One of the more interesting findings pertains to the "moral hazard" argument against geoengineering, that is, people will embrace geoengineering as an excuse to avoid emissions reductions, and current levels of fossil fuel consumption will persist if not increase. Moral hazard has emerged as one of the principal arguments against climate engineering, despite the fact that geoengineering advocates generally support aggressive mitigation as the preferred option, and are quick to note the limitations of specific strategies, such as continued ocean acidification and the so-called "termination problem" in the case of stratospheric aerosol injections.
Evidence from the public dialogue summarized in the NERC report indicates that participants viewed mitigation and geoengineering as complementary policies, not as mutually exclusive alternatives. Stakeholders saw a link between geoengineering and emissions controls, and preferred a suite of mitigation and geoengineering measures to reliance on any single approach. "This evidence is contrary to the 'moral hazard' argument that geoengineering would undermine popular support for mitigation or adaptation," notes the report. While this study represents only one set of empirical data gathered in one particular sociocultural context, it is to my knowledge the first time the moral hazard argument has been tested, and demonstrates little support for this proposition. Josh Horton [email protected] http://geoengineeringpolitics.blogspot.com/ On Sep 9, 10:45 am, Emily <[email protected]> wrote: > best wishes, > Emily. > > Dear Colleague, > > NERC has published the final report of Experiment Earth? , our public > dialogue on geoengineering. It can be found > at:http://www.nerc.ac.uk/about/consult/geoengineering.asptogether with a > short leaflet summarising the findings and recommendations from the report. > > The latest issue of NERC's Planet Earth magazine also contains an > article about the public dialogue, which can be found > here:http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=744 > > Regards, > > Peter > > Peter Hurrell > > Stakeholder Liaison Officer | Policy and Partnerships Team > > Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) > > Putting NERC science to use: find out more through NERC s Science > Impacts Database <http://sid.nerc.ac.uk/> > > -- > This message (and any attachments) is for the recipient only. NERC > is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the contents > of this email and any reply you make may be disclosed by NERC unless > it is exempt from release under the Act. Any material supplied to > NERC may be stored in an electronic records management system. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
