Dear Colleagues, Last night I attended CNN's Climate Town Hall, and asked my Senator Cory Booker a question about solar geoengineering research. You can see it starting at 27:44 on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHIMD2E6DgE&list=PL29Rq0wvBhgOcY9ew5490FwzT5U5N6CqT&index=11&t=0s He immediately called me "Sir," and said he did not know anything about it, but would find out. Today Rutgers got an email from his office asking for more information and I will explain what it is and why we need more resources for research.
I did not intend to embarrass him. I submitted the same question to CNN to be asked of all 10 candidates, and they decided to invite me and have me ask it of my own Senator. I spent 4 hours in the audience listening to Biden, Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, O'Rourke, and Booker, and was the last person to ask a question. It was a long time, but very interesting. Mine was the only geoengineering question. Booker referenced one, and it must have been to one of the four other candidates who appeared before my 4 hours. The other interesting email I got today was the one below. How do you recommend I answer? My plan is to say that appearing there would give legitimacy to a "debate" about settled science. I have not debated global warming deniers for years now for this reason. Alan Alan Robock, Distinguished Professor Associate Editor, Reviews of Geophysics Department of Environmental Sciences Phone: +1-848-932-5751 Rutgers University E-mail: rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu<mailto:rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu> 14 College Farm Road http://people.envsci.rutgers.edu/robock New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551 USA ☮ http://twitter.com/AlanRobock -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: INVITATION: Sept. 23 Debate on Global Climate Change and Need for Action Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 13:11:59 +0000 From: Jim Lakely <jlak...@heartland.org><mailto:jlak...@heartland.org> To: rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu<mailto:rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu> <rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu><mailto:rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu> Dr. Robock, [NOTE: This letter is sent on behalf of Frank Lasée, president of The Heartland Institute.] In the wake of your excellent public performance on CNN last night, The Heartland Institute would like to invite you to participate in an interactive discussion and debate on climate change in New York City on September 23 in conjunction with the United Nations Climate Action Summit. The goal of the Heartland Institute event is to broaden public knowledge about the most important and most discussed issues related to climate change. The event will feature up to five climate experts and policymakers who warn of an imminent climate crisis, and up to five climate experts and policymakers who are skeptical of an asserted crisis. Each evenly matched side will be given equal time to make their case in a live event streamed globally on YouTube. Each participant will be given time to make an opening statement as well as answer questions posed by a moderator. One participant from each side will be allowed to present a final summary. We welcome suggested questions from each side. The moderator’s questions may also include: • Does the world really have just 12 years left to radically transform our lifestyles and energy sources to prevent unstoppable and catastrophic climate change? • Will melting glaciers release cataclysmic ancient diseases? • How have United Nations climate models fared in their temperature predictions? • How much of the observed warming is caused by people and how much is caused by nature? • Is climate change making extreme weather events more frequent and severe? • Is climate change causing a refugee crisis? • Is observed climate change already harming food production? • What observational evidence would induce you to change your current position on the causes and consequences of climate change? • Would action by the United States or Western democracies have much impact without substantial reductions from China and other rapidly developing nations? • Is it possible for scientists with differing views to cooperate together rather than form isolated camps? The Heartland Institute will cover all of your travel expenses and will contribute $1,000 to the charity of your choice in lieu of a personal honorarium. We hope this event will provide a valuable public service by increasing public knowledge on key climate change issues and also bringing together scientists from all perspectives to facilitate greater future cooperation and scientific advancement. Regards, Frank Lasée President The Heartland Institute EMAIL SENT BY: Jim Lakely Director of Communications The Heartland Institute 3939 North Wilke Road Arlington Heights, IL 60004 o: 312-377-4000 f: 312-277-4122 c: 312-731-9364 -- 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 geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/d18c8eaf-fd05-2fbe-8de8-fb90b6ac745f%40envsci.rutgers.edu.