Reason in a Dark Time: Why the Struggle Against Climate Change Failed -- and What It Means for Our Future
Dale Jamieson
Abstract
We are stuck with climate change. This book is about what it is, why we are stuck with it, what we can learn from our failures, and how we can go on from here. Climate change is not a problem that conforms to our traditional models of individual morality and global justice. Indeed, it is not a single problem but a cluster of challenges. We will have to abandon the Promethean dream of a certain, decisive solution and instead engage with the messy world of temporary victories and local solutions while a new world comes into focus. Adaptation is both unavoidable and extremely important, but this ... More
We are stuck with climate change. This book is about what it is, why we are stuck with it, what we can learn from our failures, and how we can go on from here. Climate change is not a problem that conforms to our traditional models of individual morality and global justice. Indeed, it is not a single problem but a cluster of challenges. We will have to abandon the Promethean dream of a certain, decisive solution and instead engage with the messy world of temporary victories and local solutions while a new world comes into focus. Adaptation is both unavoidable and extremely important, but this volume also argues for the adoption of practical policies of abatement and mitigation. Such policies will reduce costs and help to spread them; minimize losses of animals, plants, and ecosystems; and lower the risk of catastrophic climate change. Jamieson recommends seven policy priorities, three governing principles, and one focus of immediate action. The priorities, principles, and immediate action that Jamieson suggests are practical and actionable. They do not require comprehensive agreements across large diverse populations in order to be implemented. Despite the unprecedented nature of the challenge, it matters what we do and how we live. Human life will have meaning as long as there are people to take up the burden.
Keywords:
Climate change,
morality,
global justice,
adaptation,
abatement,
mitigation,
meaning of life
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199337668 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: April 2014 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199337668.001.0001 |
