Bjorn Lomborg ... change of heart or a hypocrite?

OK, I earlier blogged about Danish climate change denialist extraordinaire Bjorn Lomborg has apparently repented of his earlier ideas.

(I)n a new book to be published next month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change. "Investing $100bn annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by the end of this century," the book concludes.

Examining eight methods to reduce or stop global warming, Lomborg and his fellow economists recommend pouring money into researching and developing clean energy sources such as wind, wave, solar and nuclear power, and more work on climate engineering ideas such as "cloud whitening" to reflect the sun's heat back into the outer atmosphere.

OK, that's the part that scares me.

Having reread the Guardian story, let me say that I'm leery of his emphasis on climate engineering. Through importation of species, Homo sapiens has done a horrendous job of biome engineering in the past. Any native of the U.S. Southwest knows about salt cedars/tamarisks. When I read ideas about deliberate "sooting" of the upper atmosphere (which Lomberg doesn't specifically name, but is a highly-discussed climate engineering idea, I cringe.)

Then, there's the fact that he's still a wee bit ... uhh, hypocritical:

Lomborg denies he has performed a volte face, pointing out that even in his first book he accepted the existence of man-made global warming. "The point I've always been making is it's not the end of the world," he told the Guardian. "That's why we should be measuring up to what everybody else says, which is we should be spending our money well."

Uhh, that's so less than true, as far as the spirit of accuracy.

Technically, sir, maybe you didn't deny the human element; but you minimized it damn near to the point of denial. Add in the fact that the Guardian interview coincides with the launch of a new book, the fact that big industries that may have previously been in denial could profit most from climate engineering, that you could profit from being their consultant, and I'm starting to say ...

Something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark.