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A new part of the No Duh curriculum

Peer-reviewed study finds that right-wing think tanks have stymied environmental progress

Posted by David Roberts at 9:39 AM on 09 Jun 2008

To file under "academic demonstration of what we already knew," here's an abstract from a new paper in the journal Environmental Politics:

Environmental scepticism denies the seriousness of environmental problems, and self-professed "sceptics" claim to be unbiased analysts combating "junk science." This study quantitatively analyses 141 English-language environmentally sceptical books published between 1972 and 2005. We find that over 92 per cent of these books, most published in the U.S. since 1992, are linked to conservative think tanks (CTTs). Further, we analyse CTTs involved with environmental issues and find that 90 per cent of them espouse environmental scepticism. We conclude that scepticism is a tactic of an elite-driven counter-movement designed to combat environmentalism, and that the successful use of this tactic has contributed to the weakening of U.S. commitment to environmental protection.

Deltoid has some excerpts.

"elite-driven"

It would be interesting to know how the environmental problems are distinguished.  "Climate scepticism" is a serious sort of obstacle; but there have been perhaps other scepticisms and quibblings and denials on other environmental issues, not directly related to global warming/climate change, such as the collapse of fisheries.

In "An Inconvenient Truth" (the book at least), Al Gore famously compared the tobacco industry's campaign of doubt-sowing (regarding the unhealthful effects of smoking) to the climate sceptics, denialists and delayers.  But it would be interesting to see what kinds of networks exist, at certain levels of business management and PR.  Presumably researching and sharing techniques that work is what makes up the careers of many highly paid people in business.  But what does that actually look like, in action?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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