PRESS/SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE
– Climate Engineers Seek Techno-fix As Global Negotiations Get Underway
June 2, 2009
By ETC Group, Biofuelwatch and Earth's Newsdesk, a project of EcoInternet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu's speech last week advocating painting rooftops and roadways white to reflect sunlight may be yet another attempt to test the international waters on the controversial subject of geoengineering [search].[1] “We need an unequivocal statement from the White House that the U.S. Government is not green-lighting geoengineering in the run-up to Copenhagen,” said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group, an Ottawa-based civil society organization monitoring new technologies. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meets in Denmark this December; UNFCCC subsidiary bodies are meeting this week and next in Bonn, Germany. “Benign as a new planetary paint job may appear, white rooftops may be the thin edge of the wedge – a technology that seems harmless but that opens the door to riskier geoengineering schemes,” suggests Mooney.[2] Geoengineering refers to the intentional, large-scale manipulation of the earth's environment, primarily to counteract the effects of climate change.
Read More “RELEASE: Geo-Engineering and Biochar: White Roofs, Black Dust and Slippery Slopes” »