Perspectives on NAS Report Recommending a Federal Research Program on Sunlight Reflection

---

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences recently published a new report, "Developing a Research Agenda and Research Governance Approaches for Climate Intervention Strategies that Reflect Sunlight to Cool Earth," in which it recommended a robust, interdisciplinary, multi-agency research program for the United States alongside cooperative international efforts. Following the report's publication, scientific experts, policymakers, and other stakeholders shared commentary on climate risk, climate justice, the need for this research, the importance of the report, and the details of the proposed NAS framework to pursue a robust research agenda on solar climate intervention. Here is a sampling of what they said.  

"While climate mitigation is essential, as the National Academy of Sciences report details, it is also critical that we conduct the research needed to fully understand the scope of near-term climate response tools that may be helpful to ensure a safe climate for all." 

— Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA-9) (Press Release, 3/25/21)

"America needs to be on the cutting edge of climate research. More knowledge is always better." 

— Rep. John Curtis (R-UT-3) (New York Times, 3/25/21)

"Innovative solutions that can help accomplish this [climate crisis] should be looked into and studied." 

— Vedant Patel, White House spokesperson (New York Times, 3/25/21)

"It is very well thought out, without any preconceived notions, and a very timely and prudent approach. The critical unknown issues have been identified, and more importantly, emphasis has been put on the crucial need for mitigation and adaptation at the same time." 

— Youba Sokona, a climate scientist from Mali and the vice chair of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (HuffPost, 3/25/21)

"A great deal more research is needed to understand the risks and benefits of climate interventions." 

— Sarah Doherty, atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington and program director of the Marine Cloud Brightening Project (Science, 3/25/21)

“It is not so much playing with fire as it is researching fire, so that we understand it well enough to deploy, if necessary....Sometimes you have to examine very risky options when the stakes are as high as they are with climate change.″ 

— Waleed Abdalati, former NASA chief scientist (Associated Press, 3/25/21)

"The US solar geoengineering research programme should be all about helping society make more informed decisions." 

— Chris Field, climate scientist at Stanford University and lead author of the NAS report (The Guardian 3/25/21)

"It's important to understand the full suite of responses to climate change, given how close we are to catastrophic risks."

 — Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists and NAS report committee member (Reuters, 3/25/21) 

"Solar geoengineering is a last-ditch, Hail Mary, to counter unacceptable climate warming. No team plans to be down 7 points in the 4th quarter with 10 seconds on the clock and 50 yards to go, but teams practice the Hail Mary just in case. " 

— Marcia McNutt, President, National Academy of Sciences (Twitter, 3/25/21)

Related Content