Abstract
In this article, the author uses a critical political economy approach to provide a basic topology of the current state of geoengineering research, funding and testing. The central argument is that the material and discursive monopolisation of geoengineering research and discussion by elite groups—political, economic and scientific-technological—has led to the marginalisation of the public from this debate and has presented a distorted view of its (geoengineering’s) need. Its connection to the main theme of this conference is located in the very clear nexus between climate change, the potentially disastrous outcomes of increased global warming and an examination of the potentially equally dangerous consequences of technologically intensive solutions (like geoengineering) that do not address but disregard the core problem: overconsumption based a resource-extractive and energy-intensive economic system. This piece begins with a brief introduction to geoengineering technologies. I then outline the critical political economy approach which is, at its core, a historically and socially reflexive method that focuses on unpacking the “production and reproduction of…structures” (Mosco 1996, 29) of privilege, followed by a brief justification of why it is pertinent in this context. Following this, the author delivers a critical snapshot of some of the most striking, and simultaneously troubling, geoengineering research currently taking place worldwide. The paper ends with a call for the public to get aggressively involved in learning about geoengineering and engaging in critically informed geoengineering activism, both online and offline.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
American geophysical union (2011) AGU position statement. http://www.agu.org/sci_pol/positions/geoengineering.shtml
American meteorological association (2009) Geoengineering the climate system: a policy statement of the American Meteorological Society (20 July 2009). http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/2009geoengineeringclimate_amsstatement.html
Bagdikian BH (2005) The endless chain. In: Sevigny E (ed) Introduction to Communication. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, pp 173–184
Blackstock J, Suarez P, Aalst M (2010) Towards a people-centered framework for geoengineering governance: a human-centered approach. Geoengineering Q 2(4):115–127
Climate institute (2010) About us. http://www.climate.org/about/index.html
Comor E (1994) Introduction. In: Comor E (ed) The global political economy of communication: hegemony, telecommunication and the information economy. St. Martin’s, New York, pp 1–20
Feenberg A (1995) Alternative Modernity. University of California, Berkeley
Garnham N (2009) Contribution to a political economy of mass-communication. In: Durham GI, Kellner M (eds) Media and cultural studies: keyworks. Blackwell, London, pp 201–229
Government Accountability Office (GAO) (2010) Climate change: preliminary observations on geoengineering science, federal efforts, and governance issues, Testimony before the committee on science and technology, House of representatives. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10546t.pdf
Hackett R (2000) Taking back the media: notes on the potential for a communicative democracy movement. Stud Political Econ 63:61–86
Integrated assessment of geoengineering proposals (2011) About IAGP. http://iagp.webapp3.uea.ac.uk/about-iagp
Izrael YA, Zakharov VM, Petrov NN, Ryaboshapko AG, Ivanov VN, Savechenko AV, Andreev YV, Puzov A, Danelyan BG, Kulyapin VP (2009a) Field experiment on studying solar radiation passing through aerosol layers. Russ Meteorol Hydrol 34(5):265–273
Izrael YA, Ryaboshapko AG, Petrov NN (2009b) Comparative analysis of geo-engineering approaches to climate stabilization. Russ Meteorol Hydrol 34(6):335–347
Kintisch E (2010a) Bill Gates funding geoengineering research. ScienceInsider. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/01/bill-gates-fund.html
Kintisch E (2010b) National academy report calls for geoengineering research. ScienceInsider. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/05/national-academy-report-calls-fo.html
Lipschutz R (2010) Political economy, capitalism, and popular culture. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
MacCracken MC (2010) Beyond mitigation: potential options for counter-balancing the climatic and environmental consequences of the rising concentration of greenhouse gases. Background paper to the 2010 world development report, pp 1–45
McChesney RW (2000) The political economy of communication and the future of the field. Media Cult Soc 22(1):109–116
McChesney RW, Schiller D (2003) The political economy of international communications: foundations for the emerging global debate about media ownership and regulation. Technology, business and society programme paper, Vol 11. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva
Mosco V (1996) The political economy of communication. Sage, London
Novim Group (2009) Climate engineering responses to climate emergencies. http://arxiv.org/pdf/0907.5140
Revkin AC (2009) Branson on the power of biofuels and elders New York Times. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/branson-on-space-climate-biofuel-elders/
Silverstone R (1999) Why study the media? Sage, London
Smythe DW (2009) On the audience commodity and its work. In: Meenakshi GD, Kellner DM (eds) Media and cultural studies: keyworks. Blackwell, London, pp 230–256
The Carbon War Room (2011) http://www.carbonwarroom.com/
The Climate Response Fund (2010a) About us. http://www.climateresponsefund.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=54
The Climate Response Fund (2010b) The asilomar conference: recommendations on principles into climate engineering techniques. http://www.climateresponsefund.org/images/Conference/finalfinalreport.pdf
The Royal Society (2009) Geoengineering the climate: science, governance an uncertainty. The Royal Society, London
Vance E (2010) Geoengineering divides scientists Environmental Research Web. http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/41830
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sikka, T. (2013). An Analysis of the Connection Between Climate Change, Technological Solutions and Potential Disaster Management: The Contribution of Geoengineering Research. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management. Climate Change Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31110-9_35
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31110-9_35
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-31109-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-31110-9
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)