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14 Duke L. & Tech. Rev. 157 (2015-2016)
The Red Dawn of Geoengineering: First Step toward an Effective Governance for Stratospheric Injections

handle is hein.journals/dltr14 and id is 157 raw text is: THE RED DAWN OF GEOENGINEERING: FIRST STEP TOWARD AN EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE FOR STRATOSPHERIC INJECTIONS EDWARD J. LARSONt ABSTRACT A landmark report by the NationalAcademy ofSciences (NAS) issued in 2015 is the latest in a series ofscientific studies to assess the feasibility of geoengineering with stratospheric aerosols to offset anthropogenic global warming and to conclude that they offer a possibly viable supplement or back-up alternative to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The known past effect of major explosive volcanic eruptions temporarily moderating average worldwide temperatures provides evidence in support of this once taboo form of climate intervention. In the most extensive study to date, an elite NAS committee now suggests that such processes for adjusting global temperature, while still uncertain, merit further research and field testing. Every study stresses the need for transparent international governance of stratospheric injections, especially given that the benefits ofsuch interventions are certain to be unevenly distributed and the risks are not fully known. After examining the roadblocks to such governance, this paper explores the statutory and common law frameworks that couldprovide some stop-gap approaches until the needed regulatory regime emerges. INTRODUCTION Many commentators view climate change as the issue of our era - the most critical challenge that we face as a nation or a species. Even climate skeptics are gradually being won over. Some of those scientific skeptics, however, and a growing number of scientists most concerned about the problem have begun to discuss the possibility of using t Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and University Professor of History, Pepperdine University; J.D., Harvard Law School; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin- Madison. The author would like to thank the Yale Law School and Whitney Humanities Center for inviting him to present this paper and also for receiving comments at a symposium honoring Dan Kevles. An earlier version of this article appeared as The Common Law of Geoengineering: Building an Effective Governance of Stratospheric Injections, 2 INDONESIAN J. INT. & COMP. L. 329-68 (2015). This version is printed with the permission of the editors of that journal.

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