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U.S. Congressional Conceptions U.S. Congressional Conceptions of Climate Change: of Climate Change:
An Interpretivist ApproachAn Interpretivist ApproachJosh GellersJosh Gellers
University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, Irvine
American Political Science Association Annual MeetingAmerican Political Science Association Annual MeetingAugust 28, 2008August 28, 2008
Research Motivations Foreshadowing Richness Transparency Filling a critical void
Literature Review Yin (1999) Pielke (2007) Brulle (1996) Johnson (2000) Agnone (2007)
Main Research Questions What types of
distortions does climate science undergo during the policy process?
How do members of Congress frame the climate change debate?
Source: nazret.com
?
Ancillary Research Questions What are the differences/similarities in terms of scientific
understanding and communicative strategies between both sides of the climate debate in Congress?
Does it appear as though certain representatives are more agenda driven or allegiance driven?
Are the frames presented necessarily contradictory or can they be complementary?
How is science used to advance a particular agenda? What suggestions can be offered that serve to restructure
or refocus the discussions so as to increase the likelihood of agreement or progress?
Method and Objective Interpretive/textual analysis
Elite conceptions of climate science and the scope of the climate change debate
Discrete frames pertaining to climate change
Procedure 1) Use THOMAS research service from the Library of
Congress to sift through Congressional Record 2) Search for phrase “climate change” as it appears in
documents from 110th Congress 3) Review each document listed (at least on the first page of
results) cognizant of the fact that results appear in descending order of the degree of “match” with the key terms
4) Select those documents which feature either a) sufficient length worthy of analysis, b) a diversity of opinions expressed, or c) both.
Procedure Analyze:
Scientific information Stakeholder allegiance Frames
Categorize rhetoric according to frames employed
Climate Change Frames
National Security Economy Environment
Sources Congressional Record:
Save Our Climate Act Low Carbon Economy Act Senate Resolution 30 Climate Change Global Climate Change Legislation Global Warming Alarmists
Results Both parties misuse climate science
Omission, bias, anecdotes v. consensus, false analogy, misattribution, and reductionism
Democrats: Quick to gloss over science, move to frames Rely more on imagery
Republicans: Refer to outliers within the scientific community Resort to unqualified discrediting of sources, guilt by
association (IPCC and UN)
Allegiances Elites from coal states are more explicit
Frame Analysis
012345678
U.S. asEnvironmental
Leader
MoralImperative
Protecting theEconomy
NationalSecurity
Frame Employed
Frequencyof Citation
Recommendations 1) More oversight should be used when
preparing policies on science-dependent issues such as climate change.
2) Frames reveal a complexity of interests and thus efforts should be made to accommodate multiple perspectives during the policymaking process.
Areas for Improvement Climate science:
Objective evaluation, avoiding normative charges Associational claims (i.e. Al Gore and IPCC)
Frames: Mutually exclusive or complementary? More (dichotomized) frames
Institutionalist v. Individualist, Short-term v. Future-oriented Utility of employing certain frames over others
Allegiances: Important or tautological?
Future Research Directions Refine methodology
Rigor v. richness Study 111th Congress
Prescribe unified approach to understanding elite rhetoric Address larger issues pertaining to democracy
Should a leader elected to represent his or her constituents do what is in the best interests of the people or act in the long-term interest of preserving the environment?
What is the role of scientists and science in the policy process? Analyze tension between economic realities and
environmental imperatives Conduct comparative analyses
Questions or Comments?