Russ George: The World's First Rogue Geoengineer

Geoengineering: Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF)

Russ George dumps iron in the Pacific Ocean with his Haida Salmon Restoration Project. A very large subsequent algae bloom was spotted on satellite. Outrage ensues followed by scientific studies.

The so-called ‘Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation’ (HSRC) claims it dumped 100 tonnes of iron particles into the Haida Eddy of the north-east Pacific Ocean to produce an artificial plankton bloom, even though the practice is prohibited by globally agreed moratoria and Canadian law. The CEO of HSRC, John Disney, claims that several Canadian government agencies – including Environment Canada – were apprised of HSRC’s ocean fertilization plans before deployment. Canada’s Environment Minister says an investigation is underway and the dump would be illegal if it indeed happened.

“This dump is a blatant violation of global moratoria established by the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity [CBD] and the International Maritime Organization,” says ETC Group’s Jim Thomas, from Montreal. “The fact that we’re hearing this news while governments, including Canada, are meeting in India [at the CBD] to discuss global oversight of geoengineering should significantly up the urgency of that discussion. Back home, Canada needs to come clean about how Disney’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ operation got away with such a serious violation and what it’s going to do about it.” [1]

An American businessman made waves last month when, without asking permission, he dumped a bunch of iron sulfate into the Pacific Ocean to launch a carbon-sequestering geoengineering experiment. With these sorts of Earth-hacking ideas being floated, what's to stop a man with the means from doing it himself? [2]