US EPA

7336520 

Meetings & Symposia 

Preparing for the worst: The case for solar geoengineering research and oversight 

Crandall, BS 

2019 

American Institute of Chemical Engineers 

2019 AIChE Annual Meeting 

2019-November 

English 

As global carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the looming threat of a climate crisis is becoming a growing concern. To avoid the intensification of geo-political, health, economic, and environmental risks, the world may begin considering more drastic measures to address climate change. One of these drastic measures that has been discussed is solar geoengineering. This strategy involves taking measures to intervene with the earth's climate by modifying the planet's albedo. A variety of key conflicts and concerns related to the prospect of solar geoengineering will be considered in this work. These concerns include the potential of a research echo chamber that may occur in this esoteric field which could amplify false notions, the existence of a fine line between solar geoengineering research and implementation, a lack of understanding of the risks associated with this technology, and the possibility of rogue actors implementing solar geoengineering unilaterally. Additionally, the issue of termination shock (if solar geoengineering efforts were to abruptly stop following implementation) will be addressed along with the possible conflation of the climatic effects of climate change with the effects of solar geoengineering. Finally, the lack of public understanding about solar geoengineering technologies and the moral hazard of replacing efforts to reduce emissions with solar geoengineering efforts will be discussed. Policy recommendations to address the growing interest in solar geoengineering include mechanisms to prioritize climate change mitigation and adaptation, to promote federally funded research, to establish international oversight, to encourage transparency, and to fill the legal void. It is critical for the U.S. to prioritize climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies prior to advancing federal solar geoengineering efforts to avoid being accused of a moral hazard. This prioritization should be accomplished by rejoining the Paris Agreement as soon as possible and enacting policy to achieve the goals established by the international treaty. A road map will be needed to generate robust climate change policies that will strive to attain the Paris Agreement goals. It is suggested that a bipartisan “Green Deal” framework consisting of the commonalities between the Green New Deal and Green Real Deal be constructed. If these efforts fail to address climate change and solar geoengineering is needed, the establishment of international oversight is critical to ensure multilateral deployment. It is recommended that the previously established United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) perform annual risk evaluations on the implementation of solar geoengineering. It is also recommended that a U.S. Federal Solar Geoengineering Research Program be created to gain a better understanding of this emerging technology. The DOE's Office of Science should oversee this program by providing research grants to universities and national laboratories. Additionally, NASA and NOAA would provide their satellite resources to aid research efforts while the EPA would provide environmental impact assessments to ensure all environmental risks are minimized during experimentation. It is critical for solar geoengineering research to be transparent to prevent public backlash. This should be accomplished via improved public education and the establishment of national and international research clearinghouses. Finally, the solar geoengineering legal void should be filled by outlawing unilateral action outside of the IPCC's oversight framework and expanding international environmental impact assessment law. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers. All rights reserved. 

Carbon dioxide; Environmental impact; Environmental impact assessments; Environmental Protection Agency; Environmental regulations; Global warming; Health risks; Laws and legislation; NASA; Risk assessment; Risk management; Carbon dioxide emissions; Climate change mitigation; Climate change policies; Emerging technologies; International researches; International treaties; Policy recommendations; United nations intergovernmental panel on climate changes; Earth (planet)