Carbon dioxide can be produced from the ocean releasing, natural gas burning, and the human’s inhaling. The over-emitted carbon dioxide is related to the environmental problem of climate change, which is a serious issue that faces the contemporary society. With the great development of the chemical and agriculture industries, some climate issues have emerged in the environment. “Debate and controversy concerning the issue of climate change generally result in the hindering and obstruction of social and governmental action on this issue”.(Janko et al. 1745). Although the issues are realized by the public and government, it seemingly facing the unparalleled level of acceptance. Majority of people believe that the climate change issue is a threat to the development of human beings, they insist that the climate change can cause some environmental problems, including global temperature increase, sea level rise, and warming oceans, and they proposed that the government should provide some measures to prevent the climatic deterioration. However, some people insisted that the climate change issue is a hoax, they accepted that the climate change is occurring, but denied that humanity is influencing its development.
This paper is going to talk about what kinds of people choose to deny the evidence of climate change, and why do those people claim that anthropogenic climate change issue is a hoax. The climate change issue has been discussed for two decades. With the increasing debate and controversy concerning the climate change issue, some conservative white males, Republicans, and religious people are tend to deny the evidence of climate change is threatening the world, this is related to the high level of risk acceptance, the increasingly partisan views, and the people’s religious beliefs.
Conservative white males are likely to support the climate change denial, this is caused by their high levels of risk acceptance and their willingness of maintaining their social identity. Many environmental scientists have insisted that the climate issues should be emphasized because it may block the development of the environment, and they suggested people have to make some changes to prevent the deterioration of the environment. For example, the government should limit the gas emissions and formulate rules to prevent climate change issues. “Past research on perceptions of technological and environ- mental risks in the US has documented what has been termed the white male effect, whereby white males are found to be more accepting of a wide range of risks than are other adults” (Dunlap 1164). A lot of conservative white males can not see the risk of the environment issues because the environmental issue is within their risk acceptance. They regarded the environmental issues as the challenge to the governmental institution, which leads them to ignore the environmental risks. “White males with a hierarchical cultural worldview would be the most likely to downplay or ignore environmental risks, perceiving them as challenges to the existing social, political, and economic hierarchy” (Dunlap 1165). Consequently, those conservative white males choose to deny the climate change because their high levels of risk acceptance.
In addition, conservative white males have occupied the position of power in economic, political, and stocks for many years, so they are likely to protect the current industrial capitalist economy to maintain their identity in society. Conservative white males occupied the dominant positions in the society, if they accepted the climate change, which means governments and those capitalists have to making some technological and economical changes in industrial production. A typical example of the climate change denier is the American President Donald Trump, who insisted that climate change issue is a falsehood that deliberately designed to harm American economy, and he believes that the climate change is a hoax. With the high level of risk acceptance, those conservative white males are more likely to deny the climate change rather than accept it because they benefit from their institutions and existing economics. “Perhaps white males see less risk in the world because they create, manage, control, and benefit from so much of it. Perhaps women and nonwhite men see the world as more dangerous because in many ways they are more vulnerable, because they benefit less from many of its technologies and institutions, and because they have less power and control” (Dunlap 1167).
Republicans tend to believe the seriousness of climate change is exaggerated because the Republicans’ view is becoming more and more partisan. Over the past years, Republicans who doubted the climate change has grown increasingly. “Seventy-four percent of Republicans with a college degree say it is exaggerated, compared with 57% of those with high school education or less saying the same” (Frank 181). As I mentioned before, Trump twitted that the climate change is a conspiracy theory that designed to harm America economy, he denied the climate change and insisted on his opinion. The leader has the ability to significantly influence the people’ opinions, for example, public speeches, social networking, and news media. When Trump’s administration scrubbed the climate change mentions from federal websites and pulled out of the Paris Agreement, the partisan views started to increase among the Republicans. “In 2017, 53% of Republicans agreed that most scientists believe climate change is occurring. That number declined to 42% in 2018, as the Trump Administration has scrubbed mentions of climate change from federal websites, instructed bureaucrats from different agencies to refrain from using the term, and backed out of the Paris Agreement” (Megan and Lydia 16). The number of the Republicans who believed the climate change declined 11% from 2017 to 2018, which indicates that their views are influenced by the leader and forms the partisan views. The partisan views of Republicans can be influenced by their leader, which increases the number of Republicans who deny climate change.
Some religious people are more likely to deny climate change because they believe that God would never destroy the earth, and God makes all perfect. Environmental scientists concluded the harmful effects of climate change by analyzing the situation scientifically and objectively, they provide the evidence that climate change issue is threatening the world. Compared to the scientists, those religious people do not admit that the world is in danger because it conflicts with their religiosity. “People's relationship with God is dependent upon their knowledge and conceptualization of God. Seeing God as Benevolent, Omni, Guiding, Stable, Powerful, and Caring would motivate believers to draw nearer to God” (Richard 332). Those believers may admit the climate change is occurring because they see the effects and harms caused by climate change. However, the Christianity emphasizes that God is involved in the world, God is invisible but exists. People believe that God would never destroy the world, so they deny the climate change. In addition, religious people think humans do not need to prevent the deterioration of the environment because they believe the God is coming back. Compared with believing the climate change poses a threat to the world, those religious people are more likely to believe the God is warming the world.
There are some deniers who against the climate change issue, such as conservative white male, republicans, and religious people. People who deny the climate change is related to their level of risk acceptance, partisan views, and the religious beliefs. Although the majority of people have realized the significance of preventing climate change, there are still some deniers tend to against the climate change theory. The conservative white males deny the issue because they enjoyed benefiting from it and didn't realize the potential harm, so they choose to ignore the environmental risk and perceive the issue as the challenge to governmental and political institutions. The majority of Republicans choose to deny the climate change because the governor deniers, like Trump, spreading the opinion that the climate change is a hoax, which leads the republican’s view becoming more and more partisan. Those religious believers, insisting that God created the world and God arrange all things perfectly, so they do not admit the climate change is threatening the world and choose to deny it. When people talking about the climate change, their perspectives towards to be different and debatable, which lead this topic to be controversial and disputable.