Putting the “geo” in engineering could screw up the “geo” in politics.

‘Plan A’ Still on the Table

Scientists have warned for decades that our dependence on fossil fuels is the root cause of global warming and to slow the warming we’ll need to wean ourselves off of them and ramp up low-carbon technologies.

Flash forward to 2011. Fossil fuels are still king and the last 10 years have been the warmest on record. If a low-carbon economy is slowly emerging, it’s too small and nascent to count on now. What’s to be done? For some, the answer is Plan B.

‘Plan B’: Geoengineering

Instead of treating the root cause of global warming — emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases