Page 270 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

would operate in tandem as a kind of planetary thermostat? “Trying to see that far
into the future is crazy, of course” (232) (Broecker and Kunzig’s words, not mine).
How can we comprehend such proposals? It may be common for people liv-
ing in close proximity to the megalopolis—for example, just off Broadway—to
see the sky as an open sewer and try to “fix it.” Bus exhaust, steam vents, fumes,
and foul odors serve as constant reminders that something is indeed wrong with
the sky. Fly into a major city near or after sunset, and you will see, on approach,
streams of red taillights and white headlights of opposing traffic. Stand on the
street, perhaps daring to cross, and you will see the grim visages of oncoming
drivers or the tailpipes and exhaust plumes of the passing traffic. In such a dense
infrastructure, when almost every building is air-conditioned, it is not hard to
imagine a future in which every tenth building might in fact be a giant outdoor
air filter or an inverse chimney. To put it simply, when you see pipes sticking out
everywhere, it is not hard to imagine more pipes—good pipes correcting emis-
sions from the bad pipes.
Today’s city dwellers, especially the influential ones, do not choose to spend
much time on crowded, dangerous, and uncomfortable streets. Instead, they
shuttle between microtopian environments, from air-conditioned vehicles to air-
conditioned buildings, and even to air-conditioned shopping malls and sports
arenas. Near Washington, D.C., certainly a city known for both its international
influence and its need for air-conditioning, the power brokers always wear busi-
ness suits to signal their status and their unlimited access to HVAC. The tun-
nels running under Capitol Hill and into the Library of Congress symbolize this,
as does Pentagon City, across the Potomac River in nearby Virginia, which is
known for its underground warrens where not only can the air be conditioned,
but Muzak can be pumped in and the homeless can be kept out. This is the type
of “environment” in which most of our decision makers operate.

recycling ideas

In the twenty-first century, geoengineers have convened several meetings, regu-
larly exchange views on Google Groups, and continue to hatch, nurture, and
recycle their ideas. In September 2001, the U.S. Climate Change Technology
Program quietly held an invitational conference on “response options to rapid
or severe climate change.” Sponsored by a White House that was officially skepti-
cal about greenhouse warming, the meeting gave new status to the control fanta-
sies of the climate engineers. According to one participant, however, “If they had
broadcast that meeting live to people in Europe, there would have been riots”—a

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