WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Barrasso , R-Wyo., renewed his effort to take a new look at combating global climate change. In his speech to the Senate, Barrasso stressed the importance of developing technology to remove existing excess green houses gases from the atmosphere and permanently sequester them.

The “Greenhouse Gas Emission Atmospheric Removal Act,” or GEAR Act, will establish an award system for scientists and researchers.

“Putting strict limits on our economy is not the answer to climate change,” Barrasso said. “A healthy economy that spurs American ingenuity makes more sense to me.”

“My proposal takes a new look at climate change. This approach removes excess greenhouse gasses already in the atmosphere. The GEAR Act aims to tap into human potential and the American spirit to develop the technological solutions we need to address climate change.”

Today, President Bush proposed halting growth in US greenhouse gases by 2025. In his speech at the White House, the President placed significant emphasis on new technology to battle climate change.

“I believe prizes can be a unique tool in creating technological development,” Barrasso added. “It only seems natural that if we get all the best scientific minds thinking about the same problem, we significantly enhance our chances of solving it.”

Historically, prizes have been used to spur all types of technological development to solve problems.

For example, the British Spitfire, the fighter plane that won the Battle of Britain was developed as a result of the Schneider trophy, a series of prizes for technological development.

Background
The program would be established by a federal commission under the Department of Energy. Commission members, appointed by the President, would be comprised of climate scientists, physicists, chemists, engineers, business managers and economists.

Awards will go to public and private entities that design technology to remove and permanently sequester greenhouse gases.

Awards would also be made for lab scale demonstration of technology that accomplishes the same thing.

There would also be an award for demonstrating technology to remove and permanently sequester greenhouse gases that is operational at a larger, working model scale, as well as for technology which demonstrates technology to remove and permanently sequester greenhouse gasses on a commercially viable scale.

Once the technology is developed, the United States would share the intellectual property rights with the inventor.