Editor's Pick
Conservatives probably can’t be persuaded on climate change. So now what?
One more round of “messaging” won’t do it.
When it comes to climate change, US conservatives inhabit a unique position, as part of the only major political party in the democratic world to reject the legitimacy of climate science and any domestic policy or international agreement meant to address it. Instead, the GOP is working actively to increase production and consumption of fossil fuels and to slow the transition to renewable energy.
How can conservatives be moved on climate change?
I recently heard a podcast that helped me order my thoughts on this perennial debate. It was Political Research Digest, a weekly 15-minute research round-up hosted by Michigan State University political scientist Matt Grossman for the Niskanen Center. (Grossman is the author of Asymmetric Politics, a crucial text for understanding American political parties. The podcast is nerdy and good.)
In the third episode, Grossman takes a look at some recent literature on climate change opinion and how, if at all, it can be shifted among conservatives.
It begins well, with an excellent lay of the land. But the discussion of how to move forward goes off course, in a very familiar way. It stops short of contemplating the uncomfortable but increasingly likely possibility that persuading conservatives on this subject has become impossible, and what that might mean for those concerned about the looming dangers of climate change.
Let’s start with a look a few basic facts about public opinion on climate.
Conservatives probably can’t be persuaded on climate change. So now what? by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 10, 2017
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Nov 5, 2017
- Rapid CO2 cuts could allow some cool-water corals to adapt to global warming by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Nov 1, 2017
- The Two Faces of U.S. Negotiations at Cop23 by Lucia Graves, Pacific Standard, Nov 2, 2017
- U.S. Report Says Humans Cause Climate Change, Contradicting Top Trump Officials by Lisa Friedman & Glenn Trush, Climate, New York Times, Nov 3, 2017
- The COP23 climate change summit in Bonn and why it matters by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Nov 5, 2017
- Floods swamp Vietnam as typhoon death toll reaches 27 by Mai Nguyen and Matthew Tostevin, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Nov 5, 2017
- The world shrugs at Trump as global climate meeting begins in Bonn by Brady Dennis & Chris Mooney, Health & Science, Washington Post, Nov 5, 2017
- Donald Trump accused of obstructing satellite research into climate change by Robin McKie, Observer/Guardian, Nov 5, 2017
- Humanity has entered a global warming minefield, climate scientists say by Adam Wernick, Public Radio International (PRI), Nov 4, 2017
Mon Nov 6, 2017
- British Antarctic research station to shut for second winter as cracks in ice grow by Nicola Davis, The Guardian, Oct 31, 2017
- At Vatican, ‘Tenets of Faith’ Seen as Crucial in Climate Change Effort by Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, Nov 4, 2017
- Scott Pruitt’s Plot to Sabotage Science at the EPA by Emily Atkin, New Republic, Nov 2, 2017
- COP23: Thousands protest German coal use ahead of UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn by Katharina Wecker, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 4, 2017
- How the Trump White House Wound Up Releasing Dire Climate Report by Eric Roston & Christopher Flavelle, Bloomberg News, Nov 6, 2017
- We have every reason to fear Trump’s pick to head NASA by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Nov 6, 2017
- Five things that will be top of the agenda at the COP23 climate summit by Emily Farnworth, World Economic Forum, Nov 6, 2017
- As Climate Talks Open, Federal Report Exposes U.S. Credibility Gap by John H Cushman Jr, Nov 6, 2017
Tue Nov 7, 2017
- This year to be among three hottest on record: "extraordinary weather" - UN by Alister Doyle, Reuters, Nov 6, 2017
- Mapped: Where multilateral climate funds spend their money by Jocelyn Timperley & Rosamund Pearce, Carbon Brief, Nov 11, 2017
- The Zombie Diseases of Climate Change by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Nov 6, 2017
- How India’s battle with climate change could determine all of our fates by Damian Carrington & Michael Safi, Guardian, Nov 6, 2017
- Here’s How Far the World Is From Meeting Its Climate Goals by Brad Plumer & Nadja Popovich, New York Times, Nov 6, 2017
- As Syria embraces Paris climate deal, it’s the United States against the world by Brady Dennis, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Nov 7, 2017
- Trump Is Quietly Surrendering to China on Climate Change by Geoff Dembicki, Vice, Nov 7, 2017
- Wind and Solar Power Advance, but Carbon Refuses to Retreat by Eduardo Porter, New York Times, Nov 7, 2017
Wed Nov 8, 2017
- Records from Ancient China Reveal Link Between Epidemics and Climate Change by Chelsea Harvery, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Nov 7, 2017
- Scientists may have solved mystery of rapidly rising Indian Ocean sea level by Olivia Trani, GeoSpace, AGU Blogosphere, Nov 7, 2017
- How telling the right stories can make people act on climate change by Tom van Laer & Ross Gordon, The Conversation UK, Nov 6, 2017
- The seven megatrends that could beat global warming: 'There is reason for hope' by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Nov 8, 2017
- The climate science report Trump hoped to ignore will resonate outside of Washington, DC by Gary W. Yohe, The Conservation US, Nov 8, 2017
- This hypnotizing animation shows the incredible trend of global warming by Umair Urfan, Vox, Nov 7, 2017
- COP23: Trump, U.S. govt. seen as irrelevant to global climate action by Justin Catanoso, Mongabay, Nov 7, 2017
- EU proposes 30 percent CO2 reduction for cars by 2030, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 8, 2017
Thu Nov 9, 2017
- This company wants to build a giant indoor farm next to every major city in the world by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 8, 2017
- Changing Where Crops Are Grown Could Feed an Additional 825 Million People, Study Finds, Yale Environment 360, Nov 6, 2017
- Emerging nations urge rich to kick-start climate pact before 2020 by Alister Doyle, Reuters, Nov 8, 2017
- Election Winners Promise Climate Action in Coast-to-Coast Pushback on Trump by Phil McKenna, InsideClimate News, Nov 8, 2017
- Mapping how to feed 9 billion humans, while avoiding environmental calamity by Rhett A Butler, Mongabay, Nov 8, 2017
- La Niña Declared; Cooldown Nipping the Warmest Autumn on Record in Northeast U.S. by Bob Henson, Weather Underground, Nov 8, 2017
- Climate summit deadlocked over immediate action by Joydeep Gupta,India Climate Dialogue, Nov 9, 2017
- California Gov. Jerry Brown delivers a blunt climate change message in Germany by Erik Kirschbaum, Los Angeles Times, Nov 8, 2017
Fri Nov 10, 2017
- Will Policymakers Listen to Climate Change Science This Time Around? by Busani Bafana, Inter Press Service (IPS), Nov 8, 2017
- Angry seas and pouring rain: people in search of safe ground by Max Martin, India Climate Dialogue, Nov 8, 2017
- The climate has changed before. But this is different – look at the archeological record by Peter B Campbell, Guardian, Nov 9, 2017
- “Toasted, roasted and grilled” or already over the hump? by Dana Nuccitelli, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Nov 8, 2017
- Climate change” and “global warming” are disappearing from government websites by Umar Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 9, 2017
- How China has reduced the carbon footprint of developed countries, Guest Post by Glen Peters, Robbie Andrew &Jan Ivar Korsbakken, Carbon Brief, Nov 8, 2017
- We can brighten clouds to reflect heat and reduce global warming. But should we? by Stuart Leavenworth, McClatchy News, Nov 8, 2017
- Zillow: Climate change could make nearly 2 million more U.S. homes susceptible to future flooding by Michele Lerner, Washington Post, Nov 9, 2017
Sat Nov 11, 2017
- COP23: Writing the Paris accord rule book by Bob Berwyn, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 7, 2017
- COP23: Corporations and lobbyists welcome in Bonn by Dave Keating, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 10, 2017
- Al Gore: 'I tried my best' but Trump can't be educated on climate change by Oliver Milman, Guardian, Nov 10, 2017
- Conservatives probably can’t be persuaded on climate change. So now what? by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 10, 2017
- EU strikes deal on carbon market reform by Alissa de Carbonnel & Oleg Vukmanovic, Reuters, Nov 9, 2017
- Anti-Trump US coalition tells UN climate talks: "We're still in" by Alister Doyle, Reuters, Nov 9, 2017
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