Jon Symons joins us to talk about the politics of inequality in climate change innovation. We discuss geoengineering (large-scale climate interventions, like thinning clouds or reflecting sun rays back into space) and the risks and benefits those projects present. We talk about who should be in charge of these initiatives, and why the developing world should be allowed to develop to the extent the rich world did. We end with our favorite question: where do you see progress in the world today? Jon’s answer includes snippets from his extensive research in the world of LGBTQ equality.
Jon Symons is a Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia. He’s an expert on international environmental policies and norms. In the latest edition of the Breakthrough Journal, Jon asks whether the policy conversation over geoengineering is fundamentally unjust. You can read his thoughtful essay here.
Find a full transcript of the interview here.
Mentioned in this episode:
Jon Symons introduces his recent book, Queer Wars, which delves into why visible sexual diversity has induced increasingly polarized reactions.
William Meyer’s book, The Progressive Environmental Prometheans: Left-Wing Heralds of a “Good Anthropocene”, which explores the belief that humans can and should master nature.
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was central in igniting the environmental movement, but today, perhaps we’ve gone too far in our caution towards human intervention.
Hans Rosling’s TED talk on how to think about population growth: “Let my dataset change your mindset."
