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QUESTION Why some conservatives are blind to climate change

If we’re to be successful communicating the risks of climate change to conservatives, we may need to go about it in a different way. Communications about climate change must tailor the climate-related information to the audience, especially those who are conservative or unconcerned.

We can do this by using messages that align with people’s political ideologies and personal values.

For example, we can frame climate change action as protecting our nation against climate catastrophes, advancing economic and technological development and creating a more caring and considerate society, which is an effective message to engage climate deniers. Framing environmentalism as a form of patriotism can be successful, particularly if the appeal is seen as coming from one’s in-group.

zblaze 7 Mar 15
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6 comments

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1

Rheteric, dogma

1

How much do think their denial has to do with money?

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Unfortunately, Climate Change is slow acting and affects different places in different ways. The powers to be use this to send confusion among the sheep. If a meteor were hurling toward the Earth these people would not see a god's hand in it and want to do something, now.

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Most conservative comments I have heard about global warming is that god is in control and will not allow it to happen, so carry on and not to worry.

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The Koch brothers and their super PACs are instrumental in funding Republican candidates. The Kochs are heavily invested in oil. IMO the Kochs promote climate change denial because they are afraid the USA will switch to solar, and wind power and they will lose billions when oil sales are diminished.

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Conservatives tend more to scan for real or imagined threats and so in theory how their rational self-interest about climate change should be portrayed is in terms of threat avoidance.

On the other hand, for some conservatives -- especially those who are also religious conservatives -- the prime threat is offenses against god (that god is not in control of the climate and would permit puny humans to mess it up), government overreach (you can't run your business the way you want because you are polluting the environment) and violation of a carefully cultivated pesonal self-image (you are not a nice person, you polluter, you). Plus, that old conservative favorite, the politics of resentment (climate change is a libtard snowflake point of view and just another way I'm being marginalized in my own country; oh for the good old days when life was simple and I was always right, etc).

So the problem becomes, even if you get through to them a little bit, they quickly realize they are out of step with most of their friends and don't want to suffer the social consequences of differing with them.

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