A White House report submitted to Congress this week recommends that moderate funding go toward geoengineering in an effort to fight climate change, says The New York Times.
“The document, an update of a report that lays out a plan for climate-related research at 13 federal agencies until 2021, calls for studies related to the two most-discussed approaches to geoengineering: distributing chemicals in the atmosphere to reflect more heat-producing sunlight away from the earth, and removing carbon dioxide from the air so the atmosphere traps less heat,” says the Times.
Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax and many of his staffing picks have expressed similar doubts and reservations. But even many scientists who believe in man-made climate impacts worry about geoengineering, saying there could be unintended consequences to tinkering with the elements or that countries could eventually use the technology as a weapon. Meanwhile, environmentalists fear that geoengineering will distract from efforts to lower carbon emissions.