TEI Environmental Lecture Series
Riley Dunlap, Regents Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University presents a lecture entitled "Climate-Change Denial and Conservatism: Exploring the Connections."
The conservative assault on mainstream science and scientists has reached new heights with anthropogenic climate change (ACC). Conservative think-tanks (with support from the fossil fuels industry and conservative philanthropists) have spear-headed efforts to deny the reality and significance of ACC. Their activities range from supporting most of the small number of “contrarian” climate scientists to disseminating a vast range of material attacking the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate scientists and those who support efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The dissemination employs various fora (e.g., policy briefings for politicians and anti-IPCC conferences) and all forms of media from websites to videos to newspapers to television.
This presentation will locate the current situation in historical context, and then focus on the link between conservative think-tanks and the rapidly growing number of books espousing climate-change denialism (including those authored by contrarian scientists). It will also examine the degree to which these efforts have contributed to growing partisan and ideological polarization among the general public. National survey data will be used to demonstrate that over the past decade self-identified Republicans and conservatives have become less likely to view ACC as real and problematic, even as the scientific evidence for ACC has become stronger.