Climate denial in Canada and the United States
Climate denial in Canada and the United States
Author
Boulianne, Shelley
Belland, Stephanie
Faculty Advisor
Date
2022
Keywords
climate change , soft denial
Abstract (summary)
One type of climate change denial is the belief that climate
change is naturally occurring instead of human
caused; this form of denial is known as attribution skepticism
or soft denial. While considerable research has
addressed outright climate change denial, little research
has focused specifically on soft denial and its complex
and politicized relationship with science. We examine
this form of denial using original survey data collected
in 2017 in the United States (n = 1510) and in 2019 in
Canada (n = 1545). Contrary to expectations about the
United States being more divided by political ideology on
the topic of climate change, we find that – after accounting
for trust in political leaders – Canadians’ views are
driven more by ideological position than those of Americans.
In the United States, climate denial is related to
trust in President Trump as a source of information
about climate change. The study of soft denial is important
as it undermines the rationale for climate change
solutions.
Publication Information
Boulianne, S., & Belland, S. (2022). Climate denial in Canada and the United States. Canadian Review of Sociology, 59(3), 369-394. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12388
DOI
Notes
Item Type
Article
Language
English
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
