Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of

the upshot: what is to be done? S 209
The presidential commission will need to carefully consider
other bold ideas. Peter Barnes, for example, has proposed the creation
of an Earth Atmospheric Trust based on the recognition that
the atmosphere is a public commons (Barnes, 2006; Barnes et al.,
2008). Use of the commons as a depository for greenhouse gases
would be auctioned, with the proceeds going to a quasi-independent
agency and at least partially redistributed back to the public,
the owners of the commons. As the cap for emissions was lowered,
the Trust would generate increasing revenues to help the public
pay for the transition. There are other ideas to better harness
and coordinate science with federal policy. One such proposal is
to create an “Earth Systems Science Agency” by combining the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and the U.S. Geological
Survey to better collaborate with NASA. The new agency
would be “an independent federal agency . . . with direct access
to the Congress and Executive Offi ce of the President, including
the Offi ce of Science and Technology Policy and the Offi ce of
Management and Budget” (Schaefer et al., 2008, p. 45). The larger
goal is to better align earth systems science with the creation and
administration of public policy at the highest level as rapidly as
possible.
Further, I propose the creation of a council of elders to advise
the president, Congress, and the nation on matters of long-term
signifi cance relating to climate. 3 The group would be appointed
by the president with the advice of the National Academy of Sciences,
the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
and the American Bar Association, as well as civic, religious, academic,
business, philanthropic, and educational groups. It would
consist of persons who are distinguished by their accomplishments,
wisdom, integrity, and record of public service, not just by
their wealth. Their role would be, as the Quakers have it, to speak
truth to power, publicly, powerfully, and persistently. The Council
of Elders would be given the resources necessary to educate,
communicate, commission research, issue annual reports, convene