Episode 20. Garrett Cullity on Climate Change

There is very little any given individual can do to address climate change. How, then, can individuals have a duty to act on carbon emissions? Our guest today, Garrett Cullity, sees a paradox here. He sees a problem drawing a line from collective responsibility for climate change to individual responsibility. Fortunately, Cullity also has a better solution for morally motivating individuals.

Episode 14. Matthew Rimmer on Intellectual Property and Clean Technologies

Climate change exposes the trade-off inherent in intellectual property protection. Research and development is expensive; companies won’t invest in it if they don’t expect to profit. Traditionally, profits from new technologies are provided by the exclusive rights granted by the patent system. But by granting patent rights, we ensure that new innovations will have a limited reach. So how do we both create new technologies and spread them as widely as possible? We need climate-friendly technology to be used everywhere, including in developing countries with limited resources. In this episode of Public Ethics Radio, we explore the debate about intellectual-property policy for clean technologies.