Prospicience (The Art and Science of Looking Ahead) and Geoengineering

Robert Socolow, Co-Director, The Carbon Mitigation Initiative and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
Discussant:  Dr. Bennett Foddy, Harold T. Shapiro Postdoctoral Fellow in Bioethics, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University

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(Oct 14, 2008 at Princeton University) As we gain understanding of the workings of our planet, we are identifying planetary-scale interventions (like injecting reflecting particles into the stratosphere) that might compensate for the unprecedented changes human actions are already creating. Suppose side effects are judged to be tolerable and ground rules for governance are developed that all nations accept. We are still left with questions about objectives: What planetary state should we seek? Should we intervene, even if we can? A textured understanding of our long-term future as a species is needed. Might this be the territory of philosophy? This is part three of a 5-part “Ethics and Climate Change” series sponsored by the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) and the University Center for Human Values.

Professor Socolow’s current research focuses on global carbon management and fossil-carbon sequestration. He is the co-principal investigator (with ecologist, Stephen Pacala) of Princeton University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI), a $20-million dollar, ten-year (2001-2010) project supported by BP and Ford. Under CMI, Princeton has launched new, coordinated research in environmental science, energy technology, geological engineering, and public policy. Additional interests include global allocation of climate mitigation responsibility, efficient use of energy, nuclear energy, and geoengineering.

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