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Who are the 3 Per Cent? The Connections Among Climate Change Contrarians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2021

Laura D. Young Open the ORCID record for Laura D. Young [Opens in a new window]  and
Erin B. Fitz Open the ORCID record for Erin B. Fitz [Opens in a new window]
Laura D. Young*
Affiliation:
Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, USA
Erin B. Fitz
Affiliation:
Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, USA.
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lyoung6@ggc.edu
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Abstract

Despite 97 per cent of scientists agreeing on anthropogenic global warming, the remaining 3 per cent play a critical role in keeping the debate about climate consensus alive. Analysis of climate change contrarians from multi-signatory documents reveals 3 per cent of signees to be climate experts, while the remaining 97 per cent do not meet expert criteria and are also involved with organizations and industries who make up the climate change countermovement. The data also reveal most contrarians to be aged sixty-five or older. As a result, we explore other factors (for example, collective memories and ideological views) that may have also contributed to expert and non-expert views.

Keywords

climate changeclimate change denialneoliberalismcollective memoriesthink tankslaissez-faire economics
Type
Article
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , October 2022 , pp. 1503 - 1522
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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