Environmental Skepticism: Ecology, Power and Public Life

ENVIRONMENTAL SKEPTICISM Global Environmental Governance Series Editors: John J. Kirton, Munk Centre for International Studies, Trinity College, Canada and Miranda Schreurs, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Global Environmental Governance addresses the new generation of twenty-first century environmental problems and the challenges they pose for management and governance at the local, national, and global levels. Centred on the relationships among environmental change, economic forces, and political governance, the series explores the role of international institutions and instruments, national and sub- federal governments, private sector firms, scientists, and civil society, and provides a comprehensive body of progressive analyses on one of the world’s most contentious international issues. Recent titles in the series (full listing continued at the back of the book) Transatlantic Environment and Energy Politics Comparative and International Perspectives Edited by Miranda A. Schreurs, Henrik Selin, and Stacy D. VanDeveer ISBN 978-0-7546-7597-6 The Legitimacy of International Regimes Helmut Breitmeier ISBN 978-0-7546-4411-8 Governing Agrobiodiversity Plant Genetics and Developing Countries Regine Andersen ISBN 978-0-7546-4741-6 The Social Construction of Climate Change Power, Knowledge, Norms, Discourses Edited by Mary E. Pettenger ISBN 978-0-7546-4802-4 Governing Global Health Challenge, Response, Innovation Edited by Andrew F. Cooper, John J. Kirton and Ted Schrecker ISBN 978-0-7546-4873-4 Environmental Skepticism Ecology, Power and Public Life PETER J. JACQUES University of Central Florida, USA First published 2009 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © Peter J. Jacques 2009 Peter J. Jacques has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Jacques, Peter Environmental skepticism : ecology, power and public life. - (Global environmental governance series) 1. Political ecology 2. Anti-environmentalism I. Title 320.5'8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jacques, Peter. Environmental skepticism : ecology, power and public life / by Peter J. Jacques. p. cm. -- (Global environmental governance) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-7102-2 (hbk) 1. Political ecology. 2. Anti-environmentalism. I. Title. JA75.8.J335 2009 320.5'8--dc22 09ANSHT 2008039160 ISBN 978-0-7546-7102-2 (hbk) ISBN 978-1-3155-8005-0 (ebk) Contents About the Author vii Preface and Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 Science, Nature, and Environmental Skepticism 17 2 World Politics and Political Ecology 47 3 Civic-Ontological Implications of Environmental Skepticism 67 4 Biopolitics and Representation of the Other: Skepticism, Violence and Disposal 91 5 Environmental Skepticism and the Dynamics of Collapse 119 6 The Ecological Demos 143 Terms and Propositions 169 References 175 Appendix 1: Books Espousing Environmental Skepticism and Links to Conservative Think Tanks 191 Appendix 2: Conservative Think Tanks Interested in Environmental Issues 213 Index 217 To my children, Olivia and Lillian Jacques-Baker, in hopes of a life full of meaning About the Author Peter Jacques teaches sustainability and environmental politics at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He has written two other books: Globalization and the World Ocean (2006) with Altamira/Rowman and Littlefield, and Ocean Politics and Policy: A Reference Handbook (2003) with Zachary A. Smith through ABC/ Clio. He has also published multiple academic articles on various environmental affairs from climate change to land use. This page has been left blank intentionally Preface and Acknowledgements Writing books, a friend said recently, is like giving birth. We all know that few give birth without others taking part somehow in the overall process. This book is born in the warmth of a supporting family and community of scholars that I am privileged to be a part of. I would like to start by thanking my wife, Pamela Baker, who is starting her own life of writing. We work well together raising two amazing children, attempting to work, make social contributions, and be home with the family. Without Pamela, my life would be unbalanced, more impoverished. In that my life is good, it is because I get to spend it with Pamela, Olivia, and Lilly, as we explore the world together. Of course, any ethics I propose in this book, might rightly be traced to the love, ethical expectations, and support I received from my parents and sister, Ted and Bonnie Jacques, and Amy Chevalier respectively. I also need to thank my friend and mentor Zach Smith at Northern Arizona University, who continues to press new environmental scholars into the world, and who started me on my way toward ecological thinking some time ago now. Also, my friend Carol Thompson at NAU who is an inspiration in her scholar- based activism; she continues to show that intellectual rigor and a life about justice go together quite well. Likewise, my friend Sharon Ridgeway has always been a stalwart support, a person who simply radiates peace. In addition, I thank Riley Dunlap, who shares no blame for any errors of this book, for his work and conversations with me on the empirical article that is the foundation for this book and the construction of the data reprinted in Appendix 1 and 2, along with former graduate student, Mark Freeman. This book started out in research that was inspired by students that I have had the pleasure of working with at the University of Central Florida, teaching the class “Sustainability.” I would like to specifically thank my students for their interactions, I have really learned quite a bit and I have been pushed to think hard about how much sense things I had taken for granted made. I am glad to have had the wonderful interactions with series editors John Kirton and Miranda Schreurs, and Ashgate editor Kirstin Howgate. Each have been supportive, but also have served as important good-faith witnesses to the process of writing this book. Their role is quite important for the ecological demos. Madeline Koch and Margaret Younger at Ashgate have also been important friendly voices. All of the people involved have made publishing a book with Ashgate a pleasure. Finally, I wish to offer gratitude to the several anonymous reviewers who made important observations, challenged me on ideas, and helped me to improve the work considerably. Some even argued I was not pushing the issue strongly enough, and this has made me really think about the project in different ways as well. Their x Environmental Skepticism role too, is important in the ecological demos, where peer review serves as one example of a process for vetting knowledge claims. Let me conclude by saying I do not expect that all of my propositions will be accepted here, and in particular, I know that the call to disrupt Industria will seem all too radical for many readers who will most likely live in core nodes of Industria and not want their lives disrupted. I wonder, though, just how disrupted we will feel if we do nothing. Nonetheless, I ask that we see this book, as all propositions should be seen, as a conversation. All of the requirements I state for public discourse, I gladly accept for my own work. Let us start this conversation now with the virtues of fidelity to representation and humility in order to begin creating a more peaceful, sustainable, life together. Introduction While this book is specifically focused on environmental skepticism—a counter- movement built on the premise that global environmental changes have been grossly exaggerated, misguided, or maliciously fabricated—the book before you is really an exploration of the ecology of public life in a world system where capitalism is king married to the ontology of possession. Let me say from the start, that “skepticism” is a poor, inaccurate term for the social movement, but it is one that sticks for various reasons. Skeptics often refer to themselves as optimists, cornucopians, or as the “asset society” because they see society as consistently improving since the Industrial Revolution (Dunn and Kinney, 1996). However, some temperance is justified here. Environmental Skepticism does not actually present much skepticism or much unqualified optimism. There are at least two philosophical versions of skepticism: the supposed Cartesian skepticism that disavows knowledge, and ancient skepticism that disavowed belief and environmental skeptics hold neither view (Fine, 2000). Just as skeptics doubt the authenticity of environmental problems, they are equally committed and faithful— that is, not skeptical—to industrial political economy in capitalism, agriculture, and energy. Kysar (2003) points this out in his thorough review of Lomborg’s (2001) The Skeptical Environmentalist. Kysar points

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