Moon Dust Saves Us From Global Warming

Wow this is the dumbest idea I've heard in a long time.

Curtis Struck at Iowa State University in Ames published an article in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society (vol 60, p 1) suggesting we mine the moon for dust to generate a gigantic cloud to shield us from the sun. Lunar dust particles are the right size to scatter sunlight. If we put dust at two precise positions along the Moon's orbit, they will form a pair of stable clouds that would each pass in front of the Sun once a month, blocking sunlight for about 20 hours each month. This would reduce the amount of heat reaching the earth and thereby help alleviate the affects of global warming. I should say that I have not read the article because I can't get my hands on it but here is what I think from what I have read and heard on a podcast.

Not only is this ridiculous in its extremity but I'm pretty sure blocking out the sun will hinder plan growth, which help reduce CO2 levels, and potentially insulate the Earth from radiating heat back out into space (not to mention the logistics of mine on the F-ing moon). And what happens when we don't want the dust cloud anymore, do we build a gigantic vacuum cleaner? Other criticisms have included that the clouds may act as mirrors when not directly blocking the sun thus adding heat, and at night will act like massive full moons increasing the amount of light reaching the earth at night, which may also have deleterious effects on plant and animal life. This would also devastate ground and earth-orbit based astronomy. In the end this is only a band-aid, if we don't stop living in an unsustainable manner, no cloud will be big enough to save us from self-destruction. (Ok, that was a little dooms-day-ish, but you get my point.)

Gigantic dust clouds...I mean really!