The organisation of denial: Conservative think tanks and environmental scepticism

Jacques, Peter; Dunlap, Riley E.; Freeman, Mark

doi:10.1080/09644010802055576

Cited by 657 publications

(401 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…travel time instead of traveling distances or modal split) than those which, from theoretical considerations, could be expected to be the most important ones. Quite often, the counter-claims are raised by representatives of conservative think-tanks fearing that the research showing adverse environmental effects of sprawl and urban highway development could be used to change the status quo in urban development (Owens & Cowell, 2002; see also Jacques et al, 2008 for a wider account). Within academic scholarly work, there is rather overwhelming agreement that urban land use and infrastructural characteristics do influence greenhouse gas emissions from transportation as well as the other sustainability parameters discussed above (although the magnitude of the effects will necessarily vary, depending on the city context).…”

Section: Sustainability and Urban Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable urban development and the multi-level transition perspective

Næss

Vogel

2012

Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions

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This article discusses some challenges and possible adaptations of transition theory as a framework for analyzing the prospects for environmentally more sustainable development of urban land use and transport infrastructure. Rather than depending first and foremost on niche innovations, a transition toward sustainable urban development is a matter of changing the composition of existing multisegmented land use and transportation regimes. Those well-experienced forms of built environment and transport infrastructure that are in line with sustainability objectives should be strengthened while those that are not should be actively constrained and reduced. Urban development in a Danish provincial city is used as a case to illustrate some of the points made in the theoretical part of the article. Due to the wide gap between present conditions and those required to realize a sustainable urban development, more attention should be directed toward landscape level conditions and possibilities for changing them.

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Section: Sustainability and Urban Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable urban development and the multi-level transition perspective

Næss

Vogel

2012

Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions

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“…This interaction reflects efforts to reframe climate change from a nonpartisan science question to a political wedge issue through arguments aimed at educated voters (Freudenburg, 2000;Jacques et al, 2008;McCright and Dunlap, 2000, 2003, 2008UCS, 2007). Multivariate analyses of other data have detected similar effects (Hamilton, 2008(Hamilton, , 2009).…”

Section: Predictors Coef Se P (Z)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional variation in perceptions about climate change

Hamilton

Keim

2009

Intl Journal of Climatology

205

180

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A 2007 survey covering rural areas in nine US states provides data on perceived local impacts of climate change. Perceptions vary from region to region, with a pattern suggesting links to real climate -specifically to winter warming in snow country. A multivariate analysis using mixed-effects ordered logit regression confirms a significant perception-temperature relationship, net of individual background and ideological characteristics, and of regional variations. These findings invite more detailed research.

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“…Often, the work is done by think tanks. Jacques et al [4] found that over 90% of books exhibiting environmental skepticism are linked to conservative think tanks, and 90% of conservative think tanks are active in environmental skepticism. This finding is consistent with recent emphasis in US conservatism on unregulated markets.…”

Section: The Character and Methods Of Risk-profit Politicized Skepticismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Writing in the context of politicized environmental skepticism, Jacques et al [4] (pp. 353-354) listed four overarching themes: (1) rejection of scientific findings of environmental problems; (2) de-prioritization of environmental problems relative to other issues; (3) rejection of government regulation of corporations and corporate liability; and (4) portrayal of environmentalism as a threat to progress and development.…”

Section: The Character and Methods Of Risk-profit Politicized Skepticismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas most literature on politicized skepticism (and similar concepts such as denial) is backward-looking, consisting of historical analysis of skepticisms that have already occurred [1,2,[4][5][6][7], this paper is largely (but not exclusively) forward-looking, consisting of prospective analysis of skepticisms that could occur at some point in the future. Meanwhile, the superintelligence governance literature has looked mainly at institutional regulations to prevent research groups from building dangerous superintelligence and support for research on safety measures [8][9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Superintelligence Skepticism as a Political Tool

Baum¹

2018

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This paper explores the potential for skepticism about artificial superintelligence to be used as a tool for political ends. Superintelligence is AI that is much smarter than humans. Superintelligence does not currently exist, but it has been proposed that it could someday be built, with massive and potentially catastrophic consequences. There is substantial skepticism about superintelligence, including whether it will be built, whether it would be catastrophic, and whether it is worth current attention. To date, superintelligence skepticism appears to be mostly honest intellectual debate, though some of it may be politicized. This paper finds substantial potential for superintelligence skepticism to be (further) politicized, due mainly to the potential for major corporations to have a strong profit motive to downplay concerns about superintelligence and avoid government regulation. Furthermore, politicized superintelligence skepticism is likely to be quite successful, due to several factors including the inherent uncertainty of the topic and the abundance of skeptics. The paper's analysis is based on characteristics of superintelligence and the broader AI sector, as well as the history and ongoing practice of politicized skepticism on other science and technology issues, including tobacco, global warming, and industrial chemicals. The paper contributes to literatures on politicized skepticism and superintelligence governance.

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The organisation of denial: Conservative think tanks and environmental scepticism

Cited by 657 publications

References 39 publications

Sustainable urban development and the multi-level transition perspective

Sustainable urban development and the multi-level transition perspective

Regional variation in perceptions about climate change

Superintelligence Skepticism as a Political Tool

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