Winsberg, Eric
(2019)
A modest defense of geoengineering research.
[Preprint]
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Abstract
This paper examines the ethics of geoengineering research--particular research regarding solar radiation management using stratospheric aerosols. It takes a broadly consequentialist approach. The goal is to estimate the expected utility of conducting the research itself. The approach is to make no appeals to fundamental research freedoms; nor to simply assume from the fact that the expected utility of pursuing geoengineering implementations presently looks negative, that the research itself has negative expected utility. The paper asks, instead: Assuming that the balance of risks at the present moment looks stacked against the wisdom of pursuing a particular implementation, are there in fact good reasons for opposing mere research into geoengineering strategies? It concludes that a modest defense of this research is warranted.
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