Solar Geoengineering Raising Regulatory Questions
April 23, 2024
Private start-up companies are increasingly looking at solar geoengineering—blocking some of the sun’s rays from reaching Earth—but “regulations around outdoor experiments and possible broader deployments aren’t keeping up,” NPR reports. In Issues, John Deutch and Maria Zuber consider the pros and cons of the technology, concluding that there is an “urgent need” for the government to launch an R&D program “to obtain as much information as possible to inform assessment of whether the benefits outweigh the risks.” They also call for an independent oversight committee to monitor results, serving in effect as an initial “technology governance step.”