It's come to this：Climate­conscious policymakers are beginning to consider the possibility of playing God with the weather in the hope of slowing global warming.

      For years it was considered completely stupid in official Washington to discuss geoengineering：changing the climate by reflecting sunlight back into the sky, sucking carbon dioxide from the air—or a number of other surprising plans.But in the past year the thought won in part by the recent collapse of climate legislation as well as by growing interest among private entrepreneurs and foreign officials.

      House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon(D­Tenn.)，whose group will jointly release a report on climate engineering with the British House of Commons this month, said the subject is“just now starting to get some attention” even though people recognize the danger in trying to change a complex weather system.

   “The more you know about it, the more you're concerned about it if we can ever carry it out，” Gordon said in an interview.“However, there may be a point where we're up against the tipping point, and the consequences of climate change are even worse.”

      Over the next few months, whispering about changing the weather will evolve into written recommendations.Several key groups—including the Government Accountability Office—will issue their thoughts on how best to start a modest federal research program on geoengineering.

   “We're getting a sense that agencies are interested in this topic and would be open, on a certain level, to letting this program go forward，”said Jane Long, who co­chairs the National Commission on Energy Policy's task force.

Notes：

①geoengineering n ． 岩土工程　②collapse n ． 瓦解　③legislation n ． 立法　④entrepreneur n ． 企业家　⑤play God扮演上帝 ⑥be up against面临；面对