION Fung HIDE CAPTION Frias HIDE CAPTION Price Next By Patrick Anderson <[email protected]> Journal Staff Writer By Katherine Gregg <[email protected]> Journal Political Writer Posted Oct 29, 2017 at 6:37 PMUpdated Oct 29, 2017 at 6:37 PM <http://www.providencejournal.com/#facebook> <http://www.providencejournal.com/#twitter> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fprovidencejournal.com%2Fnews%2F20171029%2Fpolitical-scene-house-panel-is-nations-first-to-study-geoengineering&title=Political%20Scene%3A%20House%20panel%20is%20nation%27s%20first%20to%20study%20%27geoengineering%27> The brainchild of Rep. Justin Price, R-Richmond, the study commission would not be chasing conspiracies, but looking into the real-life economic and environmental impacts of technologies that may be closer to being used than people think. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — If the federal government is pumping chemicals into Earth’s atmosphere through the contrails of jet planes, members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives might be the first to know. Earlier this year, state lawmakers approved the creation of a first-in-the-nation legislative committee to study “geoengineering.” That means altering the natural environment with technology. Postulated by some researchers as a potential strategy to combat global warming, geoengineering also features in a number of elaborate and so-far unsubstantiated online theories about clandestine airborne spraying and secret biological agents. Formally named the “Special Legislative Commission to Study the Establishment of Procedures to Regulate and License the Intentional Manipulation of the Global Environment Through Geoengineering,” the committee is the brainchild of Rep. *Justin Price*, R-Richmond. It followed a bill Price introduced earlier in the year to regulate a wide variety of geoengineering technologies including “planetary sunshades,” “glacier-reflecting blankets” and “CO2-eating plastic trees.” Price is aware that concerns about geoengineering are often associated with Internet conspiracies, particularly the idea that the white water vapor trails that streak across the sky behind jet planes contain potentially hazardous chemicals or “chemtrails.” In a phone interview, Price said the study commission would not be chasing conspiracies, but looking into the real-life economic and environmental impacts of technologies that may be closer to being used than people think. “Anything that is chemtrailing, that is not what we are talking about here,” Price said. “Some of these activities with geoengineering encompass many technologies and methods that can be hazardous to the economy and environment. We will study how this can impact the state of Rhode Island and see what the experts say.” But could chemtrails be real? “I don’t want to say ‘Yes, it is happening; no, it is not happening,’” Price said. “We are going to study this. ... We want Rhode Island to be prepared to deal with it.” The majority of geoengineering activities identified by the study committee involve experimental strategies — such as solar radiation management, cloud whitening and solar shields — for reversing the effects of climate change. Asked who is involved in these things, Price offered the work of Harvard University physics professor *David Keith*, whose book “A Case for Climate Engineering” discusses how dispersing reflective sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere could block a portion of the sun’s warming rays. A more down-to-earth subject on the commission’s list, and one with a potential Rhode Island connection, is ocean fertilization, which involves techniques to make water more hospitable to marine life and aquaculture, or reverse the effects of ocean acidification. As it happens, the effects of ocean acidification are the subject of an existing study commission, chaired by House Majority Whip *John Edwards*, D-Tiverton, of which Price is a member. Lawmakers are typically given substantial leeway to pursue studies, which often end with no legislative impact. The House resolution to create the geoengineering committee passed unanimously. “The speaker has no opinion on the issue,” said *Larry Berman*, spokesman for House Speaker*Nicholas Mattiello*. “It was important to Representative Price that the issue be studied.” No commission members have been appointed yet. 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Two deal with high-profile proposals — the legalization of marijuana and the creation of a line-item veto. Others were created to study police vehicle seizures; pesticide control regulations and recycling in multifamily buildings. Some commissions have grand ambitions, like the Senate commission to study “creation of a world-class education system.” Others, like the Rhode Island Sailing Events Commission and the Commission to Study Raw Milk Regulations, have narrower goals. Others include: a Joint Commission to Study an Early Intervention System for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children; House Commissions to Study Implementation of a Food Recovery Incentive Program, changing school start times, Rhode Island’s Minimum Pricing Statutes, Construction of a Gulf War Veterans Memorial, and Construction of a Veterans of Invisible Wounds Memorial. There are also Senate Commissions to Study Raw Milk Regulations; the Updating, Streamlining, and Ensuring the Relevance of Rhode Island General Laws Title 16; and the Advisability of Rhode Island Joining the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. Only the marijuana legalization, school start time and food recovery incentive commissions have started their work. *Polling on Raimondo* Gov. *Gina Raimondo* is in a precarious political position heading into 2018, according to a poll conducted by John Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, for GoLocalProv.com. GoLocalProv headlined the story: “Raimondo’s Polling Numbers in RI Are Second Lowest Only to Trump’s.” Among the Oct. 9-11 findings, according to GoLocalProv: “Raimondo’s job performance has a combined excellent/good of 34 percent [while] 61 percent of Rhode Islanders score her performance fair/poor. ... Most concerning for Raimondo and her team is that just 6 percent rate her performance as excellent and 31 percent rate her performance as poor,″ GoLocalProv reported. Democrat Raimondo was elected with 40.7 percent of the vote in what was essentially a three-way race in 2014. *Gubernatorial rematch* The day after Republican Cranston Mayor *Allan Fung* launched his second run for governor, “Smart Politics″ — a nonpartisan political news site founded by Dr. Eric Ostermeier at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs — weighed in on potential rematches. Highlights: “A Smart Politics review of Rhode Island gubernatorial elections <http://editions.lib.umn.edu/smartpolitics/2017/10/25/fung-vs-raimondo-ii-a-history-of-rhode-island-gubernatorial-rematch-elections/> finds that unsuccessful major party nominees seeking rematches have won just 5 of 25 contests since statehood, with only five attempts over the last 100+ years. “Successful rematch campaigns were launched by Jeffersonian Republican Nehemiah Knight in 1817 (against Federalist William Jones), Democrat John Davis in 1890 (versus Republican Herbert Ladd), Ladd in 1891 (against Davis), Republican Christopher Del Sesto in 1958 (against Democrat Dennis Roberts), and Democrat Bruce Sundlun in 1990 (versus GOPer Edward DiPrete).” But Rhode Island history buff and Republican National Committeeman *Steven Frias* says the analysis missed Theodore F. Green’s 1932 defeat of Norman Case, who had defeated Green two years earlier. Frias sees little value in counting unsuccessful gubernatorial rematches that include 19th-century elections, since Rhode Island’s governor had little authority back then. The governor was elected annually until 1912. Frias’ political math: Since 1912, there have been two unsuccessful Rhode Island gubernatorial rematches: 1988 (Sundlun v. DiPrete) and 1998 (York v. Almond). Since 1912, there have been three successful Rhode Island gubernatorial rematches: 1932 (Green v. Case), 1958 (DelSesto v. Roberts), and 1990 (Sundlun v. DiPrete). “Therefore, during this more modern era of Rhode Island gubernatorial elections, the gubernatorial challenger won a rematch 60 percent of the time.” *Jerzyk leaving job* State House lawyer/political activist *Matt Jerzyk* is leaving one of his two current jobs. Since January 2014, he has been the city solicitor for Central Falls, under a $150-an-hour contract that caps his pay at $7,000 a month, $84,000 a year. His current State House job: House Majority Leader *K. Joseph Shekarchi*’s $117,279-a-year legal counsel. In response to a Political Scene inquiry, Central Falls Mayor *James Diossa*’s chief of staff, *Joshua J. Giraldo,* explained Jerzyk’s arrangement with the city: “While capping the Solicitor’s billing to $7,000 per month equates to about 12 hours a week, Matt typically works above and beyond that. His scheduled office hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at City Hall.” In fiscal 2017, Jerzyk was paid $78,000 by the city, “with no health benefits, no pension benefits and no additional compensation of any kind,″ Giraldo said. His state job: Jerzyk was hired as the speaker’s deputy legal counsel in November 2014, and then became the majority leader’s legal counsel in December 2016. “He works at least 35 hours per week,″ according to House spokesman Larry Berman. “On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays he arrives at 1 p.m. and works until late in the evening, especially when the House is in session.” “After declining the chief legal counsel job last month,″ Jerzyk expects to “transition out of his legal counsel job in the House″ so he can spend more time with his wife and four young children. O <http://www.providencejournal.com/reader-services/newsletters> -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. 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