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Articles by Dana Liebelson

Dana Liebelson is a reporter in Mother Jones' Washington bureau.

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The Central Intelligence Agency is funding a scientific study that will investigate whether humans could use geoengineering to alter Earth’s environment and stop climate change. The National Academy of Sciences will run the 21-month project, which is the first NAS geoengineering study financially supported by an intelligence agency. With the spooks’ money, scientists will study how humans might influence weather patterns, assess the potential dangers of messing with the climate, and investigate possible national security implications of geoengineering attempts.

The total cost of the project is $630,000, which NAS is splitting with the CIA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA. The NAS website says that “the U.S. intelligence community” is funding the project, and William Kearney, a spokesperson for NAS, told Mother Jones that phrase refers to the CIA. Edward Price, a spokesperson for the CIA, refused to confirm the agency’s role in the study, but said, “It’s natural that on a subject like climate chang... Read more