ABSTRACT

This chapter analyses Seattle's framings of climate science used in debates about urban governance. It makes central arguments about the state-science relationship in urban climate governance. The technocratic nature of governance has been well noted, and in the context of critical social science, heavily critiqued. The chapter explores how the relationship between science and the state provides a particular way of knowing the climate change problem and particular ways of governing climate change in Seattle, Washington. It shows how the evolution of Seattle's climate policy is rooted in three specific framings of scientific knowledge – what identify as the science of consensus, calculation and security. The case study demonstrates how science is used to justify political action in a way that can work to narrow policy options to include only those that are technical and scientific in nature, producing important effects on the urban landscape.