Swimming upstream: Engaging the American public early on climate engineering

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Calls for public participation in climate engineering research and governance have appeared in numerous scientific and policy reports on the topic, indicating a desire for transparency and public oversight. But meaningful public engagement can require more of scientists and regulatory agencies than many realize. Over the past several decades, researchers and practitioners have developed many different methodologies to enable citizens to productively engage with experts and policy makers about emerging scientific and technological issues such as climate engineering. In fact, the United Kingdom has already convened several public participation exercises on climate engineering. Now is the time for federal agencies in the United States to start similar processes. The public is ready to discuss climate engineering. Are American scientists and decision makers ready to reciprocate?

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)38-48
Number of pages11
JournalBulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Volume70
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

Funding

This essay is based on research supported by the US National Science Foundation grant number SES 0958095 and a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program.

Funder number
SES 0958095

    UN SDGs

    This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

    1. SDG 13 - Climate Action
      SDG 13 Climate Action

    Keywords

    • CDR
    • ENMOD
    • SRM
    • carbon dioxide removal
    • climate engineering
    • geoengineering
    • public engagement
    • solar radiation management

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