NYT’s opinion writer Paul Krugman is declaring #climate is now a culture war issue 🤔
I worked in the U.S. Senate ~20 years ago. Covered climate as a journalist. Cofounded an NGO focused on science policy issues during elections. Am finishing a dissertation on how Congress has made decisions about #science policy for the last 1/2 century - with climate as a central theme.
This isn’t new. #ClimateChange has *always* been a culture war issue.
nostr:npub1khx67x36rsu5y2f3ruuq8crnxndmep88399l2phu50etnfcrkr6q6hgeyg I am old enough to recall Bush the Older pushing the UNFCCC and Bush the Younger campaigning for a carbon tax.
It’s worth noting that by Fall of 2012, the majority of both Republican & Democrat voters acknowledged #ClimateChange is occurring. But not the majority of all politicians.
Back then, I ran large public opinion surveys out of UT Austin & it was the first time citizens from both parties agreed. (Here’s a 2015 SciAm piece w totals https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/over-3-out-of-4-americans-now-acknowledge-climate-change-is-occurring-including-the-majority-of-republicans/)
We can’t said what changed attitudes, but a drought had impacted U.S. crops that summer & the pope was also discussing #climate. /2
