What To Do If Emissions Cuts Flop?

Fatalistic yet realistic WSJ op ed poses Q: “Emissions Cuts Will Fail to Stop Climate Change. What to Do Then?” While focus is on more bank-breaking ideas for “cooling” the earth, how about properly prepping our coastlines?

As the author notes, prominent applied scientist Nathan Muyhrvold has “outlined the possibilities for ‘geo-engineering’ to cool the Earth and remove CO2 from the atmosphere.” Mr. Myhrvoid, we’re assured, “is concerned about climate change [only] he’s a scientific realist who thinks the shibboleths on the subject – embodied in such documents as the Paris Agreement of 2016 – are misbegotten.” Mankind, he argues, “isn’t capable of reducing emissions enough to keep temperatures from rising unacceptably.” Enter Mr. Myhrvoid’s geo-engineering alternative, i.e., using “human interventions in the Earth’s natural systems to thwart or neutralize climate change.” He goes on to detail the devilishly creative idea, largely “scorned by policy makers” & no doubt much merit lies therein.

But, the Q here is whether the devil in geo-engineering solutions aren’t the same devil in our current emissions cutting mania? That is, BANKRUPTING COST WITH NO PROVEN SOLUTION IN SIGHT? If so, might we repeat the WSJ’s key Q? What to do then? Maybe start seriously thinking along those lines?

Davd Soul