Lecture on Environmental Recklessness and Climate Change

Introduction

• Spent a week on a research vessel with the University of South Florida team.
• Focus on BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Concerns over trace amounts of oil and dispersants affecting small marine life (phytoplankton).
• Reference to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring."

The Ongoing Impact of the BP Oil Spill

• Oil spill effects still unfolding, moving up the food chain.
• Rachel Carson warned about the interconnectedness of ecosystems.
• Misconception: 75% of oil disappeared.

Broader Implications of Recklessness

• BP spill illustrates lack of control over nature.
• Reckless behavior in other areas: wars, financial bubbles.

Climate Change and the Precautionary Principle

• Current climate policies favor cost-benefit analysis over precaution.
• Precautionary principle: act to prevent irreversible damage without perfect certainty.

Causes of Recklessness

• Greed and overconfidence (hubris) contribute to risky decisions.
• "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" - plaque seen as risky motivation.

Gender and Risk

• Women as investors are less prone to reckless risks due to less overconfidence.
• Cultural narratives of supremacy over nature contribute to recklessness.

The Limits of Nature

• Myths of limitless resources and resilience of nature.
• Reference to Motorola ad: "Slap Mother Nature in the face."
• Tony Hayward's quote on Gulf oil spill as a manifestation of this myth.

The Reality of Limits

• The Earth has finite resources; current lifestyle is unsustainable.
• Tar sands in Canada: massive environmental and health impacts.
• Fracking, deep-sea drilling, and tar sands as examples of extreme energy extraction.

The Problem with Growth Narratives

• Economic systems based on perpetual growth cannot last.
• Current practices are akin to insanity, accelerating harm when we should be cautious.

Geoengineering and Technology as Savior

• Ideas like shooting sulfates into the atmosphere as potential solutions.
• Geoengineering seen as a "junk shot," an escape hatch.
• Urgent need for new narratives and heroes.

Conclusion: Need for New Stories

• Challenge reckless behavior by embracing the precautionary principle.
• Engage in direct action to confront environmental harm.
• Recognize the finite nature of resources and the interconnectedness of actions.