University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2015 Vulnerable Populations' Perspectives on Climate Engineering Wylie Allen Carr Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Carr, Wylie Allen, "Vulnerable Populations' Perspectives on Climate Engineering" (2015). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 10864. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/10864 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VULNERABLE POPULATIONS’ PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE ENGINEERING By WYLIE ALLEN CARR B.A. in Religious Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 2006 M.S. in Resource Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, 2010 Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Forest and Conservation Sciences The University of Montana Missoula, MT December 2015 Approved by: Sandy Ross, Dean of The Graduate School Dr. Laurie A. Yung, Chair Department of Society and Conservation Dr. Michael E. Patterson College of Forestry and Conservation Dr. Jill M. Belsky Department of Society and Conservation Dr. Christopher J. Preston Department of Philosophy Dr. Jason J. Blackstock Department of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Public Policy University College London © COPYRIGHT by Wylie Allen Carr 2015 All Rights Reserved ii Abstract Carr, Wylie A., Ph.D., December 2015 Forest and Conservation Sciences Vulnerable Populations’ Perspectives on Climate Engineering Chairperson: Dr. Laurie A. Yung Over the past decade, climate engineering—or the intentional, large-scale manipulation of the global environment to reduce or reverse anthropogenic climate change—has garnered increasing attention from scientists and policymakers. However, impacts from climate engineering will be unevenly distributed. Vulnerable populations already being disproportionately impacted by climate change might benefit or be made worse off. As such, legislators, members of the public, and academics alike have asserted that vulnerable populations deserve to have a say in the research and development of climate engineering technologies and the policies that will govern them. These calls have gone largely unfulfilled. The research presented in this dissertation was designed to help fill that gap. This project set out to answer two main research questions: First, how do vulnerable populations think climate engineering could affect them? And second, how could such populations be more effectively involved in future research and governance efforts? Drawing on 89 in-depth interviews with Solomon Islanders, Kenyans, and Alaska Natives, this dissertation examines perspectives from vulnerable populations on social, political, and ethical issues related to climate engineering. Specific findings are presented in a series of three manuscripts. The First Manuscript focuses on interviewees’ overall perspectives on climate engineering. The majority of interviewees across all three sites indicated they were willing to consider climate engineering. However, this willingness was both reluctant and conditional. The Second Manuscript focuses on ethical aspects of climate engineering and explores interviewee assertions that climate engineering could represent an extension of dominant society control over vulnerable populations. These findings corroborate ethical research suggesting that members of dominant societies need to vigilantly avoid moral corruption and ensure that climate engineering does not further erode the self-determination of vulnerable populations. The Third Manuscript examines interviewee perspectives on different governance frameworks for climate engineering. Quite a few interviewees argued that regional organizations could play a critical role in the governance of climate engineering research. A concluding chapter draws out connections between the three manuscripts, and suggests directions for policy-making and future research. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank all of the Solomon Islanders, Alaska Natives, and Kenyans who so generously welcomed me into their homes and places of work and took the time the speak with me. I am grateful not only for their willingness to share their thoughts and opinions with me, but also their stories and cultures. I feel incredibly fortunate to have visited the incredible places the participants in this study call home. I relied heavily on research partnerships with a number of people and organizations to pull of this multi-sited effort. This project would not have been possible without considerable help from Chris Filardi, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Solomon Islands Community Conservation Program in the Solomon Islands; the Barrett family, David Pettigrew, Glenn Sheehan, and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium in Alaska; and Nathaniel Robinson and the Olare Orok & Motorogi Trust in Kenya. I also received a great deal of assistance with the film used in this study from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany and Gravity Media Productions in Missoula, Montana. Funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation (grant number SES 0958095), a Science to Achieve Results Graduate Fellowship from the Environmental Protection Agency, and several scholarships from the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. I would like to thank Brian Wynne, Bron Szerszynski, and Clare Waterton with the Sociology Department at Lancaster University for allowing me to study under them as a visiting doctoral student. I would like to thank all of the faculty and staff at the University of Montana who invested their time, energy, and talents in this project through teaching and mentoring, and/or providing logistical and administrative support. I would also like to thank my fellow graduate students who provided friendship, encouragement, and commiseration over the years. I would like to express my gratitude for all of the support, encouragement, and feedback provided by my committee members, Mike Patterson, Jill Belsky, Christopher Preston, and Jason Blackstock. It has been an honor and privilege to work with them, and this project has benefitted immensely from their intellectual contributions. I want to extend a very special thank you to my chair and advisor, Laurie Yung for the incredible amount of time and effort that she put into this research project. I also want to thank her for her mentorship throughout the graduate school process. Finally, I cannot begin to express the depth of gratitude I feel towards my wife Austen and my two beautiful daughters for their support. They have kept me grounded and provided my greatest source of joy and laughter. iv Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCTION 1 CLIMATE ENGINEERING: A DEFINITION & BRIEF HISTORY 2 CLIMATE ENGINEERING: PROSPECTIVE TECHNIQUES & POTENTIAL IMPACTS 5 RESEARCH JUSTIFICATION: THE NEED TO INCLUDE VULNERABLE POPULATIONS 13 DISSERTATION OUTLINE 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODS 21 INTRODUCTION 21 STUDY POPULATION 22 STUDY AREAS 27 STUDY PARTICIPANTS 32 DATA COLLECTION 37 DATA ANALYSIS 40 QUOTATION SELECTION 43 STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS 45 CHAPTER 3: RELUCTANT BUT ACCEPTING: AN EXAMINATION OF PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE ENGINEERING FROM THE SOUTH PACIFIC, NORTH AMERICAN ARCTIC, AND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 61 INTRODUCTION 61 PERSPECTIVES FROM WEALTHY, DEVELOPED NATIONS 65 PERSPECTIVES FROM VULNERABLE POPULATIONS 67 METHODS 69 RESULTS 74 CLIMATE CHANGE 74 PRIOR AWARENESS 76 RELUCTANT ACCEPTANCE 78 NEGATIVE AND UNANTICIPATED IMPACTS 82 CONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE 84 CONCLUSION 88 v CHAPTER 4: SKEWED VULNERABILITIES AND MORAL CORRUPTION IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE ENGINEERING 94 INTRODUCTION 94 SKEWED VULNERABILITIES 97 MORAL CORRUPTION 100 METHODS 102 RESULTS & DISCUSSION 105 SKEWED VULNERABILITIES 106 GEOGRAPHIC VULNERABILITY 110 ECONOMIC VULNERABILITY 112 POLITICAL VULNERABILITY 114 LACK OF INFLUENCE IN TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 115 WILLINGNESS TO CONSIDER AND MORAL FAILURE 118 CONCLUSION: AVOIDING MORAL CORRUPTION 120 CHAPTER 5: REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND CLIMATE ENGINEERING GOVERNANCE 125 INTRODUCTION 125 CAN EXISTING GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES ACCOMMODATE CLIMATE ENGINEERING? 127 HOW INCLUSIVE SHOULD GOVERNANCE BE? 129 REGIONAL GOVERNANCE 133 METHODS 136 RESULTS 139 CONCERNS EMBEDDED IN GOVERNANCE RECOMMENDATIONS 140 PROS AND CONS OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORKS 143 A ROLE FOR REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS? 148 DISCUSSION 153 CRITIQUES OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORKS 153 WHY REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS? THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS 154 POTENTIAL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 156 CONCLUSION 158 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 160 INTRODUCTION 160 CHAPTER 3: THE PERSPECTIVES MANUSCRIPT 161 CONNECTIONS TO THE OTHER MANUSCRIPTS 164 CHAPTER 4: THE ETHICS MANUSCRIPT 165 CONNECTIONS TO THE OTHER MANUSCRIPTS 167 CHAPTER 5: THE GOVERNANCE MANUSCRIPT 169 vi CONNECTIONS TO THE OTHER MANUSCRIPTS 172 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN PERSPECTIVES ACROSS THE SAMPLE 173 GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 184 GOVERNANCE