Go Beyond Green

Green has become a reactionary force on climate issues in recent years by pushing simplistic
and ineffective solutions for the energy and climate crises. Geoengineering is a word they fear
so much they deny its very existence.

Geoengineering means looking beyond special interests or national interests
to human ecology and the needs of the biosphere.

This means disqualifying any solution that cannot be applied quickly on a global basis.

This greatly simplifies the problem,
there are very few solutions that most countrys can afford.
Today's proposals are well beyond the means of even the United States.
And it is beyond wishful thinking to hope that prices will soon fall an order of magnitude.

Space based sunshades and atmospheric sulfates are not attractive solutions
but the are not the only ones offered.

My favorites are weather modification and kite based wind power.

We need to find and test only those systems that can be globally applied,
If we really want to save our children.

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Comment by mike fallwell on November 11, 2008 at 8:10am: I think the prospects are more hopeful than that in Australia, ML.
Simply demonstrating a way to end their drought should stir some interest.
The money issues will sort themselves out, its a big pie.

Comment by ML Hayes on November 10, 2008 at 9:16pm: Mike,
I have been studying International politics, aka International relations for about thirty years. One thing that is as plain as the nose on your face is that there is nothing keeping nations from destroying each other but the likelihood of mutual destruction.

Global anything is commercial in the terms of trade. Buying and selling between nations is conducted differently between any two nations and almost all nations have multiple trading partners. If this sounds like it is getting complicated, then you are on target. The point being that global trade is the most political activity that you can get engaged in.

In short, getting your product isn't as easy as driving down to the docks and picking it up. I won't go into the ins & outs because there are too many variables, but this is the state of world affairs. Established traders dictate the rules and slant them to their favor. Piracy is alive and well. Not all of that activity happens on the high seas. The pen is mightier than the sword and the hand on the pen will send you craddle to the highest bidder baby and all for a penny more per unit of measure.

I hope that you don't feel like I am being overly pestimistic, because global trade is a reality, but global initiatives are nearly impossible to conduct. Private companies conduct collaborations by unifying expertise under a single administrative manager, then sub-contracting the project management to specialists for progressive completion to the venture is completed.

Changing that kind of methodology on a global basis may be being a bit optimistic. The technology you favor has merit, in my opinion but if you really want to get the nations shooting at each other you but to look at the results of the African Climate change tragedy. Darfur, Somali, Kenya, the list is long and pathetic. Climate change is at the root of the migrations that have set tribe against tribe and sealed the fate of about ten (10) million people in the past six to eight years.

We need bridging technologies that can and will get us from where we are now to where you think we need to be. Part of that assumption (by myself) about 'bridging' is employment of natural gas to convert commercial distribution from petro-fuels (gasoline and diesil). That is the Pickens Plan. It is a stop gap to get the bridge to the future under construction.

The nation can afford a great deal more than we give ourselves credit for. Private investment backed by government guarantees are a sure fire solution for getting something done and employing large numbers of people in the process. Sustanability isn't just a ecological term, it also applies to the economics of employment. To see an example of that concept, just look at how long the automotive industry has been feeding at the government trough.

Prices are a matter of supply and demand. In this case, not enough of either. Artificail stimiluses won't convice very many to pay more for the same amount of value. Convincing a global population to support any initiative would be difficult unless the technology solved some problems that interested the authorities in power

It would seem that this puts us back where we started. The future of our destiny is in our own hands, so we should consider restructuring our access to capital as a tool that we can utilize to get going.

More, later . . .