New GAO Report Offers Familiar Conclusions

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a final report stemming from the House Science and Technology Committee's inquiry on climate engineering begun in 2009 (for more, see More Momentum for Geoengineering, 11/1/10). The new GAO Technology Assessment delivers hopeful but familiar findings:

• Climate engineering is not currently an option for addressing climate change.
• Most climate experts support a major research effort.
• The public is open to climate engineering research, but with reservations.

These conclusions are hardly groundbreaking, but they do indicate growing establishment support for a federal role in climate engineering research. Indeed, there is already evidence that this report is having salutary effects in wider circles. The next major report on climate engineering research is due to arrive this fall from the Bipartisan Policy Center.