Organised climate change denial by some Conservative White Males in Australia
“organised climate change denial” had spread from US conservative think-tanks to other nations, including New Zealand and Australia……conservatives were unduly confident about their own views on climate change “also makes them less open to differing views or able to accept that they might be wrong”…..Only 38 per cent of Liberal-National politicians thought humans were causing global warming, compared to 89 per cent from Labor….
The CWM effect: What climate change’s biggest sceptics have in common, The Age, Graham Readfearn, August 18, 2011 (This article also shows pictures of Cardinal Pell, Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones, Christopher Monckton) When it comes to climate change, most people have heard of the greenhouse effect, but what about the “conservative white male” effect?
A US-based study has found that white men with politically conservative views are far more likely than the rest of the population to doubt the science of human-caused climate change.
And the “conservative white male effect” has been linked to Australia, with one prominent researcher citing the existence of a successful, politically engaged and outspoken coterie operating in high-profile positions that attract wide media coverage.
They found 58 per cent of conservative white males – or CWMs for short – thought recent global temperature rises were not caused mainly from human activities, such as burning fossil fuels. This compared with 31 per cent of other adults….
The paper, titled Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative white males in the United States, found CWMs who claimed they understood the global warming issue “very well” were even more convinced that global warming wasn’t happening…..
The researchers concluded that “organised climate change denial” had spread from US conservative think-tanks to other nations, including New Zealand and Australia.
They wrote: “Throughought these Anglo countries organised denial seems to be dominated by politically conservative white males, and this suggests that a similar conservative white male effect might be emerging in the general publics of these nations with regard to climate change denial.”
Professor Joseph Reser, a Research Fellow with Griffith University’s Climate Change Response Program in Queensland, agreed broadly with the findings, but said his own research and other comparable studies from the US and Europe suggested the proportion of true climate change sceptics was much smaller.
“If you look at this group of conservative white males, less than 30% are characterised as denialists – they are not a majority even within this grouping,” Professer Reser said.
“But these CWMs tend to stand out and do well in many social, work, and political organisations; they align themselves with those sharing similar views; and they are also more likely to be outspoken in their views and politically engaged, and to work and operate in sectors where their views get aired more.”
He said the fact conservatives were unduly confident about their own views on climate change “also makes them less open to differing views or able to accept that they might be wrong”.
Dr Kelly Fielding, a senior researcher at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Social Science Research, said political affiliation was strongly linked to climate change beliefs.
Dr Fielding was part of a research project which last year surveyed more than 300 Australian political leaders.
Only 38 per cent of Liberal-National politicians thought humans were causing global warming, compared to 89 per cent from Labor…. http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/the-cwm-effect-what-climate-changes-biggest-sceptics-have-in-common-20110818-1izd6.html
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