Dickinson to Durban » Entries tagged with "Merchants of Doubt"
Solutions from Industry
By:Esther Babson The private sector is and has been a very important player in the climate negotiations. According to Governing Climate Change by Harriet Bulkeley and Peter Newell, recent times have seen a switch in some areas to a more “positive engagement with climate governance initiatives”(92). As learned from Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, industry’s role typically involves stalling policies and negotiations around climate change. In Governing Climate Change the authors even mention Fred Singer who was a main focus in Merchants of Doubt as a scientist who raised questions about anthropogenic climate change via funds from fossil fuel companies(Bulkely and Newell, 89). Bulkeley and Newell site this strategy of challenging the science of climate change as just one of six different political strategies used to “promote … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Politics
U.S. Climate Policy-What Does it Take?
The United States is an incredibly difficult place when it comes to climate policy. Maybe it’s the divide down party lines over environmental topics, the lack of desire to change our habits or even just the nature of a democratic nation; regardless we Americans aren’t able to decide on how to deal with climate change. Part of the problem stems from the control industries have over decision making. The industries in the U.S. and across the globe hold huge amounts of money and thus hold huge amounts of power. In earlier posts the book Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway proved this point, showing how the tobacco industry blatantly lied and twisted information to confuse the public about the health effects of smoking. After reading Merchants of Doubt, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change
Climate Change, Politicized. Nations, Polarized.
In the world today, it is impossible for issues of climate change’s magnitude to be isolated from politics. The government is the body within the United States and most other countries which has the power to impose regulations on the people within its jurisdiction. Thus it is the government which needs to create and uphold standards of environmental protection in order for people to actually change their ways of life. Ironically, now more than ever in recent history, the United States government is polarized on almost all large issues, especially climate change. This division results in discussions which end with the decision that “more research is needed” rather than a call to collective action to prevent the predicted disastrous effects of climate change from occurring. In addition to the fact that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change
Climate Politics: Beyond Nation States
The politics that surround climate change are incredibly complex. What adds to this complexity is the number and variety of actors who do or should participate. The decision making process for climate change policies on the international level involve not only states but coalitions of states, organizations through the UNFCCC, and a myriad of non-state actors. The non-state actors are sometimes not given the credit they deserve for how much influence they have in the process. In Governing Climate Change by Harriet Bulkeley and Peter Newell, the authors agree that, “non-state actors are central to the governance of climate change”(34). The most obviously needed non-state actors for climate change are the scientists who study climate and discovered that anything was even changing in the climate. No matter if they agree … Read entire article »
Filed under: Environmental Politics
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