The politics of global climate change mark the many intricate ways in which modern societies depend on energy. Political attempts at tackling the human causes of climate change concern the generation, distribution, and consumption of energy in society, and in doing so, seem to question the very grounds of how we live. Since the early 2000s, however, a controversial set of techno-scientific schemes has promised to fundamentally alter the politics of climate change. Rather than addressing the societal grounds of climate change, so-called geoengineering approaches entail intervening in its physical and chemical basis. This talk by Julia Schubert, University of Bonn, traces the “career” of geoengineering through U.S. politics and demonstrates how shifting alliances between climate science and politics have shaped its particular trajectory. Sponsored by the Center for the Arts and Humanities.