Letter: Beware of geoengineering

28 March 2025

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The recent Bangor Daily News article on the Woods Hole geoengineering experiment was informative and balanced. I am a retired environmental scientist and was stunned by the fact that the scientific team who designed the experiment apparently did not have the curiosity to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that would result from the project even though they did admit that should be the ultimate goal.

In an ideal world, sodium hydroxide would be made from solar or wind energy and the transportation from the factory to the sea would be done with EV’s and Eboats. That said, I support the concept because if we continue to acidify our oceans we will end up with mass extinctions and destruction of the ecosystem that sustains all of life.

We should, however, be suspicious of geoengineering. The fossil fuel industry loves to promote it because it implies that we can burn every last molecule of fossil fuel. Drill baby drill, the scientists and engineers will save us from the consequences. What could possibly go wrong?

Tom Mikulka

Cape Elizabeth

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