Tuesday, November 21 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society 5701 S. Woodlawn Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60637
As efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions stall, some scientists advocate for technological interventions into the climate system (“geoengineering”). In this lecture, sponsored by the Logic and Politics of Climate Change project, Stephen Gardiner (Professor of Philosophy, University of Washington) will discuss the ethical issues raised by the prospect of geoengineering—including concerns about welfare, rights, justice, and political legitimacy. What should we do, ethically speaking, given that we will not do what we should be doing? This paradoxical question helps to explain why geoengineering may be ethically troubling, and highlights the largely neglected threat that geoengineered interventions discriminate against future generations. Far from being a welcome new tool for climate action, geoengineering may become yet another manifestation of the underlying problem.