The antics of ETC Group have attracted a lot of (negative) attention over the past few weeks, but other environmental groups are displaying exemplary openness to the idea of geoengineering. NRDC just released an excellent report titled "Biochar: Assessing the Promise and Risks to Guide U.S. Policy." The report is cautiously supportive of biochar, declaring that "biochar production systems clearly merit further investigation and support as one of many promising technologies in the global energy-climate mix." The authors advocate a $107.5-$145 million US federal research program over eight years. NRDC was also an active participant at Asilomar. EDF, for its part, is a co-sponsor (along with the Royal Society and TWAS) of the SRM Governance Initiative, or SRMGI. This initiative is currently considering a range of governance options for SRM research, and will host a major conference on the subject in March 2011.
Contrast these positive contributions to the clownish behavior of ETC Group. Earlier this year it launched a bizarre assault on biochar (see "Attack on Biochar," 9/1). Then came the infamous CBD moratorium. Two days ago ETC Group staged a press conference titled "False Solutions to Climate Change: Nuclear, Coal, Geoengineering and CDM Funding." ETC Group may be getting the press, but it is thankfully becoming marginalized in the process.
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