Climate Change Delusion

Meanwhile, let me pass on a little anecdote. DATELINE: Mayfield Village, Ohio on a frosty fall Sunday morning in the year 2002. It is about 9:00 AM, the sky is crystal clear, it is dead calm and there is frost on the ground in this certain church parking lot in a wooded area adjacent to a county park. Nearby is an abandoned gas well that has been leaking slowly for years. The amount of leaked gas has not been enough to prompt any action by any state or local government agency or oil company, despite repeated complaints. So, people grumbled and put up with the occasional gas odor.
Enter one church goer in his Olds who parks his car and gets out to have a quick smoke before going into church. He uses a match to light up and flicks the match into the gravel parking lot. KA-F-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-M! A blue sheet of flame races across the parking lot and scatters the church goers in a frantic dash to get out of the way.
The gas well was soon quickly sealed. Imagine that. But it took a near disaster to get any action. So, you can see why I have no confidence in underground storage schemes that could span decades.

Oh, yes. I'm not arguing with the technology. But my years of church going has taught me that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Set up a test site. Tell the people there that you want to store a tasteless, odorless gas underground (and under pressure?) that has the potential to kill them.

Seriously, where are you going to store CO2 and who accepts the liability and who pays for it? These are not just technical questions. These are political and economic issues that have to pass muster with a whole boatload of people before it becomes reality. My cynicism is not with the technology per se. It is with the pragmatic issues that surround the technology that could have a devastating impact on people and the environment if it goes awry.