Sarang's Cool It! How We Can Tap the Upper Atmosphere for Safer, Healthier, and More Sustainable Lives

Sarang's latest effort, Cool It! How We Can Tap the Upper Atmosphere for Safer, Healthier, and More Sustainable Lives, is very different from his previous works.  Bookstores have not been given clear instructions on where to display the book, and so it has popped up in fiction, nonfiction, politics, science, opinion, and fantasy.  Just about the only place it hasn't appeared is the New York Times bestseller list—not because its sales have disappointed, but because the New York Times refuses to "countenance Sarang's ridiculous performance art" by choosing whether to put it on the fiction or nonfiction list.

Cool It! proposes the construction of 4-mile-high towers shaped like the St. Louis Arch (except that each tower would consist of two arches set at right angles to each other and meeting at the top).  Pipes would carry water (actually a solution of water and propylene glycol) through the arches, radiating heat away at the top (where temperatures average about 75°F below the temperatures at ground level) and then returning to the surface to be used in air conditioning and refrigeration.  Sarang calculates that a few dozen towers could cool an entire city—indoors and out—eliminating the need for air conditioning and allowing people to enjoy outdoor activities all summer long.  The towers would also contain lightning rods and would protect vast areas from lightning strikes.

Sarang's reputation precedes him, and critics have approached the book gingerly, fearing that it is some sort of Sokal hoax.  Malcolm Gladwell fulminated, "How can I review a book that refuses to put its cards on the table?"  (He declined to take the book at face value and called it "a mockery of the brand of journalism I have practiced my whole life, and which I still believe in.")  Cass Sunstein greeted Sarang's idea warmly, but noted, "By endorsing the idea, I may be setting myself up for the biggest embarrassment of my life."  (Dave tweeted: "Apparently Prof. Sunstein has forgotten about Republic.com 2.0.")

For what it's worth, Sarang insists the plan is real, and has offered to install the system in any city willing to pay a fee that is "commensurate with the services I will be providing and sufficient to cover my expenses while leaving me with a modest profit."  So far, no one has taken him up on his offer.

I'll go out on a limb and say that I think the suggestion is worthwhile whether it is serious or not.  We are faced with calamity on a grand scale, and it will require every ounce of inventiveness and daring to save our planet and our civilization.  The towers must be built—and the sooner the better.