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Caroline Brehman/Congressional Quarterly/Zuma Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free _Mother Jones Daily_. Any armchair environmental
scientist will tell you that the most crucial thing we humans can do to stave off the destruction of the planet is to stop pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But that hasn’t
stopped people from hatching harebrained and entirely unfeasible schemes to reverse the damage we’ve done. Some say we should set up machines to suck carbon dioxide out of the air, a
technology that is still in its infancy, and currently too expensive to be feasible on a large scale, among other drawbacks. Maybe, others suggest, we should undertake massive geoengineering
projects, like spraying reflective particles into the atmosphere to block sunlight. Or maybe, as Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) suggests, we should simply _alter the Earth’s orbit._ During a
House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Tuesday, Gohmert asked a National Forest Service representative, “Is there anything that the National Forest Service or BLM can do to change the
course of the moon’s orbit or the Earth’s orbit around the sun?” He added, “Obviously, that would have profound effects on our climate.” Jennifer Eberlien, the Forest Service’s bewildered
associate deputy chief, replied, “I would have to follow up with you on that one, Mr. Gohmert.” > A real question from @replouiegohmert: “Is there anything that the > [US] can do to
change the course of the moon’s orbit or the > Earth’s orbit around the sun” to fix climate change? > > A US Forest Service representative: “I would have to follow up > with you
on that one, Mr. Gohmert.” pic.twitter.com/46ZVw2vCIW > > — Mother Jones (@MotherJones) June 9, 2021 A 2001 article in _The Guardian _actually discusses the concept of harnessing the
gravitational energy of an asteroid or comet to push the Earth a little farther a way from the sun. But there’s a reason this idea has rarely been discussed in the past 20 years: Any minor
misstep by NASA—which, uh, never makes mistakes—could send the comet or asteroid hurtling into our planet. In a thorough analysis of the prospect, _The Conversation_ suggests that it would
be easier to _colonize Mars_. Or we could just stop burning fossil fuels.