Missoula panel: climate change framed as an ethical and justice issue, not only a scientific or economic one

Missoula — A panel discussion of scientists and ethicists here argued that the scientific case for human-driven climate change is strong and that the central questions for policymakers are ethical: who should bear the costs of mitigation and adaptation, what constitutes a fair share of allowable emissions, and whether the harms amount to rights violations.

The panelists — a geophysicist identified in the program as Rebecca (listed in the transcript as Rebecca Vindig), Clark (head of a bioethics program at Iowa State University; last name not specified in the transcript) and Don Brown of Penn State — said science supplies the facts but ethics must shape what governments and societies do next.

"The scientific community has given enough evidence to make the argument that we ought to do something about that," the geophysicist said, urging scientists to engage as citizens as well as observers. The remark came after a summary of two scientific foundations: the physical greenhouse effect and long-term CO2 records from observatories such as Mauna Loa.

Don Brown, who described a multi‑university project on the ethics of climate change, told the audience that stabilization choices will have life-or-death consequences: "The issue of where we stabilize…