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Challenging Climate
Asking tough questions about the science, technology, and politics of climate change, two climate researchers challenge leading experts on one of the defining issues of our age. Every two weeks, they explore how we can fight global warming by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, carbon removal, adaptation and solar geoengineering. Dr. Jesse Reynolds and Dr. Pete Irvine consider the roles of computer models and persuasive narratives, economics and public policy, and renewable energy and national security in the climate debate, and look beyond to issues such as biotechnology and international development.
Questions or comments? Email info@challengingclimate.org or tweet @ChalClimate
See more information on Jesse Reynolds and Pete Irvine.
music by Peter Danilchuk @clambgramb (IG/Twitter).
Challenging Climate
27. Luke Iseman on his for-profit solar geoengineering venture - Make Sunsets
Luke Iseman is the founder of Make Sunsets, a recently launched startup that is selling “cooling credits” on the promise that they will release sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere using weather balloons. In this episode, we discuss Make Sunset’s mission to “substantially lower global temperatures,” the details of their offering, the technical challenges for verifying their cooling credits, and the potential political repercussions of their efforts
Links:
Make Sunsets official website: https://makesunsets.com/
Make Sunsets contested cooling calculations: https://makesunsets.com/blogs/news/calculating-cooling
Luke’s blog post from just before he launched this effort, “Geoengineering Now”: https://www.dirtnail.com/2022/04/04/geoengineering-now/
Some reactions to Make Sunsets:
Ted Parson’s essay on Make Sunsets, “A Dangerous Disruption”: https://legal-planet.org/2023/01/02/a-dangerous-disruption/
David Keith on why not to commercialize geoengineering: https://twitter.com/DKeithClimate/status/1608085360927457281
Gwynne Dyer’s comment in Stuff: https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130909204/balloon-goes-up-on-geoengineering-sulfur-scam
Another podcast interview with Luke Iseman by Reviewer 2 Does Geoengineering: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Fr15fdX20qyyfVX8VCF3Q
