Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism now featured online and available for pre-order

Information from Bloomsbury Academic about my forthcoming book Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism has now appeared online. Info includes book summary, Table of Contents, and a blurb by Peder Anker.

Book "Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism" planned published in February 2027

I have been informed by Bloomsbury Academic that the planned publication date for my forthcoming book Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism is February 18th 2027. This is slightly more than 18 months after I submitted the full book manuscript in early August 2025 (I made revisions in May and June this year).

#39,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 450 words added to my scientific monograph Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism, which is forthcoming with Bloomsbury Academic. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 39,5, including 15 book writing days.

Paper on Næss´ views on economics presented at ISQOLS 2025 in Luxembourg

Today, on the last day of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), held in Luxembourg (organised by STATEC Research and ISQOLS) July 22-25th with the theme “Redefining Progress: Achieving Sustainable Well-being for All”, I presented the paper "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics” in session 22A, “Special Session on Legitimate Public Policies: Promoting Well-being and Ecological Sustainability”, which was chaired by Joonas Uotinen. Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen were credited as co-authors. Some 20-25 people attended.

ReFill-podcast interview on prison experience, environmental philosophy, activism released

A few days ago, a podcast episode of ReFill, released by University of Stavanger, which features an interview with me by podcast host Alessandro Falcetta, was published online. The episode (ReFill no. 12) is titled "Hvordan kan filosofi hjelpe oss å forstå miljøkrisen?" (How can philosophy help us understand the environmental crisis?). An automatically transcribed version of the interview in PDF format is also available.

Næss and economics paper scheduled for presentation July 25th at ISQOLS 2025 (Luxembourg)

The paper "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics", submitted on behalf of Jan Karlstrøm, Thomas Hylland Eriksen and myself, has been scheduled for presentation (by me) at the 2025 conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies  (ISQOLS 2025), which is held in Luxembourg July 22-25th. The paper will be presented on Friday July 25th at 14.14-14.36 as part of the session 21A, "Special Session on Legitimate Public Policies: Promoting Well-being and Ecological Sustainability".

#22

Today, during sick leave, I have had a book writing day, with some 1.200 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 22 writing days, including 18,5 book writing days.  

Today was the most productive writing day so far this year in terms of number of words written. 

"What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" accepted for presentation at ISQOLS 2025

I have been notified by the organizers of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), “Redefining Progress: Achieving Sustainable Well-being for All”, to be held in Luxembourg July 22-25th, that my paper submission "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" has been accepted for oral presentation. My paper will be based on a Norwegian-language article co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, and was submitted tied to the topic "Disciplinary Approaches to Well-Being, Happiness and Quality-of-life".

Lecture on environmental philosophy given in sustainability course

Today I have given a lecture on environmental philosophy in the University of Stavanger´s bachelor course "Bærekraft og grønn omstilling" (Sustainability and green transition).

Article "What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" published; mention in editorial

The article Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics), which I have co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, was published in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift today. 

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten, Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen 2024. Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics). Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift 59(1-2), 21–36.

The article is in Norwegian but has an English abstract:

Arne Næss criticized modern economics for its lack of philosophical awareness and interdisciplinarity, suggesting that economists should draw inspiration from the field’s origins in philosophy. Næss’ views on how the economy should be organized and studied are significant, particularly in light of his differentiation between a deep and shallow understanding of environmental issues. In this article, we will review Næss’ critique of economics as an academic discipline and discuss his proposals for transforming our approach to economics, considering both its historical development and the ongoing environmental crisis. Specifically, we will emphasize the importance of philosophy, ecology, and social anthropology as foundational elements for economics. Our primary reference is the Norwegian-language chapter “New tasks for political economy” from Næss’ major work in environmental philosophy, Ecology, Community and Lifestyle. In the article, we deal with Næss’ view on the use of models and the relationship between theory and reality, the fundamental connection between ecology and the economy, what role normative systems thinking can play for economics, and how economics can be informed by economic anthropology. In conclusion, we will reflect on the implications of our analysis of Arne Næss’ economic viewpoints for the future of economics.

Our article is mentioned in the editorial of the same issue, written by Cathrine Victoria Felix and Heine Alexander Holmen.

Excerpts:

Å bedrive akademisk filosofi innebærer å utforske og analysere grunnleggende spørsmål på en systematisk og metodisk måte. Dette inkluderer alt fra å undersøke ulike filosofiske tradisjoner, argumenter og perspektiver, til å utvikle egne teorier og konsepter. Med andre ord: akademisk filosofi er et mangfoldig felt med et bredt spekter av metoder. Vi håper dette nummeret av Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift presenterer dette mangfoldet på en god måte. Nummeret inneholder tre fagartikler som tar for seg så ulike temaer som examen philosophicum, prostitusjon og økonomifaget.

...

Arne Næss kan beskrives som en titan innen norsk filosofi. I artikkelen «Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet» skriver Morten Tønnessen, Jan Karlstrøm og Thomas Hylland Eriksen om Næss’ kritikk av det moderne økonomifaget. I lys av Næss’ kritikk argumenterer forfatterne for viktigheten av å inkludere filosofi, økologi og sosialantropologi som grunnlag for studiet av økonomi. De diskuterer fremtidens økonomifag og reiser spørsmål om modellbruk, forholdet mellom teori og virkelighet og normativ systemtenkning.

#30

Today I have finished the revised version of our article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet", which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen and which will be resubmitted to Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift soon. In the process I added some 400 words net to the article concerning my text contributions, and also made substantial deletions. So far this Spring I have had 30 writing days.

#5; new article on Arne Næss and his view on economics

Today I have had the 5th writing day this Spring, with some 600 words added to our GDP review article and a new article I am writing with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, work-titled "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet".

Article on CCS and generational climate justice published

My Norwegian language journal article on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) was published this week.

Reference: 

Tønnessen, Morten (2021). Karbonfangst i lys av generasjonsrettferdighet. Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift 56(2–3): 91–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1504-2901-2021-02-03-04 

The article is Open Access and thus freely available for full-text reading and download.

English language summary:

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) stands out from other climate mitigation measures by involving storage of CO2 in geological formations for several thousand years. Few if any other mitigation measures raise similar questions related to the long-term impact of the measure. This accentuates the issue of intergenerational justice in relation to CCS. Reliance on CCS represents a moral hazard, since it risks delaying and undermining the needed transition to a fossil-free energy system and society. It would also be fundamentally unjust in that it would burden future generations with much of the practical responsibility for dealing with environmental problems caused by current generations. Emphasis on intergenerational justice should lead us to commit to rapid climate gas emission reductions today rather than relying on negative emissions at some point in the future. Such an assessment is in line with central contemporary climate research as well as key norms in environmental ethics. It is also in line with some of the fundamental insights of deep ecology as developed by Arne Næss.  

Keywords: Carbon capture and storage (CCS), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), intergenerational justice, climate ethics, moral hazard, deep ecology

"How to solve the environmental crisis" article accepted by guest editors

I have been informed that my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century" has now been accepted by the guest editors of the special issue of Sign Systems Studies "Anticipation and change". The article will now be evaluated by the journal´s regular editors.

#13,5

Yesterday I had half an article writing day devoted to revising my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century" for the second time. After adding and deleting some text, net I shortened it by some 100 words.

#51,5

Today I have had another article writing day, with some 8,5 hours spent and some 2.200 words written on the revision of my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century". Puh - . This was the second-most productive day so far this year in terms of words written.

Total number of writing days in 2020 is up to 51,5.

#49,5

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to the revision of my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century", with some 1.500 words written. Total number of writing days in 2020 is up to 49,5.

Chronicle in Stavanger aftenblad: Countdown to doomsday?

Today I have a chronicle in print in Stavanger Aftenblad, titled "Nedtelling til dommedag?" (Countdown to doomsday?). It appeared online last night.

Record turnout at Arne Næss Kunnskapstørst event

Yesterday I delivered the paper "Hadde Arne Næss rett om miljøkrisen?" (Was Arne Næss right about the environmental crisis?) at Måltidets hus under the banner of Kunnskapstørst and Forskningsdagene. Some 40 people attended - from what I am told, this is the biggest turnout to date for a Kunnskapstørst event in the Stavanger region.

More on Næss lecture during Forskningsdagene

The Kunnskapstørst event September 19th is referred to on the intranet of University of Stavanger in an overview over Forskningsdagene (research days) events locally. There´s now also a Facebook event for my public lecture on Arne Næss (see also previous post).