581 / 658
579
Saturday, November 12
0 9 : 0 0 – 1 0 : 3 0
PP 556
Between Climate Change Denial and Conspiracy Theory: An Analysis of Popular Climate Skeptic Books
H. Bilandzic
1
, J. Soentgen
2
1
University of Augsburg, Dept. for Media- Knowledge and Communication, Augsburg, Germany
2
University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
While much of mass media and online discourse is in line with the scientific mainstream position supporting the existence of climate change and its anthro‑
pogenic causes, there is a steady and expanding stream of publications by 'climate skeptics”– or more accurately, climate change denialists, – people and
organizations who seek to weaken trust in climate research and climate scientists, the relevance or appropriateness of recommendations (e.g., Grant, 2011).
One outlet for climate skeptic views has been neglected in communication research: An increasing number of popular books inform the non-scientific public
at large about the state of climate change; such books are a particularly attractive public format for climate skeptics as it affords sufficient space for complex
arguments as well as avoids journalistic gatekeeping. Remarkably, denialist discourses have some affinity towards conspiracy theories - discursive con‑
structions„to explain some event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who attempt to conceal their role' (Sunstein &Vermeule,
2009, p. 205). Typically, five types of motivations for the climate conspiracy are present in the climate skeptic literature: First, climate scientists conspire to
gain power and secure research grants (for example, Maxeiner, 2007). Second, politicians seek to cut individual liberties and introduce a socialist/ commu‑
nist social order (e.g., Horner, 2007). Third, agents of the conspiracy are driven by former colonial powers who seek to limit growth in former colonies, for
example by regulating CO2-emissions (e.g., Bachram, 2004). Fourth, media have in interest to keep global warming up as a serious issue to sell their news.
Finally, the industry is also accused of supporting the claim of climate change to sell climate-efficient products. This study presents a systematic content
analysis of popular climate skeptic books published in English and German from 1984 to 2015. Sampling was conducted in two steps. First, books related to
climate change were identified in a thorough and recursive search in Internet book portals, search machines and climate-related websites. Second, the table
of contents, the introduction, and the blurb were checked for signs for climate skepticism (denying or doubting (1) the phenomenon of climate change, (2)
the anthropogenic cause, (3) that climate change has negative consequences for mankind and (4) that climate protection is beneficial for preventing further
warming). This resulted in a sample of 110 books that were content analyzed according to the type of climate skepticism as well as the rhetoric justification
of the skeptical position (existence of a conspiracy theory, motives and protagonists of the conspiracy). Results show that the majority of the books (over
80%) express doubts that climate change exists, that humans are the cause and that measures to protect the climate are ineffective. Two thirds deny that
the consequences of climate change are negative. Three quarters of the sample mention conspiracy theory as a rhetoric justification for the skeptical posi‑
tion. The dominant motive was financial gain, followed by power, political/social causes and attention/publicity. The main conspirers were, in that order,
politicians, scientists, media and industry.