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Climate Change (Acute Health Concerns # (Worsening air quality, Rising…

- - - - Uncertainty in future
      - Physical risks/damage (flooding, fires, etc)
      - Health issues
      - Job loss
      - Deterioration in quality of life
    - - New job opportunities
      - Improvements in quality of life due to innovation
  - - - Certain regions of the world will get hit hardest (low-lying island nations, sub-Saharan Africa, etc)
      - Displacement/migration #
      - Increased poverty
      - Health concerns
    - - Migration may lead them to greater economic opportunity
      - Improvements in quality of life due to innovation
  - - - Supply chain complications
      - Regulation #
      - Conversion cost (tech) #
      - Risk of litigation
      - Reputation/PR issues
      - Risks to customers #
      - Physical risks/damage (flooding, fires, extreme weather, etc)
      - Corporate competition (global economy) #
      - Risks to employees #
    - - New markets
      - Improved reputation/PR (corporate social responsibility)
      - Technological innovation Potential for tech innovation
  - - - Risks to citizens (tax base) #
      - Risks to corporations (tax base) #
      - Litigation
    - - New tax revenue opportunities
      - Improved reputation/PR
      - More regulations = expanded role
- - - - Rise in sea level
        
        Decrease in food production
        
        Deforestation #
        
        Rise in poverty #
        
        Increase in migration # # #
        
        Increase in disease
      - Ice & snow melt # #
        
        Species endangerment/die-off, invasive species # #
  - - - Contentious political environment surrounding climate change "beliefs" Many politicians and constituents don't believe in climate change, or find it inconvenient to their economic interests Current administration does not believe in global climate change
      - Extreme weather correlated with violence
        http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/opinion/sunday/weather-and-violence.html
- - - - Are certain lives worth more/less than others?
      - Is it ethical to consider CBA at all?
      - Non-quantifiable/non-commensurable variables?
      - Discount rate? # #
  - - - Wind
        
        Cons
        
        Use rare-earth elements (extracted used highly polluting processes)
        
        Not as efficient as fossil fuels
        
        Aesthetically damaging to landscape
        
        Disrupt wildlife (birds) #
        
        Expensive (installation, maintenance, etc)
        
        Pros
        
        Create jobs #
        
        Clean energy
      - Solar
        
        Cons
        
        Use rare-earth elements (extracted used highly polluting processes)
        
        Not as efficient as fossil fuels (<50% efficiency)
        
        Expensive (installation, maintenance, etc)
        
        Disrupt wildlife #
        
        Pros
        
        Clean energy
        
        Create jobs #
      - Nuclear
        
        Cons
        
        Potentially catastrophic consequences (Chernobyl, Fukushima)
        
        Requires massive infrastructure accommodations
        
        Technologically complicated
        
        Pros
        
        Very efficient
        
        Relatively clean energy
        
        Create jobs #
      - Hydroelectric
        
        Pros
        
        Create jobs #
        
        Clean energy
        
        Efficient
        
        Cons
        
        Expensive (installation, maintenance, etc)
        
        Aesthetically damaging to landscape
        
        Disrupt wildlife (fish) #
    - - Cons
        
        Effectiveness is unclear
        
        Ethical concerns
        
        Could result in many serious unintended consequences
        
        Who would get to make the decisions about it?
        
        Unclear who would be affected
        
        Could make things worse in the long-term
      - Pros
        
        Fast-acting
        
        Technologically feasible
        
        Scalable
        
        Affordable
        
        Proven to work (not just theoretical)
    - - Carbon tax
      - Cap-and-trade
      - Energy subsidies
      - Science R&D subsidies
      - Treaty agreements
      - Command-and-control
      - Leakages
        
        Output-based/emissions-based subsidies
        
        Border tax adjustment
    - - Cons
        
        Requires energy itself
        
        Whose land is it stored on/under?
        
        Leakage concerns
        
        Slow acting
      - Pros
        
        Low risk, safe -- no drastic changes
        
        Proven to work (not just theoretical)
  - - - Some adaptation will always be necessary (mitigation alone won't solve all the problems)
      - Benefits from adaptation are received in the country that incurs the costs, (no free-rider problem) #
      - Adaptation options may be relatively cheap
      - Adaptation actions may lead to tech innovation #
    - - Climatic change impacts today still are relatively small, so little need for adaptation, but there is potential for significant damage if mitigation is not undertaken
      - Less potential variability in outcomes of actions (compared to later adaptation)
      - Adaptation can increase vulnerability to extremes
  - - - Lack of political/public support
      - Diffuse benefits
      - Concentrated losses
      - Free-rider problem: agents (individuals/corporations/countries) may benefit while not experiencing any costs
      - Issues of enforceability How to enforce laws when corporations can simply move to different country/jurisdiction? #
    - - Does addressing climate change necessarily hurt economic growth?
      - Cost of compliance/conversion
      - Global competition
    - - Difficult to change deep-seated cultural behavior (recycling, etc) Requires concerted effort on individual, household, community, corporate, state, national, and global levels
      - Climate change denial How to contend with people who refute clear scientific evidence?
      - Requires effort -- cannot be done passively (problem of inertia)
- - - - Consequentialism (the ends justify the means)
      - Deontology Duty
      - Virtue Ethics Character
      - Inconsequentialism All individuals/countries must make an effort, otherwise the issues will persist #
        
        Various appeals
        
        Appeal to duty
        
        Appeal to amplifying effects
        
        Appeal to character
        
        Appeal to agent benefit
        
        Valid concern?
    - - Individual
      - Community
      - Nation
      - Society
      - Global
      - Household/peer group
      - Corporation
    - - "Arm the future"?
        
        How?
        
        Implement solutions now?
        
        Reserve economic resources now in hopes that better tech comes along in the future?
        
        Should we focus on ourselves or the future? Discount rate
      - Personal responsibilities?
      - Energy independence
      - Overpopulation
      - Quality of life
      - Who has legitimate moral authority to make sweeping, critical decisions? #
      - Value of human life
        
        Domestic (US) lives worth 'more' than foreign lives? How much more?
        
        Current lives worth 'more' than future lives? How much?
  - - - Blackbody radiation/Natural GH effect
      - Mass balance considerations
      - GHG radiative forcing
    - - ΔGHG conc.
      - Chemical fingerprints
      - Precip. patterns
      - Global ice & snow (loss)
      - Global sea level (rise)
      - Δalbedo
      - Δsolar output
      - Land & ocean temps (rise)
      - Stratospheric cooling
      - Ocean acidifcation
    - - Long-term geologic record
      - Short-term geologic record
    - - General circulation models
      - Geochemical box models
      - Future projections
        
        Uncertainty
        
        Clouds
        
        Internal feedback loops
        
        Indications
        
        Unequivocal warming
        
        Reliability
        
        Variation between models
        
        Consistent trend
- - - - Native American land rights
      - Citizens of impoverished nations