A debate on policy responses to global warming

Join one of three teams to advocate a particular response to global warming.  Each team will have two people to each make five-minute coordinated presentations making the case for their particular policy.  A third member will be designated to lead answering challenges from members of the other two teams, but all team members can help.  And there will be one or two challengers, each to lead the challenge of one of the other two positions.  The three positions will be:

1. We need mitigation.  We need a large investment in energy efficiency, conservation, carbon capture from fossil fuel power plants, and energy sources from wind and solar.  Also address nuclear power, and make the case either for or against current or more advanced nuclear power.  Discuss how to implement a carbon tax to make these options cost-effective and provide incentives for changing.  Discuss what kinds of government subsidies should be implemented.
   
   
2. We need adaptation.  Climate change is already happening and we need to protect ourselves from the changes.  There may be new technology available in the future, but now is not the time to waste our money on solutions which may be much cheaper in the future.  Discuss how much adaptation will cost and where the money will come from.
   
   
3. We need geoengineering.  We need technologies to block out sunlight (solar radiation management - SRM) to cool the climate and counteract global warming.  Discuss the needed research.  Discuss when and how SRM should be implemented, and the costs.  We also need carbon dioxide reduction (CDR) with carbon dioxide sucked out out the atmosphere and injected underground or under the oceans.

The schedule will be 10 minutes of the initial presentations, and then 10 minutes of challenges, 5 minutes from each of the other two teams.

Prepared by Alan Robock (robock@envsci.rutgers.edu) - Last updated on October 25, 2015