Atmospheric Intervention: When Profits Obscure Precaution
THE ACTORS: Who is involved in this story? The primary actors are commercial startups like Make Sunsets and Carbon Gods. Notably, Make Sunsets founder Luke Iseman garnered headlines in 2022 by launching sulfur particles into the stratosphere from a balloon, dubbing them "cooling credits." Other entities mentioned include universities like Harvard and Yale, conducting research with significant
private funding, and organizations such as the Degrees Initiative and the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative. On a wider scale, the United States National Academies of Sciences has recommended research into solar radiation modification, signaling a growing governmental-academic-corporate nexus. THE FUNDING: Where does their money come from? Make Sunsets, for instance, operates on venture
capital, selling so-called "cooling credits" for $10 per gram of sulfur released. While the amounts are not always publicly disclosed for these early-stage ventures, the appeal to venture capitalists lies in the potential for 'first-mover advantage' in a potentially trillion-dollar market. A significant portion of academic research, while framed as public good, is often underpinned by private
endowments or grants with specific agendas. For context, global spending on climate adaptation and mitigation was estimated at $632 billion in 2020 (Climate Policy Initiative, 2021), a fraction of what a geoengineering industry could command. THE INCENTIVES: What do they gain from this narrative? For commercial entities, the incentive is profit from a novel service market – the deliberate