Posted on 05/27/2009 9:30:16 AM PDT by Zakeet
President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming.
Professor Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, said the unusual proposal would mean homes in hot countries would save energy and money on air conditioning by deflecting the sun's rays.
More pale surfaces could also slow global warming by reflecting heat into space rather than allowing it to be absorbed by dark surfaces where it is trapped by greenhouse gases and increases temperatures.
In a wide-ranging discussion at the three-day Nobel laureate Symposium in London, the Professor described climate change as a "crisis situation", and called for a whole host of measures to be introduced, from promoting energy efficiency to renewable energy such as wind, wave and solar.
The Nobel Prize-winning physicist said the US was not considering any large scale "geo-engineering" projects where science is used to reverse global warming, but was in favour of "white roofs everywhere".
He said lightening roofs and roads in urban environments would offset the global warming effects of all the cars in the world for 11 years.
"If you look at all the buildings and if you make the roofs white and if you make the pavement more of a concrete type of colour rather than a black type of colour and if you do that uniformally, that would be the equivalent of... reducing the carbon emissions due to all the cars in the world by 11 years – just taking them off the road for 11 years," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Q: Know the difference between the United States of America - and the Boy Scouts?
A: The Boy Scouts have adult leadership.
Too much time on the opium pipe.
white roof? thats racist
From where do these folks keep finding these wing-nuts?????
How convenient.. Global warming was caused by black roofs. Urban heat islands..
So now they do some stupid carbon cap n trade and paint roofs white. Global warming is finally announced as over.
Ta da.. PBO is a hero.. What a crock.
It's trapped by greenhouse gases if it's absorbed by the roof, but those same gases don't trap it if it bounces off the roof.
Either me or this writer is seriously confused about physics.
Correct, I think Chu is a whack job. Bears watching.
But, wouldn't black roofs attract more heat from the sun in the winter? I guess Obama thinks everyone lives in Africa.
You would have to paint it twice a year, then. My homeowners’ association will not be happy about this.
I noticed on the Telegraph comments and many made by lefty posters on sites often end with “peace” or “peace out”. This is evidently the moonbat ID signature of “I’m a moron”.
I think the thinking behind this is people should paint their roofs white so that they don’t run their air conditioners as often, thereby using less electricity from coal fired electric plants.
This stoke of genius is surely worthy of a second Nobel Prize for Chu.
Where is the whack-job alert?
It just gets dumber and dumber.
LoL! No doubt. Obama will pass a law that makes everyone paint their roofs every spring and fall.
The shingles were Rustic Black.
Gee, so when is he going to suggest that each of us just holds our breath as much as we can to limit CO2 release into the atmosphere??????????????
Here in Sun City Hilton Head, where Pulte (the developer) has four poeple on the 7 person board and fully controls it, our neighborhoods, our surrounding community and basically our lives, would never allow this. We have our rules here and we cannot break them. Thank heavens for strong covenants! Now I don’t have to tell the (to-be-appointed-soon-probably) Obama roof czar he’s nuts, Pulte will do it for me. /sarc
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