Under A White Sky - We are no longer just members of a nation. We are global citizens.

 Topic Forty

We are no longer just members of a nation. We are global citizens.

“The idea that somehow research on solar geoengineering is going to open Pandora’s box, I think that’s just unbelievably naïve,” Schrag said. “Do you really believe that the U.S. military or the Chinese military haven’t thought about this? Come on! They’ve done cloud-seeding for rain. This is not a new idea, and it’s not a secret. 

“People have to get their heads away from thinking about whether they like solar geoengineering or not, whether they think it should be done or not. They have to understand that we don’t get to decide. The United States doesn’t get to decide. You’re a world leader and there’s a technology that could take the pain and suffering away, or take some of it away. You’ve got to be really tempted. I’m not saying they’ll do it tomorrow. I feel like we might have thirty years. The highest priority for scientists is to figure out all the different ways this could go wrong.”

Kolbert, Elizabeth. Under a White Sky (p. 185). Crown. Kindle Edition. 

Shrag seems to be saying that whether homo sapiens uses geoengineering or not to manage climate change is a question which is naive and ignorant. We already are. The question is which type of geoengineering are we going to use and how will we make decisions about how to control it.?

The additional idea is that geoengineering is not a national problem it is a global one. One country alone doesn’t get to decide. Homos sapiens is way past the point where we can limit our thinking to nationalism. We all are part of a global community whether we recognize it or not, whether we like it or not.