Hugh Pickens writes "Dr. Steven Chu, the Nobel prize-winning
physicist appointed by President Obama as Energy Secretary,
wants to paint the world white. Chu said at the opening of the
St James's Palace Nobel Laureate Symposium that by lightening
paved surfaces and roofs to the color of cement, it would be
possible to cut carbon emissions by as much as taking all the
world's cars off the roads for 11 years. Pale surfaces reflect
up to 80 percent of the sunlight that falls on them, compared
with about 20 percent for dark ones, which is why roofs and
walls in hot countries are often whitewashed." (Continues,
below.)"An increase in pale surfaces would help to contain
climate change both by reflecting more solar radiation into
space and by reducing the amount of energy needed to keep
buildings cool by air-conditioning. Since 2005 California has
required all flat roofs on commercial buildings to be white and
Georgia and Florida give incentives to owners who install white
or light-colored roofs. Put another way, boo