Young 1 Ashley Young Professor J.

Salvo Environmental Communication March 17, 2014 Climate Engineering

This paper will focus on the use of climate engineering to reduce global warming. For this paper the theme Movements for Sustainability and Climate Justice from chapter two was used since it discusses the relationship between nature and the human culture. Humans have been altering the natural world for years, whether from burning trees or fertilizing soil. The theme of Advocacy Campaigns and Critical Rhetoric from chapter eight was also focused on since there are environmental advocacy groups who are against the use of climate engineering. Climate engineering focuses on manipulating the environment to offset climate change and sustain human life (University of Southampton).

Quotes from the Chapter:

1. Over the past two decades, a diverse movement has grown in many countries. Throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, and Australia, and the Pacific Islands, countless numbers of local and regional groups have challenged unsustainable and inequitable practices in their societies. These challenges often are similar to the antagonisms described earlierefforts to protect natural systems, safeguard human health, and secure social justice (p.50). This quote expresses how many countries were involved in the advocacy of protecting the environment from any corruption that would lead to the depletion of common goods and the natural world. Many people wanted to secure the health of the climate that they were living in so

Young 2 they confronted those who wanted to use nature as their guinea pig and practice unruly experiments that they believed would lead to disruption of oceans, forests, and other natural resources. People were not in favor of scientists and corporations bringing disorder to their areas and altering the local resources that they used to survive, such as oceans that were used for fishing or swimming and soil and water used for farming their crops. 2. A fourth antagonism has, therefore, begun to emergethe challenge of building a more sustainable world in the face of disruptive or unsustainable social and economic systems. Sustainability is admittedly an elusive term. For some, the sustainability is nothing less than a rethinking and remaking of our role in the natural world. It is a recalibration of human intentions to coincide with the way the biophysical world works (p.51). This quote is basically expressing how it is difficult for scientists, corporations, etc. to focus on achieving a more sustainable world when there are people out there who disagree with the ideas that they present and the economy is not stable enough for the production of a more sustainable world, as they see it. The quote also articulates one definition of sustainability, which essentially expresses that sustainability is how humans play a role in the natural world where we sort of dominate nature in order to co-exist with it in a way that we see fit. Instead of leaving nature to be self-correcting and taking it as it is, we interfere with our modern technology in order to fix it; when sometimes we actually worsen the conditions. In an essence, we view nature as a commodity, just here to satisfy our wants and needs.

Young 3 3. the warming of Earths climate is unequivocal. Furthermore, it has warned that such anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions are very likely the cause of the increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century (p.51). What this quote pronounces is that human interference has only worsened the climate and expedited global warming. In the process of trying to make a more sustainable world, we actually made it more unsustainable. 4. In providing a voice for those who may have no means of expression, advocacy groups act as intermediaries between individuals and the large, often impersonal institutions of public life (p.210). This quote explains how environmental advocacy groups are present to voice the opinion of citizens and members of the public who may not feel as though they are being heard or are as impactful. Environmental advocates in the case of climate engineering would be arguing the fact that manipulating the environment even more may bring more harm and therefore should not be an available option when determining how to better sustain human life. These advocates are the middle-men between the opposing public and the organizations that are in favor of climate engineering, leaning more towards protecting and supporting the citizen. For example, the ETC Group, which is the most effective group opposing geoengineering research (Keith, 138) focuses on being a voice for the poor and the public, and oppose organizations who are interested in altering the natural world more instead of returning back to more natural ways of agricultural and human sustainability. The themes of movements for sustainability and climate justice and advocacy campaigns overlap. Both the movements for sustainability/climate justice and advocacy groups focus on

Young 4 preventing inequitable practices that are meant to improve the sustainability of human life, due to the fact that the past harmful effects on nature that these practices have brought have been more negative than positive. The movements for sustainability and climate justice include people who prove that the people who are the least responsible for the climate changes that nature is going through are impacted the most negatively by its effects. Major organizations continue to alter the climate of earth hoping to get better outcomes, but when plans do not go as accordingly, everyday citizens are the people who suffer the most. The people who are involved in the movements for sustainability and climate justice are basically advocates for the injustice and unfair treatment of nature and the citizens who are negatively impacted by geoengineering developments. This is how advocacy campaigns overlap with the movements for sustainability. Environmental advocates share the same primary focus as the people in the movements for climate injustice and sustainability, preventing organizations from further destroying the climate with their technological developments. Advocates provide a voice for those who may have no means of expression (Cox, 210). Advocacy groups have many ways in which they can communicate their point. The use of critical rhetoric allows for environmentalists to publicly criticize the actions of organizations while offering an alternative view that they see more fit for a particular environmental issue. Environmentalists are able to raise awareness of environmental issues by using symbolic artifacts, such as words or photos, to give imagery of how crucial an environmental issue is. Another mean of preventing environmental injustice used by advocates is the use of advocacy campaigns, which allow environmental advocates to take a more strategic approach to environmental issues. Advocacy campaigns are meant to win a victory or bring about a concrete outcome (Cox, 213), which is why it is more of an advanced approach than

Young 5 critical rhetoric because it goes further than just questioning or criticizing policies and instead looks to change and challenge policies. My theory is that organizations care more about testing their developments than the safety of earths climate and its inhabitants. Scientists are constantly developing new ways to right their wrongs without taking into account that the earths climate has gone downhill because of their intervention in its natural process. Scientists arent just working to improve the climate for the sake of refining sustainability, but also to use the climate as a test dummy for their developments. If it were not for the many environmentalists of the world creating movements for climate justice or developing advocacy campaigns to change environmental policies then scientists would be able to continue with destroying earths climate and natural resources without any interference. My theory applies once again to the contemporary environmental issue of climate engineering. Climate engineering is a type of geoengineering that deliberately intervenes with Earths climatic system on a large-scale in order to reduce global warming. As of March 4th, 2014, scientists who are backed by the government and billionaire Bill Gates, have developed ships that will spew salt into the air in order to block sunlight and carbon vacuums to suck carbon from the air all in order to reduce global warming (Halper). The financial backing of such inventions keep the ideas thriving and moving forward in development, but the lack of support from the public and environmentalists are helping to defer the actual deployment of the inventions. Even scientists and government officials know the risks of these inventions could be disastrous in comparison the benefits, yet they are continuing with the proposals of such inventions. With the help of environmental groups these type of tactics can be halted and fought against, but if it were not for groups such as the ETC Group then scientists and the government

Young 6 would be free to continue to alter earths climate instead of giving it a chance to self-correct or just facing the reality of its demise at the hands of human intervention. The issue of climate engineering is best explained by my theory because as I have previously stated my theory focuses on the enforcement of climate justice by environmentalists being significant to the prevention of scientists and government officials being able to do as they please with earths climate. Climate engineering is a process that many scientists want to happen and it is being financially funded in abundance but because there are so many people who are voicing their opposition and fighting to stop the plan from coming to fruition the earth is still free of the many technologies that are being designed to further alter its climate cycles. Though there is a chance that environmental movements, strikes, and campaigns may still not be enough to stop the earth from becoming completely geoengineered, the diversion that the environmentalists cause is giving earth a significant amount of time to be free of further manipulation. Many people have no idea what is going on with the world when it comes to environmental issues unless it is some type of event that gains publicity. Environmentalists protect and speak for those who are ignorant of the current condition of earths climate. Applications such as climate engineering dont come up in normal everyday conversations, so environmentalists are there to bring awareness to such subjects and educate the public about the negative effects being brought upon earth through scientific technologies.

* I have started to develop strong feelings toward climate engineering and environmental issues altogether due to the research that I have to do for these assignments. Thank you for helping me to unveil my inner environmentalist *

Young 7 References Cox, Robert. "Movements for Sustainability and Climate Justice." Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013. 50-51. Print. Halper, Evan. "Climate Engineering Ideas No Longer Considered Pie in the Sky."www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 04 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Keith, David W. A Case for Climate Engineering. Cambridge: MIT, 2013. Google Books. Google Inc, 04 Oct. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. University of Southampton. "Climate Engineering: What do the public think?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 January 2014. Web. 1 February 2014.