Doerr’s crusade on global warming

When John Doerr spoke at the Ted conference in March, he broke into tears at the end of a 20-minute talk about global warming.

We heard from some participants that the speech was moving.

The talk is on YouTube, and is worth watching. Doerr summarizes what large companies like Wal-Mart can do, what governments can do (citing California’s emission-capping legislation, but more, such as geothermal policy), what entrepreneurs can do (make “designer bugs” for biofuels, for example) and what citizens can do (sign up for carbon neutral programs, or otherwise help policy leaders).

China will pump 22.9 gigatons of greenhouse emissions by 2050, up from 3.3 gigatons, which would be catastrophic. We can’t tell them to stop, because we’re emitting seven times what Chinese do on a per capital basis. In other words, we’ve got to start at home to take urgent measures, to set an example and start pushing urgent measures internationally.

(Hat-tip to Dan Primack)

In separate but related: A Russian scientist, Yury Izrael, says a sulfur-based aerosol sprayed into the atmosphere at a height of 10-14 kilometers (six to 10 miles) could reflect the sun’s rays, and help slow down global warming. (Update: This guy is controversial, as you’ll find out from a quick Google search, and his Wikipedia entry. He has denied global warming is a problem.)