
Turning the Tide on Climate Change with Green Sand Beaches [pdf] - mrnobody_67
https://projectvesta.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Project-Vesta-Green-Paper-v1.0.pdf
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omosubi
FYI, This was discussed a little while ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20403570](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20403570)

I do wonder about the effects on aquatic ecosystems and migratory birds/other
animals that use the beaches to nest.

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floatingatoll
Has anyone studied the wildlife effects (or lack thereof) of natural olivine
beaches? They seem healthy in travel magazine photos, but of course that’s no
substitute for science.

[https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/beach-
vacations/...](https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/beach-
vacations/worlds-green-sand-beaches)

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watertom
My first question is why don't they list the TWO independent accounting firms
that are auditing this non-profit?

I realize that not all states require nonprofits to conduct audits but this
seems like a wonderful area to scam people. "Buy this $300 necklace and save
the planet"

It's great on paper, but we find nonprofits mostly benefit the people running
them and very little of the money actually goes to the actions the nonprofits
claim to be undertaking. The science can be sound, and their intentions can be
honorable, but that doesn't mean that what they want to do is financially
viable, especially if the principles are paying themselves very high salaries,
which is typically what happens with nonprofits. I know a couple of multi-
millionaires who been running struggling nonprofits for years. It's funny how
the people running the nonprofit have done phenomenally well but their
nonprofits hardly do anything, modern day snake oil salesmen.

I would think that an organization trying to save the planet would want to be
make sure everything they do is transparent and above board.

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avip
It boils down to your opinion on
[https://farawayproject.org/](https://farawayproject.org/), under which they
operate. I thought faraway is a great idea, but maybe it's just another clever
tax loophole.

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_ntka
7 cubic km of olivine is a staggering amount. Makes you wonder whether the
effect of deploying the olivine would even offset the energy cost and CO2
emissions of extracting and moving around all that rock.

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thatswrong0
I would assume that the cost of extracting and moving is baked into that
number

Also, see
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407355](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407355)

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mrnobody_67
This sounds pretty viable, and very cost effective. Any climate scientists
want to chime in?

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thepangolino
A lot of geo engineering solutions sound way more cost effective than the
currently undertaken mainstream efforts. The issue with geoengineering is the
ethical questions it raises.

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devoply
Only if you are putting stuff into the atmosphere. If you are for instance
removing CO2 to sequester it, no one should bat an eye. Same if you put a
bunch of green sand somewhere. Really no price should be too high to pay to
prevent global warming. It will be a problem which will cost literally
trillions of dollars if we don't fix it.

~~~
naravara
The ethical questions are more along the lines of what kind of ecological
damage or habitat destruction you’re doing.

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Gravityloss
Hmm so olivine is $25 per ton while coal is $50 per ton. Assuming a roughly
equal amount is needed to offset, it could work, increasing energy price by
about 50%?

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helkafen
There is no viable roadmap that includes fossil fuels.

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esotericn
What effect would this have on the ecosystems of the beach?

I suppose in some sense you could consider it a trolley problem - do we kill
one to save millions - but it seems very intensive?

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cryptoz
Well, it's a twist on the trolley problem because there is a background state
of coral reefs and beaches dying already. So we're killing the beaches and
saving none, presently.

I think this is a case where the trolley problem is easily morally solved;
it's morally urgent to slow pace of coral reef death and other marine life
death, and since it is already our actions causing this I think it is quite
morally right to take any action that reduces the suffering of life overall.

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mistrial9
.. if vast over-simplifications are taken as truth, then yes.

