Experiment Earth: Responsible innovation in geoengineering

243 Pages·2015·1.206 MB·English

by  Jack Stilgoe

Experiment Earth
In recent years, experiments in geoengineering – intentionally manipulating
the Earth’s climate to reduce global warming – have become the focus of a vital
debate about the intended and unintended consequences of innovation, raising
profound social, political and ethical questions.
This book explores these issues through the lens of the research project SPICE
(Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering), one of the first major
geoengineering studies worldwide which aims to put particles high into the
atmosphere to cut the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface. Drawing
on three years of sociological research working with the scientists investigating
the idea of geoengineering, the book examines how experiments become contro-
versial and why many are calling for the scientific community and civil society
to rethink how we govern emerging technologies. It illustrates broader dynamics
that are highly relevant to wider debates on science and technology governance
and the responsibilities of scientists to take better care of the futures they help
bring about.
This book takes a critical stance on existing assumptions about ethical issues
in science, giving students, researchers and the general reader interested in the
place of science in contemporary society a compelling framework for future
thinking and discussion.
Jack Stilgoe is a lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Studies
at University College London, UK.
‘How should society react when the technological imagination seizes on the Earth
itself as an experimental system? In this graceful critique of magical thinking,
Stilgoe dissects the moves by which some came to see geoengineering as a project
that not only can be done but must be done. An essential addition to the renewed
debate on climate change, the book invites citizens and policy makers to think
again about expert claims of inevitability, and to retake the future as a space for
ethical and democratic imagining.’
Sheila Jasanoff, Harvard Kennedy School, USA
‘Experiment Earth is a book that is urgently needed. As human development
becomes ever-more interwoven with the evolution of climate, Stilgoe asks a
profound question: “What does it mean to take responsibility for global cli-
mate?” His answer is more than about climate and science, and more than about
geoengineering technologies. It is about how we see ourselves as responsible
human beings, exercising power, creativity and judgement in the world, whilst
remaining accountable to each other.’
Mike Hulme, King’s College London, UK
‘To geoengineer or not to geoengineer the climate will be one of the defining sci-
ence and environment policy questions of the next fifty years. In Experiment Earth,
Jack Stilgoe provides an indispensable guide to the theories, politics and per-
sonalities which have shaped this emerging debate. With his unique perspective
on the controversial SPICE project and the internal machinations of the Royal
Society, Stilgoe digs beneath more superficial media coverage, to understand
geoengineering as an experimental site for new approaches to the governance of
technology and innovation. Entertaining, informative and insightful, this book
should be read by all those who care about the future of science, democracy and
the environment.’
James Wilsdon, University of Sussex, UK
‘Climate engineering is a challenging subject to approach. One must walk
the line between normalisation of what, to many, appears unthinkable and a
manifesto for despair and inaction opposite the very real threat of climate change.
This book struggles admirably with this tension: what it is like to work on an idea
you hope never happens, and how could you ever control it? Stilgoe has been
afforded access to the scientists working in this difficult arena, building trust and
detailing our, and his, struggle to come to terms with the enormity of the prob-
lem. If you want to be inspired to wrestle with the intellectual challenges of how
one might govern climate engineering technologies there may never be a better
and more timely read than this.’
Matt Watson, University of Bristol, UK
Science in Society Series
Series Editor: Steve Rayner
Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, University of Oxford
Editorial Board: Jason Blackstock, Bjorn Ola Linner, Susan Owens, Timothy
O’Riordan, Arthur Peterson, Nick Pidgeon, Dan Sarewitz, Andy Stirling, Chris
Tyler, Andrew Webster, Steve Yearley
The Earthscan Science in Society Series aims to publish new high-quality
research, teaching, practical and policy-related books on topics that address the
complex and vitally important interface between science and society.
Vaccine Anxieties
Global Science, child health and society
Melissa Leach and James Fairhead
Democratizing Technology
Risk, responsibility and the Regulation of Chemicals
Anne Chapman
Genomics and Society
Legal, ethical and social dimensions
Edited by George Gaskell and Martin W. Bauer
A Web of Prevention
Biological weapons, life sciences and the governance of research
Edited by Brian Rappert and Caitrìona McLeish
Nanotechnology
Risk, ethics and law
Edited by Geoffrey Hunt and Michael Mehta
Unnatural Selection
The challenges of engineering tomorrow’s people
Edited by Peter Healey and Steve Rayner
Debating Climate Change
Pathways through argument to agreement
Elizabeth L. Malone
Business Planning for Turbulent Times
New methods for applying scenarios
Edited by Rafael Ramírez, John W. Selsky and Kees van der Heijden
Influenza and Public Health
Learning from past pandemics
Tamara Giles-Vernick, Susan Craddock and Jennifer Gunn
Animals as Biotechnology
Ethics, sustainability and critical animal studies
Richard Twine
Uncertainty in Policy Making
Values and evidence in complex decisions
Michael Heazle
The Limits to Scarcity
Contesting the politics of allocation
Lyla Mehta
Rationality and Ritual
Participation and exclusion in nuclear decision making, 2nd edn.
Brian Wynne
Integrating Science and Policy
Vulnerability and resilience in global environmental change
Edited by Roger E. Kasperson and Mimi Berberian
Dynamics of Disaster
Lessons on risk response and recovery
Rachel A. Dowty Beech and Barbara Allen
The Social Dynamics of Carbon Capture and Storage
Understanding CCS Representations, Governance and Innovation
Edited by Nils Markusson, Simon Shackley and Benjamin Evar
Science and Public Reason
Sheila Jasanoff
Marginalized Reproduction
Ethnicity, infertility and reproductive technologies
Edited by Lorraine Culley, Nicky Hudson and Floor van Rooij
Resolving Messy Policy Problems
Handling conflict in environmental, transport, health and ageing policy
Steven Ney
The Hartwell Approach to Climate Policy
Edited by Steve Rayner and Mark Caine
Reconstructing Sustainability Science
Knowledge and action for a sustainable future
Thaddeus R. Miller
Experiment Earth
Responsible innovation in geoengineering
Jack Stilgoe
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Experiment Earth
Responsible innovation in
geoengineering
Jack Stilgoe
First published 2015
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Jack Stilgoe
The right of Jack Stilgoe to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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ISBN: 978-0-415-73237-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-84919-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Goudy
by Swales & Willis, Exeter, Devon, UK
Cover image: © Ken Bosma / Flickr / creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,
Nor the furious winter’s rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene 2