Media frenzy prompts White House clarification on geoengineering

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Source: New Scientist

John Holdren, the chief scientific adviser to Barack Obama, has had his first taste of what his new job entails: dealing with voracious journalists.

Formerly director of Harvard University's Science, Technology and Public Policy Program as well as of the Woods Hole Research Center, Holdren has felt the need to clarify his views on geoengineering after his first interview with the media was splashed all over the place with headlines that, he felt, went too far.

Holdren felt that the write-up of his interview with Associated Press implied that geoengineering the planet to combat climate change was under serious consideration by the Obama administration.

Not so, he says. The New York Times reports that Holdren responded in an email sent after the AP story was published:

I said that the approaches that have been surfaced so far seem problematic in terms of both efficacy and side effects, but we have to look at the possibilities and understand them because if we get desperate enough it will be considered. I also made clear that this was my personal view, not Administration policy.

Asked whether I had mentioned geo-engineering in any White House discussions, though, I said that I had. This is NOT the same thing as saying the White House is giving serious consideration to geo-engineering - which it isn't - and I am disappointed that the headline and the text of the article suggest otherwise.

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Read more: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/04/holdren-clarifies-the-white-ho.html

[bananas]

1. Joe Romm at Climate Progress also discussed this with John Holdren over email

Semi-exclusive: Science Adviser Holdren stands by his long-standing critique of geoengineering

Seth Borenstein of the AP caused a volcanic eruption yesterday with his interview of science adviser John Holdren, “Obama looking at cooling air to fight warming.” Too bad the story isn’t quite accurate, as Holdren confirmed in an e-mail to me today and a separate email to others (that the NYT’s Revkin published here).

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[jwirr]

2. What is geoengineering?

[Posteritatis]

3. Deliberate, rather than incidental, climate modification (nt)

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4. Engineering the planet.

Geoengineering is the idea of applying planetary engineering to Earth. Geoengineering would involve the deliberate modification of Earth's environment on a large scale "to suit human needs and promote habitability".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoengineering

Artificial modification of earth systems to counteract anthropogenic effects, such as increasing carbon dioxide uptake by fertilizing ocean surface waters or screening out sunlight with orbiting mirrors.

http://www.answers.com/topic/geoengineering

Loosely defined as the intentional large-scale manipulation of the global environment; planetary tinkering; a subset of terraforming or planetary engineering. Techniques proposed include sulfate cannons, space mirrors, and huge buckets of white paint.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Geoengineering