Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Return of Dr Strangelove: The politics of climate engineering as a response to global warming

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, June 13, 2010

The Return of Dr Strangelove: The politics of climate engineering as a response to global warming

from Clive Hamilton.net (Australia). This is a PDF document.

Taking control of the climate by injecting sulphur particles into the upper atmosphere sounds like science fiction, but there is now a powerful alliance of scientists and venture capitalists backing the idea. It looks like the ruling classes are becoming desperate in their attempts to ward off climate catastrophe in order to preserve their beloved capitalist system that demands ever increasing inputs of energy mostly in the form of fossil fuels.