Think Tanks in the Space of Opinion: Creating Uncertainty about the Consensus on Climate Change

• In Event: 540 - Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Science in Political Debate

Abstract

This article presents the first round of results from a study of the tactics that climate change skeptics use to promote uncertainty about climate science in the “the social space of opinion.” To identify these tactics, I conducted a content analysis of 417 opinion pieces published in Canadian newspapers. I found that skeptics re-frame consensus as fundamentally authoritarian, and define their public identities as “skeptics” in terms of an unwavering commitment to the norm of skepticism in science. Rather than employing populist anti-scientific rhetoric or appealing to non-scientific belief systems, they borrow the cultural authority of science and portray themselves as more scientific than climate scientists. Second, they personalize climate science, attempting to create “notorious supporters” out of high profile scientists and environmentalists, and chipping away at the moral and scientific integrity of rank and file climate researchers.

Author

• John VP McLevey, University of Waterloo