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Some who deny climate change do so out of loyalty to a team or a tribal mentality
where believing something different from the rest of their group is considered a
betrayal and almost treasonous. They often go along with their side without giving
it much thought. This appears to be a manifestation of an ancient adaptation by
humans in hunter-gatherer societies where a refusal to share community beliefs
could result in an individual being shunned or outcast from the group, making the
person much more vulnerable to the dangers of a savage world. One’s very survival
back then could depend upon being agreeable. Others deny climate change because
of a phenomenon known as “motivated skepticism,” where people tend to be more
accepting of information that supports their existing set of beliefs, and skeptical of
contradicting information. Depending on what one believes politically or religiously, accepting the reality of climate change may require a significant reassessment of core values.
Conspiracy theories arise from a different mental process where people think
they see patterns and data in the world that don’t actually exist. For example, the
anti-vaxxer claim that vaccines may cause autism is based on a discredited paper
published in the U.K. by Andrew Wakefield in 1998, which was subsequently
retracted after the studies were deemed fraudulent and the data misrepresented. It no
longer exists in the scientific record. However, some members of the public are
continuing to cling to this idea despite extensive rebuttals by public health agencies
and numerous scientific investigations that found no such links (i.e. Taylor et al.
2014). Conspiracy-oriented climate contrarians (and some fracking opponents) are
often similarly stubborn, remaining convinced that any actual findings contrary to
their beliefs must be faked or tainted and just act to further prove the conspiracy.
The conspiracy theory version of climate denial often ties it to a general suspicion
of world governments, a distrust of so-called “deep state” official stories, and
skepticism of anything that calls for worldwide solutions, like the Paris climate
accord (Merlan 2019). Some of this suspicion can be traced back to a 1992 nonbinding environmental agreement passed by the United Nations called Agenda 21. It
drew immediate opposition from American right-wing and anti-environmental
groups, including conspiracy-based organizations like the John Birch Society who
saw Agenda 21 as a U.N. plot to take away American independence (Merlan 2019).
Virtually all global environmental issues since then, from ozone depletion to plastic
in the oceans have been met with skepticism by these groups.
A conspiracy theory can act as a balm for people faced with a complicated
problem like climate change because it resolves the issue by dismissing scientists,
experts, and activists as the globalist tools of a Satanic Cabal (or some such) who
can safely be ignored. The bottom line to true believers is that if climate change is
only a conspiracy, then they shouldn’t worry about it because absolutely nothing
really needs to be done.
From a logical standpoint, climate denial requires a contrarian to believe that
tens of thousands of scientists in more than a hundred countries are all in cahoots to
carry out a massive fraud using fake data to show that climate is changing. When
pressed, contrarians often claim the goal of these scientists is to scare citizens and
receive more government grant funding. No one has come forth with any evidence
9 Fossil Fuels and Climate Change
Some who deny climate change do so out of loyalty to a team or a tribal mentality
where believing something different from the rest of their group is considered a
betrayal and almost treasonous. They often go along with their side without giving
it much thought. This appears to be a manifestation of an ancient adaptation by
humans in hunter-gatherer societies where a refusal to share community beliefs
could result in an individual being shunned or outcast from the group, making the
person much more vulnerable to the dangers of a savage world. One’s very survival
back then could depend upon being agreeable. Others deny climate change because
of a phenomenon known as “motivated skepticism,” where people tend to be more
accepting of information that supports their existing set of beliefs, and skeptical of
contradicting information. Depending on what one believes politically or religiously, accepting the reality of climate change may require a significant reassessment of core values.
Conspiracy theories arise from a different mental process where people think
they see patterns and data in the world that don’t actually exist. For example, the
anti-vaxxer claim that vaccines may cause autism is based on a discredited paper
published in the U.K. by Andrew Wakefield in 1998, which was subsequently
retracted after the studies were deemed fraudulent and the data misrepresented. It no
longer exists in the scientific record. However, some members of the public are
continuing to cling to this idea despite extensive rebuttals by public health agencies
and numerous scientific investigations that found no such links (i.e. Taylor et al.
2014). Conspiracy-oriented climate contrarians (and some fracking opponents) are
often similarly stubborn, remaining convinced that any actual findings contrary to
their beliefs must be faked or tainted and just act to further prove the conspiracy.
The conspiracy theory version of climate denial often ties it to a general suspicion
of world governments, a distrust of so-called “deep state” official stories, and
skepticism of anything that calls for worldwide solutions, like the Paris climate
accord (Merlan 2019). Some of this suspicion can be traced back to a 1992 nonbinding environmental agreement passed by the United Nations called Agenda 21. It
drew immediate opposition from American right-wing and anti-environmental
groups, including conspiracy-based organizations like the John Birch Society who
saw Agenda 21 as a U.N. plot to take away American independence (Merlan 2019).
Virtually all global environmental issues since then, from ozone depletion to plastic
in the oceans have been met with skepticism by these groups.
A conspiracy theory can act as a balm for people faced with a complicated
problem like climate change because it resolves the issue by dismissing scientists,
experts, and activists as the globalist tools of a Satanic Cabal (or some such) who
can safely be ignored. The bottom line to true believers is that if climate change is
only a conspiracy, then they shouldn’t worry about it because absolutely nothing
really needs to be done.
From a logical standpoint, climate denial requires a contrarian to believe that
tens of thousands of scientists in more than a hundred countries are all in cahoots to
carry out a massive fraud using fake data to show that climate is changing. When
pressed, contrarians often claim the goal of these scientists is to scare citizens and
receive more government grant funding. No one has come forth with any evidence
9 Fossil Fuels and Climate Change