On Monday, I noted in
that a failure in Copenhagen would strengthen the would-be geoengineers, some of whom--like the Russians--are already starting to fire sulfates into the air in field trial experiments. Well, there has been a failure--or at least, a very weak agreement--in Copenhagen. Expect to hear more and more talk about geoengineering as this ongoing climate policy mess--now two decades old--continues and continues and continues. I am not in favor of geoengineering, but I am in favor of geoengineering research--and pragmatic solutions. And if the policy process can't deliver a global cutback in emissions sufficient to avert "dangerous anthropogenic" climate change, then I think geoengineering has to be in our toolkit as a last option. Unfortunately.