Expanding the Anthropocene to include decarbonization erases the term’s causal distinctiveness

Evidence

There is surely a political value to framing the energy regime of carbon modernity as inextricably tied to the political regimes of imperialism, settler colonialism, and slavery. But there is also a dilution of the very term “Anthropocene” when its transformations of the earth in the vein of anthropogenic climate change are expanded to include the opposite: atmospheric decarbonization. Calling attention to a decrease as equal to an increase eradicates the distinctiveness of increasing carbon concentrations and of formulating a specific name for that geologically significant process. — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 307

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to her Antitheory chapter the reader plans to fight with; this is a concrete instance of her case against anti-distinction as politically disabling.
• DEFINE: Clarifies the competing periodization proposals (Great Acceleration 1950, Industrial Revolution 1800, 1619/1492) for the Anthropocene debate.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 307