The US government has approved funds for geoengineering research
20 December 2019 |by James Temple |MIT Technology Review |
“..The program includes assessments of “solar climate interventions,” including “proposals to inject material [into the stratosphere] to affect climate.”
The $1.4 trillion spending bills that Congress passed this week included a little-noticed provision setting aside at least $4 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct stratospheric monitoring and research efforts. The program includes assessments of “solar climate interventions,” including “proposals to inject material [into the stratosphere] to affect climate.”
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the sweeping appropriations bills today.
In a related move, Congressman Jerry McNerney of California introduced a bill yesterday that would enable NOAA to set up a formal program to carry out this climate intervention research.
The full text of the bill isn’t yet available, and McNerney’s office didn’t immediately respond to inquiries from MIT Technology Review. But the primary aims would include improving our basic understanding of stratospheric chemistry, and assessing the potential effects and risks of geoengineering.
The legislation would also grant NOAA oversight authority to review and report on experiments proposed by other research groups, says Kelly Wanser, an advisor on geoengineering research efforts and executive director at SilverLining, who consulted with McNerney’s office on details in the bill.
A growing number of academic research groups are exploring various ways to cool the planet as the threat of climate change grows, including injecting reflective particles into the stratosphere or spraying salt water into the sky to brighten coastal clouds.
But there are concerns that using such tools could have dangerous environmental side effects, and that even suggesting them as solutions could ease pressure to cut the greenhouse-gas emissions driving climate change.
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ZG Editors Note: The article above incorrectly states the “US government has for the first time authorized funding to research geoengineering…”
The US and other world governments have, and continue to, fund geoengineering and weather modification schemes, without required informed public consent, oversight, or safety regulations.
The Federal Weather Enterprise Fiscal Year 2019 Budget and Coordination Report – Agency Funding