WE FIGURED THIS WOULD BE A MORE EFFECTIVE WAY TO COOL THE PLANET THAN HANGING A REALLY, REALLY HUGE CEILING FAN FROM THE MOON

Who says the Bush administration favors "junk science"? This is from Saturday's Guardian:

The US government wants the world's scientists to develop technology to block sunlight as a last-ditch way to halt global warming, the Guardian has learned. It says research into techniques such as giant mirrors in space or reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere would be "important insurance" against rising emissions, and has lobbied for such a strategy to be recommended by a major UN report on climate change, the first part of which will be published on Friday....

... Possible techniques include putting a giant screen into orbit, thousands of tiny, shiny balloons, or microscopic sulphate droplets pumped into the high atmosphere to mimic the cooling effects of a volcanic eruption. The IPCC draft said such ideas were "speculative, uncosted and with potential unknown side-effects"....

Hmmm.

Hey, I've got it -- how about a rotating crew of astronauts holding up those reflective screens you put in the windshield of your car on a hot day? I bet that would work.

(Via DU.)