Schlaretzki Lecture - Anna Stilz / Should we rule out geoengineering?
Schlaretzki Lecture - Anna Stilz / Should we rule out geoengineering?
Friday April 17, we welcome Anna Stilz, Kernan Robson Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, who will give our Schlaretzki Lecture on the question "Should we rule out geoengineering." The talk is abstracted below.
“Geoengineering” refers to the deliberate large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment to counteract climate change. Two broad kinds of technologies are referred to as “geoengineering”: carbon dioxide removal techniques and solar radiation management techniques. Interest in geoengineering is rising quickly, and governments and private foundations are beginning to fund research, but many oppose the normalization of these technologies as a policy option. Should environmentalists support a large-scale, publicly funded research program into geoengineering? Or should they instead support a moratorium on geoengineering research and deployment?
My talk explains that we should consider this a question of non-ideal theory, and I outline two criteria that should inform a non-ideal approach. I then consider three objections that might support a general prohibition on geoengineering research and deployment: first, humans should not engage in geoengineering because it manifests a dominating attitude of “mastery” over nature. Second, geoengineering should be prohibited out of precaution, because of the risks and uncertainties of intervening in the earth’s systems. Finally, geoengineering should be prohibited because it creates incentives not to invest sufficiently in emissions reductions. I argue that none of these three arguments tells in favor of a moratorium on geoengineering research. Yet we can learn important lessons from these arguments as to how a geoengineering research program should be structured, and I will conclude by drawing together those lessons.