Richard Branson and the Solution to Global Warming

I love seeing people get into the fight against global warming. Richard Branson, the British billionaire, is offering a $25 million prize to anyone who can come up with a nonpolluting solution to global warming. The solution needs to remove at least a billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.

I spotted this offer over on Slashdot, and so had to go to the original article to see what it said.

Branson is working quite hard on this topic, and dedicating some serious money to the cause. Good to see from someone with that kind of money. It’s not just the $25 million reward. It’s the $3 billion he has pledged to help fight global warming. That’s dedication, even from a billionaire.

I love watching these kinds of contests. It may well take more than the $25 million dollar prize is worth to come up with a solution, but this kind of thing really spurs a lot of people to make efforts they might not otherwise. Just look at the people who competed for the X Prize.

Is it possible that someone will come up with a solution? Certainly not immediately. At best it will take years. But just the incentive to get people to investigate the options is a wonderful thing.

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