1.3 Ethics of geoengineering
The main criticisms of geoengineering are:
there may be unpredicted, undesirable consequences
resorting to geoengineering reduces the pressure to reduce greenhouse emissions
limiting global temperature increase will not prevent ocean acidification by CO2
we need to learn not to treat the earth as an object, but take our place in the community of animals and plants with whom this is a shared home (the deep ecology perspective).
An article in the Stanford Environmental Law Journal argues for geo-engineering because:
the lack of success in climate change policy stems from the exclusive focus of policymakers on various forms of preventive regulation. … the time has now come to expand our policy horizons to include geoengineering, the direct manipulation of the Earth's climatic feedback system, as a serious alternative to ineffective and contentious regulation.
(Michaelson (1998), http://www.metatronics.net/lit/geo2.html#six, accessed 30 October 2009)
The Worldchanging website has an article that considers the ‘geoethics’ that should guide any geoengineering decisions.
The article proposes the following principles should guide all decisions to use or not to use geoengineering:
Interconnectedness – planetary systems do not exist in isolation and changes made to one system will have implications for other systems.
Diversity – on balance, a diverse ecosystem is more resilient and flexible, better able to adapt to natural changes.
Foresight – consideration of effects of changes should embrace the planetary pace, not the human pace.
Integration – as human societies are part of the earth's systems, changes made should take into consideration effects on human communities, and the needs of human communities should not be discounted or dismissed when considering overall impacts.
Expansion of Options – on balance, choices made should increase the number of options and opportunities for future generations, not reduce them.
Reversibility – changes made to planetary systems should be done in a way that allows for reconsideration of unintended and unexpected consequences.
Yet another view on geoengineering can be found in the work of deep ecologists. They argue that human and non-human life has equal value and both play a vital function in the global ecosystem. One deep ecologist of note is Joanna Macy and you can explore her views by watching her talks on YouTube. A good place to start is by viewing her talk on ‘The Great Turning’.
Activity 3
Consider the following question (you may want to keep notes).
Considering the ethics of geoengineering what further considerations would you want to add to the debate?
1.2 Forms of geoengineering