Didn’t read quite as carefully as I could, but two quick comments:

i)                 the assumption in extending the argument to research is that 
more research increases the likelihood of SRM being used as an excuse not to 
mitigate; I suspect that is unfounded.  That is, more research may make it 
harder for uninformed decision-makers to have a naively optimistic view of SRM.

ii)                Even if I knew with absolute certainty that research on SRM 
would necessarily reduce mitigation, that does not mean that said research is a 
bad idea, for two reasons.  Even with a single-rational-actor view of the 
world, given uncertainty about impacts of climate change, less mitigation plus 
option for SRM might yield better outcomes.  But more importantly, I choose to 
wear my seat belt and would demand that my children (if I had any) did too, 
despite the fact that the “morally correct” path is for everyone to drive more 
carefully.  That is, I might want to have SRM available as an option because I 
don’t trust someone else to be doing the mitigating.  

 

That is, I don’t think the last line below (cautioning against research) 
follows from any of the arguments made in the paper.

 

doug

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] 
On Behalf Of Andrew Lockley
Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2015 3:25 PM
To: geoengineering <[email protected]>
Subject: [geo] Can we have it both ways? On potential trade-offs between 
Mitigation and Solar Radiation Management | Baatz

 

https://www.academia.edu/14643021/Can_we_have_it_both_ways_On_potential_trade-offs_between_Mitigation_and_Solar_Radiation_Management


Draft – Please cite the shortened version forthcoming in Environmental Values 
(25,1)

Can we have it both ways? On potential trade-offs between mitigation and Solar 
Radiation Management
Christian Baatz, Kiel University

Abstract
Many in the discourse on climate engineering agree that if deployment of Solar 
Radiation Management (SRM) technologies is ever permissible, then it must be 
accompanied by far-reaching mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This 
raises the question of if and how both strategies interact. Although raised in 
many publications, there are surprisingly few detailed investigations of this 
important issue. The paper aims at contributing to closing this research gap by 
(i) reconstructing moral hazard claims to clarify their aim, 
(ii) offering one specific normative justification for far-reaching mitigation 
and 
(iii) investigating in greater detail different mechanisms potentially causing 
a trade-off between mitigation and SRM. 

I conclude that the empirical evidence questioning the trade-off hypothesis is 
inconclusive. Moreover, theoretical reflections as well as economic model 
studies point to a trade-off. In our current epistemic situation these findings 
must be taken seriously. They caution against researching and developing SRM 
technologies before measures to avoid or minimize a trade-off are implemented.

Keywords:
Solar Radiation Management, Mitigation, Moral Hazard, Climate Engineering, 
Trade-Off

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