Fears that the mere mention of geoengineering might undermine support for emissions reductions appear to be unfounded

News: Top science body calls for geoengineering ‘plan B’

MOST people and nations now recognise the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous climate change. However, there is a growing fear that this fragile support for action could be at risk because geoengineering – the large-scale manipulation of the environment to counteract climate change – is now receiving serious attention from scientists, policy-makers and the media.

This is sometimes referred to as the “moral hazard” argument. It holds that even discussing geoengineering …