https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3486990#.XdBhq0dzOPk.twitter


Green Moral Hazards
NYU Wagner Research Paper Forthcoming

26 Pages
Posted: 16 Nov 2019
Gernot Wagner
New York University (NYU) - Department of Environmental Studies; New York
University (NYU) - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Daniel Zizzamia
Harvard University

Date Written: November 13, 2019

Abstract
Moral hazards are ubiquitous. Green ones typically involve technological
fixes: Using technology to solve an environmental problem is morally
fraught because it absolves actors from taking more difficult, disciplined
steps towards a longer-lasting, systemic solution. Underneath this veneer
of simplicity lies historically rooted complexity that makes moral-hazard
arguments unhelpful guides for environmental policy and not just in a
strictly utilitarian expected-value framework. The moral core of modern
environmentalism—pure nature—is a chimera. Moreover, as environmentalism
became an integral part of American culture, it engulfed a wide range of
constituencies with diverse perspectives and political goals. When a green
moral hazard is applied, its adherents attempt to wrestle with the chimera
to make a political statement about the world. Thus, rather than retreating
into the labyrinth of the green moral hazard and pitting technofixes
against deeper systemic transformation, technofixes like geoengineering
should be discussed out in the open in ways that encourage what philosopher
Helen Longino labels, “transformative criticism.” Doing so would also
greatly expand the attention paid to the underlying environmental problem
in the first place, in essence using (solar) geoengineering to expand the
broader climate conversation.

Keywords: risk compensation, environmentalism, nature, climate, technology,
geoengineering

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"geoengineering" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAJ3C-05eJgro%3DajoLrsDMdBVMcnvheQvJBcwNXoAw%2BMHckdTDQ%40mail.gmail.com.

Reply via email to