Climate change policies at both the national and international
levels have traditionally focused on measures to mitigate
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to adapt to the actual or
anticipated impacts of changes in the climate. As a participant in
several international agreements on climate change, the United
States has joined with other nations to express concern about
climate change. However, in the absence of a national climate
change policy, some recent technological advances and hypotheses,
generally referred to as "geoengineering" technologies, have
created alternatives to these traditional approaches. If deployed,
these new technologies could modify the Earth's climate on a large
scale. Moreover, these new technologies may become available to
foreign governments and entities in the private sector to use
unilaterally-without authorization from the United States
government or an international treaty-as was done in the summer of
2012 when an American citizen conducted an ocean fertilization
experiment off the coast of Canada. The term "geoengineering"
describes this array of technologies that aim, through large-scale
and deliberate modifications of the Earth's energy balance, to
reduce temperatures and counteract anthropogenic climate change.
Most of these technologies are at the conceptual and research
stages, and their effectiveness at reducing global temperatures has
yet to be proven. Moreover, very few studies have been published
that document the cost, environmental effects, sociopolitical
impacts, and legal implications of geoengineering. If
geoengineering technologies were to be deployed, they are expected
to have the potential to cause significant transboundary effects.
In general, geoengineering technologies are categorized as either a
carbon dioxide removal (CDR) method or a solar radiation management
(SRM) method. CDR methods address the warming effects of greenhouse
gases by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. CDR
methods include ocean fertilization, and carbon capture and
sequestration. SRM methods address climate change by increasing the
reflectivity of the Earth's atmosphere or surface. Aerosol
injection and space-based reflectors are examples of SRM methods.
SRM methods do not remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, but
can be deployed faster with relatively immediate global cooling
results compared to CDR methods. To date, there is limited federal
involvement in, or oversight of, geoengineering. However, some
states as well as some federal agencies, notably the Environmental
Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture,
and the Department of Defense, have taken actions related to
geoengineering research or projects. At the international level,
there is no international agreement or organization governing the
full spectrum of possible geoengineering activities. Nevertheless,
provisions of many international agreements, including those
relating to climate change, maritime pollution, and air pollution,
would likely inform the types of geoengineering activities that
state parties to these agreements might choose to pursue. In 2010,
the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted provisions calling
for member parties to abstain from geoengineering unless the
parties have fully considered the risks and impacts of those
activities on biodiversity. With the possibility that
geoengineering technologies may be developed and that climate
change will remain an issue of global concern, policymakers may
determine whether geoengineering warrants attention at either the
federal or international level. If so, policymakers will also need
to consider whether geoengineering can be effectively addressed by
amendments to existing laws and international agreements or,
alternatively, whether new laws and international treaties would
need to be developed.
General
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