9.1/2 Carbon Ethics

The Wealthy

• It is interesting to consider wealth distribution laterally, examining how resources are spread across different segments of society and the implications of concentration in certain areas.

• Scenario:

  • A monkey hoarding bananas while others starve would be considered "psychopathic," highlighting the inherent inequity and moral judgment associated with resource hoarding in nature.

  • In an anthropocentric world, this behavior is often considered "smart business" or neoliberalism, where maximizing profit and accumulating wealth are prioritized, often without regard to broader social consequences.

  • Billion-dollar companies with global reach are frequently praised for their success, despite the potential for exacerbating wealth inequality and environmental degradation.

• Ethical Question: Is this system ethical?

• Analogy: If the same phenomenon occurred in our bodies, it would be called cancer, suggesting that unchecked accumulation and exploitation of resources can be detrimental to the overall health of the system.

• Question: Are the elite a cancer of our world, consuming resources and hindering the well-being of the broader population?

The Legal System and the Rich

• The rich can easily navigate the legal system due to their vast resources.

  • They have the resources to hire teams of lawyers to defend their interests and exploit loopholes in the law.

  • They can use underhanded tactics, potentially entering conspiracy territory, to manipulate legal outcomes in their favor.

  • Whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing often face harassment and revictimization, discouraging transparency and accountability.

  • They can drag cases through court to economically destroy opponents, using legal processes as a tool to silence dissent and maintain power.

  • Elites can provide letters of recommendation to judges, potentially influencing judicial decisions and undermining the impartiality of the legal system.

• Government and big business often collaborate, blurring the lines between public interest and private gain.

  • Example: Rio Tinto blasting Juukan Gorge, which was technically legal due to government permissions, highlighting the prioritization of economic development over cultural heritage and environmental protection.

• Analyzing these power structures using ethical frameworks reveals inconsistencies, demonstrating the need for greater scrutiny and accountability in the relationship between wealth, power, and the legal system.

Elite Geographies

• Academics try to influence the world, but how do they reach those in power, given the often-vast social and economic divides?

• How much geography do we share with elites? Do we frequent the same places, creating opportunities for meaningful engagement and dialogue?

• Elites can be unreachable, making it hard to influence their ethics and promote more responsible behavior.

Emissions and Pollution

• Emissions are a form of pollution, contributing to environmental degradation and climate change.

• Lateral comparison to other instances of pollution helps to contextualize the broader impacts of emissions on ecosystems and human health.

• Consequentialism: Remediation, restoration, and compensation for loss are essential components of addressing the consequences of pollution and environmental damage.

• Analogy: Putting a poison capsule in someone's tea that may or may not break vs. putting something virtuous in their tea without their knowledge raises ethical questions around consequentialism vs. deontological thinking.

  • Ethical question around consequentialism vs. deontological thinking, requiring a nuanced understanding of the potential impacts and moral obligations in different scenarios.

• Taking the risk of oil spills if we have the means for remediation requires careful consideration of the potential consequences and the effectiveness of available mitigation strategies.

Hale's Argument

• Pollution disrespects or trespasses others (global commons view), infringing on the rights and well-being of individuals and communities.

• Trespassing on human lives, multi-species lives, and ecosystem health, causing harm to both present and future generations.

• Analogy: "One cannot unmurder the murdered, that one cannot unrape the raped," highlighting the irreversible nature of certain types of environmental damage.

• Reparations cannot fully compensate for damages, underscoring the need for proactive measures to prevent pollution and environmental degradation.

• Question: Can environmental degradation be amended by paying to restore the environment, or does it require a more fundamental shift in values and behaviors?

Two Objections

• Compensation or restitution will never be enough to make the victim whole again (remainder argument), reflecting the inherent limitations of monetary solutions in addressing complex social and environmental problems.

• A settlement does not morally make up for the wrong, suggesting that ethical considerations must extend beyond legal frameworks.

• Question: Does the current legal system intersect with ethical and moral right? Is it producing justice within a particular frame of ethics, or does it perpetuate existing inequalities and injustices?

Hair and Oil Spills

• Hairdressers donate hair to remediate oil spills, demonstrating a creative and community-based approach to environmental cleanup.

• Deontological argument: Environmental pollution is an incurable disease. Focus should be on prevention, not just restoration, emphasizing the importance of proactive measures to protect the environment.

• Consequentialist argument: Risk is acceptable if there are means to remediate (e.g., oil spill leading to power for cities), weighing the potential benefits against the potential costs and risks.

• Deontological argument: Be proactive in preventing pollution, not reactive in dealing with consequences, highlighting the need for a fundamental shift in environmental ethics and practices.

Pollution as Colonialism

• Book recommendation: "Pollution is Colonialism," exploring the historical and ongoing connections between environmental degradation and colonial power structures.

Carbon Offsetting

• Actions to generate credits to offset emissions, providing a market-based mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

• Meant to be part of a reparation narrative (consequentialist), aiming to compensate for the environmental damage caused by emissions.

• Current approach is more consequentialist than deontological, prioritizing outcomes over ethical principles.

• Methodologies are complex and not easily implemented by landholders, presenting challenges for effective implementation and monitoring.

• Carbon markets are not transparent or easy to understand, raising concerns about accountability and potential for fraud.

• Ethical issues exist, including concerns about the distribution of benefits and burdens and the potential for unintended consequences.

Impact of Profit Motive

• Reducing emissions is no longer the sole goal; profit is a major factor, influencing the design and implementation of carbon offsetting projects.

• Carbon offsetting in developing countries to transfer climate finance, potentially supporting sustainable development initiatives in vulnerable regions.

• Carbon colonization: Companies buy offsets from other countries and lock people out of lands, raising concerns about land rights and social justice.

• Questions at the heart of offsetting regarding its environmental integrity, including issues of additionality, leakage, and permanence.

• Relying on these forms of mitigation is an experiment and gamble (precautionary principle not employed), highlighting the uncertainties and potential risks associated with carbon offsetting = ignoring the precautionary principle

• Even scientific uncertainties and certainties show that terrestrial carbon can't be held due to the carbon cycle, raising questions about the long-term effectiveness of carbon offsetting projects.

• Both consequentialist and deontological arguments agree that this isn't the best approach, suggesting the need for more comprehensive and ethical solutions to climate change.

Avoided Deforestation

• Most controversial, but still used regularly worldwide, raising concerns about its effectiveness and potential for unintended consequences.

• A lot of airlines have carbon credits tied up in avoided deforestation projects in Africa, and there have been overestimates

• Additionality: Trees were at risk of being cut down, but are now saved because of carbon credits, raising questions about the baseline scenario and potential for overestimation of benefits.

• Issue: National parks being claimed as offsets, undermining conservation efforts and potentially leading to perverse incentives.

• Locking places into carbon offsets leads to leakage or displacement of deforestation - it does not stop deforestation, but shifts the problem to other areas.

• If people are locked out of forests they rely on, this can cause more widespread clearing for agriculture, exacerbating deforestation and harming local communities.

Vegetation Methods

• In Australia, there is a lot of controversy over Andrew McIntosh, who was deeply involved in setting up the emissions reduction fund

• Avoided deforestation is not the only vegetation that exists; it points to the inherent contradictions that are in these forms of mitigation - Australia virtue singing about mitigation

• Australia’s carbon offsetting is heavily reliant on vegetation = growing vegetation to hold carbon

• Andrew McIntosh sacrificed himself as a whistleblower due to the techniques used for carbon mitigation

• Farmers are paid for 100-year projects, but these arbitrary contracts don't address the long-term chemistry of volatile radicals, raising concerns about the permanence of carbon storage.

• Risks of fires aren't adequately considered, potentially releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere.

• The language around "net zero" simplifies the issue and programs society, potentially obscuring the need for more fundamental changes in consumption and production patterns.

• Companies with bad and good practices create contradictions like Shell emitting and mitigating, raising questions about the overall effectiveness of carbon offsetting.

• Ethically questionable aspects of outsourcing environmental responsibility into markets, shifting the burden of climate action to developing countries.

• Question: When a Carbon project burns, are we recalculating the carbon accounting balance sheet costing this carbon emission, or are the losses simply ignored?

Climate Ethics Two: Adaptation

• Adaptation is about learning to live with the consequences of climate change, acknowledging the reality of a changing climate and the need to prepare for its impacts.

• Mitigation is consequentialist vs. adaptation is deontological approach, reflecting different ethical frameworks for addressing climate change.

• Dunder and Hartman: Adaptation refers to acceptance and learning to live with the consequences of climate change, emphasizing resilience and adaptation in the face of unavoidable impacts.

• Realistic considering how long emissions have been occurring, recognizing the limits of mitigation efforts and the need for proactive adaptation measures.

• Impoverished nations will be hardest hit, highlighting the unequal distribution of climate risks and the need for international cooperation to support adaptation efforts in vulnerable countries.

• Adaptation is an unattractive alternative compared to mitigation, as it addresses the symptoms rather than the root causes of climate change.

Three Main Strategies

• Renewables: Transitioning to renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Nuclear: Utilizing nuclear power as a low-carbon energy source.

• Low-carbon lifestyles (degrowth trajectory): Reducing consumption and promoting more sustainable lifestyles.

Resilience Building Efforts

• Cities regreening and transforming to more resilient systems, enhancing urban ecosystems and reducing vulnerability to climate impacts.

• Seawalls can have maladaptive aspects and exacerbate flooding, highlighting the need for careful planning and consideration of potential unintended consequences.

• Assisted migration; moving people from sinking islands to other countries, providing a last resort for communities facing displacement due to sea-level rise.

Renewables

• Its still reliant on inexhaustible sources of energy, providing a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.

• Greenhouse gas emissions are still involved in development, construction, maintenance of renewables, requiring careful consideration of the full life cycle impacts of renewable energy technologies.

• Renewables viewed through a centralized energy lens, not decentralized community energy lens, potentially limiting their accessibility and affordability for marginalized communities.

• Subsidies benefit those who can already afford it, exacerbating energy inequality and hindering the transition to a more just and equitable energy system.

• Need to address how to get solar power into cooperatively owned structures (apartment buildings), promoting community-based renewable energy solutions.

• Currently, 29% of Australians have or are considering installing solar panels, demonstrating growing interest in renewable energy.

• One in five Australians can't afford to adequately heat or cool their homes, highlighting the need for policies to address energy poverty and ensure access to affordable energy for all.

Circular Economies

• Efforts to create renewables that can be easily dismantled and reused, promoting resource efficiency and reducing waste.

• Mimicking tech industry's move toward repairable and compartmentalized technologies, extending the lifespan of products and reducing the need for new materials.

• Getting rare earths and critical minerals for renewables impacts vulnerable ecosystems and communities, raising concerns about the social and environmental impacts of mining.

Mining of the Future

• Penelope (lawyer at Rio Tinto) believes future mining will be in rubbish tips to reclaim finite resources, reducing the need for new mining and promoting resource recovery.

Bioenergy

• Growing crops for energy instead of food, raising concerns about food security and land use.

• Agroforestry can have biodiversity, soil, and ecosystem benefits (Bauma), promoting sustainable agriculture and ecosystem services.

• Burning wood releases carbon atoms, so not a great alternative to fossil fuels, highlighting the need for careful consideration of the carbon cycle impacts of bioenergy.

Palm Oil

• The US invested heavily in palm oil for biofuel, contributing to deforestation and environmental degradation.

• Palm oil's catastrophes detailed in Sophia Chao's book "In the Shadow of the Palm," exposing the social and environmental impacts of palm oil production.

• We have realised how damaging biofuels can be

Inconsistencies and Contradictions

• Michael Moore's movie exposing inconsistencies in bioenergy and renewables was buried by liberalists (conservatives & environmentalists), highlighting the complexities and controversies surrounding renewable energy.

• Naomi Klein criticized the film for fueling arguments against renewables, emphasizing the need to promote renewable energy while addressing its potential drawbacks.

Nuclear Power

• Seen as the better of two evils (safe, stable, reliable), but with significant risks and challenges.

• Big consequentialist arguments for; big deontological arguments against (safety concerns), reflecting the different ethical perspectives on nuclear power.

• Consequentialism:
  • ‘Clean and Green’
  • Radioactive waste
  • Safety concerns: Risk of accident
  • Intergenerational Justice – proponents and
  opponents
  • Centralised energy
  • Technocratic solution
  • Uranium finite

• Arguments against include:

  • What to do with reactive waste: The challenge of safely storing and disposing of radioactive waste.

  • Safety concerns, risk of accidents: The potential for nuclear accidents, such as Chernobyl and Fukushima.

  • Geopolitical instability making them targets: Nuclear power plants as potential targets in times of conflict.

  • Unprecedented geological activity: The risk of earthquakes and other natural disasters affecting nuclear power plants.

• Arguments for and against exist from an intergenerational justice lens, considering the impacts on future generations.

• Centralized energy solution: Nuclear power as a large-scale, centralized energy source.

• Technocratic solution: Reliance on technological expertise and management.

• Uranium is finite, lasting only 30,000 years (60,000 if extracted from seawater), raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of nuclear power.

• Helen Caldecott's books provide thorough assessment of nuclear power, offering critical perspectives on its risks and benefits.

Low Carbon Lifestyles

• Moral Offsetting: Change starts at home, emphasizing individual responsibility for reducing carbon emissions.

• Environmental citizenship and agency, empowering individuals to take action on climate change.

• Decentralizing response to climate change, promoting community-based solutions and local action.

• Reduces household footprint, minimizing environmental impact through sustainable consumption and lifestyle choices.

• Leads to a degrowth ethic, questioning the need for endless economic growth and promoting alternative models of development.

Degrowth

• Decarbonization; a post-carbon world, transitioning to a low-carbon economy and society.

• Links to just transitions, ensuring that the shift to a sustainable economy is equitable and just for all.

• Teleological ethics: Theory of morality that drives duty or moral obligation from what is a good or desirable end, focusing on the ultimate goals and outcomes of actions.

• Embedded within this type of ethic is that the Action itself needs to be virtuous and it has to be for a specific outcome, emphasizing the importance of ethical behavior and values.

• Gambling on leap of faith mitigation technologies such as biofuels, CCS, nuclear fusion and geo-engineering.

• Gambling on the even more unlikely leap of faith that adaptation to global temperatures of 4 degrees and above is possible

• Reducing the consumption of energy and resources by the wealthiest people in the wealthiest countries.

• Developing nations have the most to gain because developed nations are "locked in" with carbon, providing opportunities for leapfrogging to sustainable development pathways.

Just Transitions

• What is just and fair to whom? Addressing the social and economic impacts of the transition to a sustainable economy.

• Wiseman and Alexander argue only three options:

  • Technology is readily available and based on complete science: Relying on technological solutions to address climate change.

  • The rebound effect that human intuition will deal with impacts as we go forward: Assuming that human ingenuity will overcome any unforeseen challenges.

  • Degrowth addresses other global ecological challenges: Recognizing the need for fundamental changes in consumption and production patterns to address multiple environmental crises.

Degrowth Requires Answering Three Questions

• How should we balance overall reductions in consumption with expansions in production in required industry sectors? Finding the right balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability.

• How precisely should we define, describe, deliver planned and equitable degrowth? Developing clear and actionable strategies for implementing degrowth policies.

• Who gets to decide, and what sacrifice is required? Addressing issues of equity, justice, and democratic participation in the degrowth transition.

• What arguments could achieve popular support for degrowth policies? Communicating the benefits of degrowth in a way that resonates with diverse audiences.

Geoengineering

• Increasingly seen as a "silver bullet," but with significant risks and uncertainties.

• Takes on a Promethean way of thinking, emphasizing human control over nature through technological interventions.

• Prometheanism focuses on using technology for foresight: large-scale engineering infrastructure or biological interventions to limit solar heat impact; carbon capture and underground storage.

• Deliberately manipulating the physical, chemical or biological aspects of the Earth
  system

• 1) reducing the levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases through large-scale manipulations (e.g., ocean fertilization or afforestation)

• 2) exerting a cooling influence on Earth by reflecting sunlight (e.g., putting reflective particles into the atmosphere, putting mirrors in space, increasing surface reflectivity, or altering the amount or characteristics of clouds)

• 3) other large-scale manipulations designed to diminish climate change or its impacts (e.g., constructing vertical pipes in the ocean that would increase downward heat transport).

Examples

• Ocean fertilization (with iron to stimulate CO2-absorbing algae).

  • Experiments since the 1960s-70s conclude that these are viable but need more testing.

  • Downside: less dissolved oxygen affecting ecology.

• Afforestation: Great Green Walls.

  • Two planted already: One is the Three North Shelter Forest Program in China (4500 km)., another one is the Great Green Wall of Africa.

• Increasing surface reflectivity.

  • Floating billions of white objects on oceans, genetic engineering of crops, marine cloud brightening projects, cloud thinning and cloud seeding.

• Releasing aerosols into the environment.

  • "Sunscreen for the planet"; load atmosphere with reflective particles to reduce sunlight reaching earth.

  • Being considered with ordinary passenger jets and is speculated to occur, soon.

Issues with Geoengineering

• Who benefits most? Addressing issues of equity and justice in the distribution of benefits and burdens.

• Accidental trigger of an ice age? Considering the potential for unintended consequences and catastrophic risks.

• Which countries get to choose, and how do they impact others? Addressing issues of governance, decision-making, and international cooperation.

• Extreme hubris to think humans can manipulate climate at that scale, questioning the limits of human knowledge and control over complex systems.

• Evokes technologies that are redolent of science fiction. Should we take this type of gamble with our planet's future? Weighing the potential risks and benefits of geoengineering in the face of climate change.