![Illustration by Ata Ojani for Canada's National Observer](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_width_lg_1x/public/img/2023/03/06/cno-jordanpeterson-1920x1080-v3.jpg?itok=Z0Vml8fk)
Climate denial meets conspiracy theories
Quitting fossil fuels is a no-brainer. Burning oil, gas and coal is the main driver of climate change, and giving up that habit is an important part of minimizing the damage.
For a lot of folks, that’s simple enough to accept. We might blanch at the idea of buying less stuff or cutting back on overseas vacations, but all things being equal, we’re happy to power our homes with solar panels and wind turbines.
Not everyone finds this an easy pill to swallow, though. For people who, say, make their living in the fossil fuel industry, all this talk of a swift change to clean energy can be scary. And for some — mostly white, conservative, North American men — oil and gas are symbols of a society that has historically favoured them, which means giving up fossil fuels can feel like giving up their whole identity.
As Marc reported this week, there is a “tight relationship between harmful forms of masculinity, right-wing extremism and the refusal to deal with the climate crisis” — and it’s both stalling climate action and fuelling authoritarianism. Folks like alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate, podcast host Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson, who’s known for stirring up controversy on everything from gender to the COVID-19 pandemic, are now wading into the world of climate denial — and bringing their followers along for the ride.
Even comedian-turned-podcast-host Russell Brand, once known for his progressive views, has taken aim at climate policies, linking efforts to tackle climate change to a popular far-right conspiracy theory known as the “great reset.” He mentioned this in a recent video, where he claimed the Dutch government’s regulations on greenhouse gas pollution from fertilizer are “connected to the land grab of Bill Gates.”
This all might sound like the ramblings of a few talking heads on the internet, but it’s showing up in our politics, too. That same “great reset” conspiracy theory popular among climate deniers has been pushed by People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier and Pierre Poilievre, leader of the country’s official Opposition. It’s also been used to argue against 15-minute cities, another climate solution that’s been politicized, and showed up among convoy protesters in Ottawa last winter, where one form of protest was “rollin’ coal” — modifying a gas-powered vehicle to spew clouds of thick black smoke on purpose. The pollution was the point.
And the fertilizer regulations Brand mentioned? They’ve become part of a far-right disinformation campaign also linked to the convoy movement — one adopted by premiers in the Prairies — that seeks to convince Canadian farmers the government was planning to do the same.
For the people who draw a line between fossil fuels and their identity, “losing oil is seen as a threat to that way of life — and it is,” Cara Daggett, a Virginia Tech professor and climate sociologist, told Marc. As governments tackle climate change, they must also address the cultural and economic shifts that come with it, she added — or risk fuelling a kind of climate denialism mixed up with right-wing extremism and harmful forms of masculinity.
“These things have to be addressed,” she said. “Otherwise, we're facing a serious political crisis.”
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