Officials from a tiny environmental group flew into Washington last week to propose a very big idea for limiting global warming: a trillion-dollar parasol for the planet.
Representatives of the Planetary Sunshade Foundation — a nonprofit that advocates for space-based solar geoengineering — met with officials from the White House, the State Department, the House science committee and congressional offices on both sides of the aisle, according to Morgan Goodwin, the group’s unpaid executive director. The foundation was established in 2021 and has just four staffers, all of whom have other day jobs.
The level of interest in Washington for building a gargantuan umbrella in space to block sunlight “exceeded my expectations,” Goodwin said in an interview Friday, before he planned to meet with the White House National Space Council. “I’ve done enough advocacy to tell when somebody’s just asking questions to be polite and when they’re really engaged.”
Support for solar geoengineering research has surged in recent years among policymakers, philanthropists and scientists as the human and economic toll from climate-related disasters has grown. It comes as global efforts to reduce the use of coal, oil and gas — the main drivers of climate change — continue to founder.
