MEZRICH’S MAMMOTH IDEA
New book gives life to extinct species
It looks like the White House may be ready to go all in on a Harvard-led project aimed at bringing back the woolly mammoth. The groundbreaking Harvard Medical Center project — straight out of Jurassic Park — is the focus of a new book penned by beloved Boston author Ben Mezrich, who is best known for “Bringing Down the House” and “The Accidental Billionaires” — both made into movies. During an in-studio appearance on Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” show yesterday — where he was promoting “Wool ly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History’s Most Iconic Extinct Creatures” — Mezrich received a direct message on Twitter from his old pal and newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
“He just said he loves my work and will see what he can do,” Mezrich told me. “I would love to see Woolly reach the administration. I think it’s environmental policy the administration can get behind.”
As Mezrich explained, the straight-out-of-sciencefiction project being conducted by Harvard Medical School’s Church Lab isn’t just about seeing if modern science is capable of returning a herd of the extinct furry beasts to the frozen tundra. It’s an outside-thebox approach to combating climate change.
The idea, scientists say, is that a massive herd of mammoths roaming a frozen swath of land stretching from Siberia to North America will help slow the thawing of the arctic permafrost by stripping away the trees and shrubs and recreating the frigid savanna known as the “Mammoth Steppe” that disappeared when the Ice Age ended.
Returning the area to grasslands naturally with mammoths could help reverse climate change, or so the theory goes.
And though the idea may prompt a few chuckles from the general public, it’s sparked the interest of Scaramucci — a man who has the ear of the president.
And considering how busy Scaramucci must be defending the White House from the seemingly non-stop barrage of questions about the Russia investigation, it’s pretty incredible that this idea crossed his radar.
Yet, finding a way to tackle climate change without asking humans to change their behavior is the kind of idea Republicans can embrace.
When asked about his relationship with his pal “Mooch,” Mezrich said, “We have mutually admired one another in the past and he’s been kind enough to tweet about my work.”
Thanks to Scaramucci’s new West Wing gig, those tweets will carry much more weight — considering he has nearly 700,000 followers. This could be a match made in heaven. Jaclyn Cashman is co-host of Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” show. Follow her on Twitter @JaclynCashman.