Climate Change

[ZNPaaneah]

Some people are saying that carbon scrubbers that remove carbon dioxide from the air is the only solution.

The technology has been in use for many years.

However, the cost would run (most optimistic estimate) around $1 trillion per year.

That sounds like a lot, even if it were fairly shared by every country on earth.

However, if the carbon were converted to oil and gas it could easily be a break even technology -- the world market for oil and gas is several trillion dollars a year.

There is a technology that does that which is algae.

I suspect it is more expensive than drilling for oil, otherwise we would be doing it on a much greater scale than simply the R&D of today.

So a good approach for the US is not to throw billions after some technology that will wind up in private hands, nor is it to invest in non economic technology that is not ready for prime time. We have govt grants for research in these areas. Instead you could design tax policy to reward the use of renewable energy and begin taxing the burning of fossil fuel. The carbon tax could be focused on whether or not the source was renewable or not. We do this already encouraging the use of recycled paper and plastic.