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Conservative Protestantism and skepticism of scientists studying climate change

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  • John Evans
  • Justin Feng

Abstract

Politicians who proclaim both their skepticism about global warming and their conservative religious credentials leave the impression that conservative Protestants may be more skeptical about scientists’ claims regarding global warming than others. The history of the relationship between conservative Protestantism and science on issues such as evolution also suggests that there may be increased skepticism. Analyzing the 2006 and 2010 General Social Survey, we find no evidence that conservative Protestantism leads respondents to have less belief in the conclusiveness of climate scientists’ claims. However, a second type of skepticism of climate scientists is an unwillingness to follow scientists’ public policy recommendations. We find that conservative Protestantism does lead to being less likely to want environmental scientists to influence the public policy debate about what to do about climate change. Existing sociological research on the relationship between religion and science suggests that this stance is due to a long-standing social/moral competition between conservative Protestantism and science. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • John Evans & Justin Feng, 2013. "Conservative Protestantism and skepticism of scientists studying climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 121(4), pages 595-608, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:121:y:2013:i:4:p:595-608
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-013-0946-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David M. Konisky & Jeffrey Milyo & Lilliard E. Richardson, 2008. "Environmental Policy Attitudes: Issues, Geographical Scale, and Political Trust," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1066-1085, December.
    2. Paul M. Kellstedt & Sammy Zahran & Arnold Vedlitz, 2008. "Personal Efficacy, the Information Environment, and Attitudes Toward Global Warming and Climate Change in the United States," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 113-126, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jay Squalli, 2022. "Intelligence, Religiosity, and Environmental Emissions," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 418-449, June.
    2. Sharma, Swati & Ang, James B. & Fredriksson, Per G., 2021. "Religiosity and climate change policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Robin G. Veldman & Dara M. Wald & Sarah B. Mills & David A. M. Peterson, 2021. "Who are American evangelical Protestants and why do they matter for US climate policy?," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), March.

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