HR: 09:00h
AN: U41D-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Connecting Carbon Sequestration Science With Policy
AU: * Folger, P F
EM: pfolger@crs.loc.gov
AF: Congressional Research Service, 101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20540, United States
AB: Is science ready for carbon sequestration policy? Interest in carbon sequestration as an option for decreasing CO2 emissions, or reducing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, is accelerating in Congress, and legislation is being introduced that includes some form of direct or indirect carbon capture and storage. In many respects carbon sequestration is an ideal opportunity to connect science and engineering directly to policy solutions. For Earth scientists, it involves reservoir characterization using geology and geophysics, multi-phase fluid flow studies, measuring carbon sinks and sources, modeling carbon fluxes between the ocean, land surface, and atmosphere, exploring the long-term behavior of carbon in oceans and forests, and a host of other scientifically interesting topics. For policy makers, the science will need to connect with their questions about long-term reliability of geological reservoirs, environmental protection of ground water resources and human health, ownership of pore space and liability for stored CO2, efficacy of conservation tillage and other land-use practices for carbon storage, accuracy of measuring carbon uptake in trees, plants, and soils, and other issues that matter in a carbon-constrained world where CO2 is tallied and traded by the tonne. Are policy makers well- informed, misinformed, or uninformed about the level of scientific knowledge and uncertainty, for example, regarding the long-term behavior of carbon sequestered in deep saline reservoirs, northern boreal forests, Iowa soils, or in the Southern Ocean? Carbon sequestration is an opportunity for scientists to inform policy makers in real-time, and a chance for policy makers to tap a rich body of knowledge before setting long-term policy.
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 1605 Abrupt/rapid climate change (4901, 8408)
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 4805, 4912)
DE: 6304 Benefit-cost analysis
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting