[Terrapreta] More observations on June Issue of Scientific American

[Ron Larson]

1.  This is to follow up on several recent terrapreta messages on the very short piece Scientific American on biochar (p39).  There is nothing new here, although it is good to see the report again on biochar coming up at the ACS meeting.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=in-brief-jun-08


2.  I especially liked an informative article by John Broome on differing ethics/economics approaches to climate topics.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-ethics-of-climate-change
    The connection to biochar is indirect - but important.  I am now more convinced than ever that we on this list should only be using low discount rates when we present economic arguments.  This is ethics trumping economics.

3.  There is also a short one-pager on p40 by regular columnist Jeffrey Sachs on a world food crisis:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=surging-food-prices
    He argues for four measures, the third of which is calling for more ag R&D - a measure that will help biochar a lot.  Sachs doesn't directly mention biochar, but my guess is that he will become an important supporter, if we can get his attention.

4.  The Editors don't mention biochar either in their opinion 1-pager "perspectives" on p 39.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=climate-fatigue&page=2
    But they do mention the upcoming Hansen Science article.  They provide strong SciAm support for the Broome article - and the need for stronger, faster action on climate.  For some reason the original Perspectives title was "Climate Fatigue", and was changed on the web to "Why Grassroots Initiatives Can't fix Climate Change".  I guess they were trying to put more pressure on the three US presidential candidates, even while expressing concern that "fatigue" may be setting in.  
    I find this particular editorial important because, like Hansen, they are emphasizing the need for speed.  This is an editorial worth quoting.  But I would take issue about their possible putdown of "grassroots initiatives".  We "grass-rooters" on this list can be important at this time by being supportive of the need for action by bigger actors (national governments) - as Sachs and Broome are also calling for.  Talking to our elected reps is an important part of what we can do, even while we make technical progress until governments catch up.

Ron
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