What American Climate Denialism Is Really About

The fact that so many Americans doubt the science of climate change seems ridiculous to citizens of most other nations. But this denialism is very much a required stance considering the fundamentally neoliberal bedrock of conservative America. Naomi Klein writes of high profile climate denialists from organizations such as the Heartland Institute in this piece from 2011. For those who are still baffled by what seems to be infantile ignorance of certain subgroups of Americans, this read may shed some light on the issues.

Between 2007 and 2011 the number of Americans who believed in anthropogenic climate change dropped from 71% to 44%, one of the largest, fastest shifts in public opinion in recent history, and it occurred mostly among conservative Republicans. Now, it’s not uncommon to see those on the right claim that climate change is a hoax, a plot to steal American freedoms, a Trojan horse for Marxist socioeconomic doctrine, and an attack on middle class capitalism. But “the deniers did not decide that climate change is a left-wing conspiracy by uncovering some covert socialist plot. They arrived at this analysis by taking a hard look at what it would take to lower global emissions as drastically and as rapidly as climate science demands. They have concluded that this can be done only by radically reordering our economic and political systems in ways antithetical to their “free market” belief system.” Accepting the realities of climate change would undo the ideological foundation of the entire conservative belief system and would logically lead to the necessity of policies that are supported by the left. Accepting climate change would be accepting the death of the party. 

This article discusses why the right in America denies climate change. For those interested in the how, Merchants of Doubt is a good follow-up read, as it outlines the tactics to cause the shift in public perception on climate science.