Some efforts are so disproportionate to their impact that they border on the absurd—like bailing out the ocean with a teaspoon. In this episode of Created to Reign, David R. Legates takes aim at one such effort: a Silicon Valley–style geoengineering startup selling “cooling credits” by launching weather balloons filled with sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere.

On paper, the idea borrows from real science—volcanic eruptions do cool the planet, after all. But when you scale the math, the economics, and the physics, the entire enterprise collapses into a case study in symbolic action masquerading as climate policy. Along the way, Dr. Legates explores the risks of solar geoengineering, the difference between meaningful solutions and virtue signaling, and the growing tension between private experimentation and public oversight. In the end, it’s a classic Sisyphean tale—lots of effort, lots of money, and virtually no effect.

Links:

https://www.greenprophet.com/2025/04/make-sunsets-is-launching-geo-engineered-cooling-credits-with-vc-money/

https://cepa.org/article/solar-geoengineering-a-transatlantic-split-under-the-sun

https://legal-planet.org/2025/11/11/should-private-firms-be-involved-in-cooling-the-planet/

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-demands-answers-unregulated-geoengineering-start-launching-sulfur-dioxide-air

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