David Keith on Colbert discussing Geoengineering

Discussion in 'Contrails and Chemtrails' started by Strawman, Dec 9, 2013.

David Keith was on The Colbert Report last night, promoting his new book. It was interesting in that Keith was making clear that he wants to incite debate on options, even if they are ugly, like spraying sulfuric acid into the atmosphere.

Right at the end, Colbert mentioned contrails and asked whether this was already happening without anyone being told about it. Keith considered it unlikely. The whole bit took maybe ten seconds. Naturally, Colbert had the better on him, he always does, since he is amazing at interviews. There was no debate, Keith didn't get to explain the visual difference between contrails and sulfuric acid, nor the difference in height of application. The word "chemtrails" wasn't mentioned, but Colbert obviously picked up on popular culture and conspiracy and he got a good laugh out of it. Seeing how Colbert is basically playing a role, and he's not really choosy with what he throws at people in interviews, as long as it makes for a funny interview, it was all in good spirit.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/431083/december-09-2013/david-keith

Extracted from the Closed Captions:

(Cheers and applause)

>> Stephen: welcome to the report, everybody.

My guest tonight is a Harvard Scientist with a new book called A Case For Climate Engineering. That is how you end up with a Sharknado. Please welcome David Keith.

Mr. Keith, Dr. Keith what you have got. What you calling yourself?

>> David Keith: I'm good with Mr.

>> Stephen: Mr. Keith, okay, all right. You've got a little book here called a Case for Climate Engineering. How will we save the planet. Because all the people, all the chicken littles out there are saying the planet is warming up. You don't believe that do you.

>> David Keith: I totally believe it. It is warming up and I have been thinking about, along with many other people, ways to stop it.

>> Stephen: okay, does it involve me using one of those little pig-tail light bulbs?

>> David Keith: That is a useful thing to do. And I have those in my house. But I'm thinking about something else.

>> Stephen: okay, good what is the other thing because I would like to do anything other than that.

>> David Keith: Exactly.

>> Stephen: so what do we do?

>> David Keith: The other thing is horrifying. It is that you could actually spray sulfuric acid in the stratosphere 20 kilometers over our head and use that to stop the planet warming up. And it's an ugly tech fix.

>> Stephen: you can spray something into the atmosphere to change-- okay.

>> David Keith: spray pollution into the atmosphere to stop it warming.

>> Stephen: so in the end pollution saves them all. We owe pollution, we owe acid rain an apology is what are you saying.

>> David Keith: It would be a totally imperfect technical fix, it would have risks, it wouldn't get us out of the long run need to stop polluting, but it might actually save people and be useful.

>> Stephen: okay, again, I interrupted you slightly there. How does it work, you how many planes are we talking about here, how do you do this.

>>David Keith: let's say you wanted to stop it warming in 2020. You start with a fleet of just 2 or 3 kind of modified business jets.

>> Stephen: like a G6.

>> David Keith: that's it.

>> Stephen: like a G6.

>> David Keith: and you put say 20,000 tons of sulfuric acid into the stratosphere every year and

each year you have to put a little more and this doesn't in the long run mean that you can forget about cutting emissions. We will need to reign it.

>> Stephen: no, we'll get to it eventually. In the meantime we're shrouding the earth in sulfuric acid.

>> David Keith: So people are terrified about talking about this because they're scared that it will prevent us cutting emissions.

>> Stephen: right, and also that it is sulfuric acid.

>> David Keith: It is.

>> Stephen: is there any possible way this could come back to bite us in the ass? Blanketing the earth in sulfuric acid because I'm all for it. This is the all chocolate dinner. I still get to have my CO2 and I just have to spray sulfuric acid, right. All over the earth.

>> David Keith: Right question but we put 50 million tons of sulfuric acid in the air now as pollution. It kills a million people a year worldwide.

>> Stephen: that's good or bad?

>> David Keith: It's terrible

>> Stephen: but it will be better if we put more in.

>> David Keith: we're talking about 1% of that. A tiny fraction of that. So we should reduce that sulphuric acid emission

>> Stephen: but if it kills a million people ..

>> David Keith: It's bad

>> Stephen: we only do 1% more we're just killing 10,000 more people.

>> David Keith: you can do math, okay. But that's-- so killing people is not the objective here.

>> Stephen: killing people is not the objective. I just wanted to be clear.

>> David Keith: actually, slowing climate change, actually stopping climate change in a way that could help people this generation, people living now, in a way there's no other easy alternative.

>> Stephen: can you just do it for part of the planet.

>> David Keith: pretty much the whole planet.

>> Stephen: could you, just say like make things better for the United States?

>> David Keith: Very hard to do. It seems that this is mostly global but the big fear is that one

country will want it one way and one the other, like two frat boys argue over the thermostat and in many ways the biggest fear here, we have no idea how to actually agree about how to control the planet's thermostat.

>> Stephen: let's say the United States and China say yeah, let's do it but Russia and India say yeah, not do it.

>> David Keith: this is the kind of stuff i wake up sweating about. exactly.

>> Stephen: Well it's your goddamn idea.

>> David Keith: No, it actually turns out to be an old idea. This is known since President Johnson. And a [science?] that the community mostly decided not to talk about it for fear people would then lose the threat of cutting emissions.

>> Stephen: What what happen to its sulfuric acid after it is sprayed. Does it just stay up there.

>> David Keith: no, it rains down but as I said, it rains down. It's a tiny edition of what we're already doing.

>> have you gotten some grief for suggesting this?

>> David Keith: sure this is like writing a book about the case for leprosy.

>> Stephen: do you have one. Yeah, it's a great weight loss plan.

>> David Keith: But also many people are happy that people are finally talking about this because while it is ugly but does appear that it really could do some good.

>> Stephen: could an individual start this?

>>David Keith: in practice only a country.

>> Stephen: what about a man in like a hollowed out volcano with henchmen who occasionally shakes his fist at the sky and says they said I was a fool at Harvard. Who's the fool now!

(cheers and applause)

>> David Keith: it's a natural worry but i think in the end, no. This would be done by major countries but the problem is how countries agree about where to set the thermostat. Who decides. And my biggest reason for writing the book and for talking about it is my view that we won't make good decisions in ignorance.

>> Stephen: we have to have the discussion now so when it becomes our last hope, people can say hey, we talked about this, remember. We said we get to do it.

>> David Keith: the worst way to make decisions about this would be if we all agree that we won't talk about it in polite society, we suppress it which is basically what had been happening. And then in 2030 suddenly the crisis we make fast decisions.

>> Stephen: maybe it's happening already. Do you ever look at those planes up there, they have contrails behind them? Maybe all those planes with the contrails are spraying chemicals into the atmosphere right now and Uncle Sam isn't telling us.

>> David Keith: seems extremely unlikely. The fact is the government...

>> Stephen: the fact that the United States isn't telling something to its citizens? That seems extremely likely to me. Read the newspaper. I think they might have your idea already.

Thank you so much. David Keith, A Case For Climate Engineering.

We'll be right back.

Last edited by a moderator: Dec 10, 2013 2