trans-pond discussions

[Greg Rau]

SCIENCE: U.S. and U.K. lawmakers to study geoengineering proposals (11/06/2009)

Lauren Morello, E&E reporter
Lawmakers in Congress and the United Kingdom's Parliament will work together to examine geoengineering, members of the legislative bodies said yesterday.
News of the U.S.-U.K. partnership comes amid increasing interest in geoengineering approaches, which many scientists say are a potential "Plan B" to cool the planet in case sharp cuts in greenhouse gas emissions fail to stave off dangerous warming.
The chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), announced the collaboration yesterday at his committee's -- and Congress' -- first hearing on geoengineering.
"We are faced with the stark reality that the climate is changing, and the onset of impacts may outpace the world's political and economic ability to avoid them," said Gordon.
The U.S. lawmaker said his panel will conduct another two to three hearings over the next eight months to examine scientific, engineering, ethical, economic and governance aspects of geoengineering.
Meanwhile, the U.K. House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee announced a new inquiry into whether developing and deploying geoengineering would require new British or international regulations.
The plan, leaders of the two panels said, is to share their findings over the next several months. Gordon also said he has invited the head of the British panel, Phil Willis, member of Parliament, to testify at a congressional hearing next spring.
The search for a 'Plan B'
"Both committees are eager to work together," Willis said in a statement yesterday. "A subject such as geoengineering which potentially affects the whole planet is an ideal subject on which to work collaboratively with the U.S. Congress."
Scientists and experts who testified yesterday at the House hearing said more research into geoengineering's potential benefits and drawbacks is urgently needed, echoing the broad conclusions of a recent report by the U.K. Royal Society and a statement by the American Meteorological Society.
"Is there a 'Plan B' in your pocket, or is it empty?" said Alan Robock, a climate scientist at Rutgers University. "We need to know that, and we don't know that yet."
Take one of the most-discussed geoengineering options, shooting sulfate particles into the atmosphere to mimic the cooling effect of a volcanic eruption.
Scientists say the 1991 Mount Pinatubo blast suggests the approach could effectively turn down the global temperature dial. The natural volcanic eruption sent sent 10 million tons of sulfur into the stratosphere and cooled the Earth's surface by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit for about a year.
But witnesses at yesterday's hearing said sulfate geoengineering is far from a slam-dunk. The Mount Pinatubo eruption also disrupted the African and Asian monsoons and depleted the ozone layer. And even if we wanted to start shooting sulfur into the atmosphere today, despite the potential environmental risks, we don't have the technology to do it.
"How do we get the aerosols into the stratosphere?" said Robock. "There's no way today to do it."
Big ideas with unknown risks
John Shepherd, the University of Southampton professor who led the Royal Society report, said that we also lack the capability to track the effects of many geoengineering schemes, meaning it would be difficult or impossible to surmise whether they actually worked.
"Geoengineering is not a magic bullet," he said. "None of the methods that have been proposed provide an easy or an immediate solution to the problem of climate change."
But experts also said the world can't afford to ignore geoengineering.
"Climate change poses a real risk to Americans," said Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science. "The surest way to reduce this risk is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide."
But while Caldeira said he believes society will eventually embrace "the clean energy system of the future," it will take time to transition from burning fossil fuels. And that's when climate change may become serious enough that the world might turn to geoengineering.

"The problem," he said, "is too serious to allow prejudice to take options off the table."