Wanna Make a Quick $25 Million?

That didn't take long. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's report on global warming came out last week, I wrote, "What we need here is an Apollo project to not only reduce carbon emissions drastically, but also to filter carbon from the atmosphere." Either I'm much more influential than I thought I was or I was stating the obvious.

Associated Press:

Sir Richard Branson on Friday announced a $25 million prize for the scientist who comes up with a way to extract greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, comparing it to the 17th-century quest to revolutionize navigation by determining longitude.

The Virgin Group chairman was joined by former Vice President Al Gore and other leading environmentalists as he announced the challenge to find the world's first viable design to capture and remove carbon dioxide from the air.

A landmark report by the world's leading climate scientists and government officials, published in Paris last week, warned global warming will continue for centuries, creating a far different planet in 100 years.

I'm guessing I was stating the obvious. I've got a lot of work to do; I figure if you take the vacuum cleaner and duct-tape a furnace filter to it...

Tags: news | politics | science | UK | global warming | environment | pollution | Al Gore | Richard Branson