Has It Come to This?: The Promises and Perils of Geoengineering on the Brink

by J.P. Sapinski (Editor), Holly Jean Buck (Editor), Andreas Malm (Editor)

Overview

Geoengineering is the deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system in an attempt to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming. Now that climate emergency is upon us, claims that geoengineering is inevitable are rapidly proliferating. How did we get into this situation where the most extreme path now seems a plausible development? Is it an accurate representation of where we are at? Who is this “we” who is talking? What options make it onto the table? Which are left out? Whom does geoengineering serve? Why is the ensemble of projects that goes by that name so salient, even though the community of researchers and advocates is remarkably small? These are some of the questions that the thinkers contributing to this volume are exploring from perspectives ranging from sociology and geography to ethics and Indigenous studies. The editors set out this diverse collection of voices not as a monolithic, unified take on geoengineering, but as a place where creative thinkers, students, and interested environmental and social justice advocates can explore nuanced ideas in more than 240 characters. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781978809352
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	11/13/2020
Series:	Nature, Society, and Culture
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

J. P. SAPINSKI is an assistant professor of environmental studies and public policy at Université de Moncton in Canada. His work draws from the critical political economy and power structure research traditions to map out the constellations of corporate interests involved in the politics of climate change and energy, including geoengineering politics. He is co-author of Organizing the 1%: How Corporate Power Works.
 
HOLLY JEAN BUCK is an assistant professor of environment and sustainability at the University at Buffalo, in Buffalo, NY. She is the author of After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration. She has written on several aspects of climate engineering, including policy for scaling up carbon removal. 
 
ANDREAS MALM teaches human ecology at Lund University in Sweden. He is the author of Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming, and The Progress of This Storm: Nature and Society in a Warming World.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Introduction

1 Critical Perspectives on Geoengineering: A Dialogue Holly Jean Buck J. P. Sapinski Andreas Malm 3

Part II Contesting Geoengineering: Power, Justice, and Civil Society

2 Winning Hearts and Minds? Explaining the Rise of the Geoengineering Idea Ina Möller 21

3 Carbon Unicorns and Fossil Futures: Whose Emission Reduction Pathways Is the IPCC Performing? Wim Carton 34

4 Defending a Failed Status Quo: The Case against Geoengineering from a Civil Society Perspective Linda Schneider Lili Fuhr 50

5 Geoengineering and Indigenous Climate Justice: A Conversation with Kyle Powys Whyte Kyle Powys Whyte Holly Jean Buck 69

6 Recognizing the Injustice in Geoengineering: Negotiating a Path to Restorative Climate Justice through a Political Account of Justice as Recognition Duncan McLaren 82

7 An Intersectional Analysis of Geoengineering: Overlapping Oppressions and the Demand for Ecological Citizenship Tina Sikka 99

Part III State Power, Economic Planning, and Geoengineering

8 Mobilizing in a Climate Shock: Geoengineering or Accelerated Energy Transition? Laurence L. Delina 121

9 A Left Defense of Carbon Dioxide Removal: The State Must Be Forced to Deploy Civilization-Saving Technology Christian Parenti 130

10 Planning the Planet: Geoengineering Our Way Out of and Back into a Planned Economy Andreas Malm 143

11 Provisioning Climate: An Infrastructural Approach to Geoengineering Anne Pasek 163

Part IV Geoengineering: A Class Project in the Face of Systemic Crisis?

12 Geoengineering and Imperialism Richard York 179

13 Gramsci in the Stratosphere: Solar Geoengineering and Capitalist Hegemony Kevin Surprise 189

14 Promises of Climate Engineering after Neoliberalism Nils Markusson David Tyfield Jennie C. Stephens Mads Dahl Gjefsen 207

15 Prospects of Climate Engineering in a Post-truth Era Holly Jean Buck 231

Acknowledgments 241

Notes on Contributors 243

Index 247