ABSTRACT
This chapter comments on the greater substance of environmental skepticism. It is (very) tempting to say that environmental skepticism is all about protecting simple profiteering or distributional interests. Certainly, this is part of the story. For example, it is true that Western Fuels and Exxon Mobil-gargantuan corporate interests that are seemingly hurt by the implications of global warming and the prospect of burning hydrocarbons-have been important funders of the Cooler Heads Coalition and other skeptical conservative think tanks (CTTs). Clearly, this is a head or at least a nerve-ending of capital and a tangible example of the interests of a global capitalist-system. But, to leave the analysis there would result in deeply underestimating the power of skepticism and its adherents. If skeptics were simply profit seekers, or “rent seekers” looking to squeeze out the last penny possible from resource use and disposal, then the actors in the counter-movement would be less committed to the ideals and more committed to simply following the fickle course of profit, say in preparing a new energy base, which is increasingly an intersection for sustainability and business interests alike. If skepticism were simply about profit, it would be temporary and would give up and change teams, lining up with the arrangement of profit, less with ideology. For example, we might find that instead of CTTS, the books in Appendix 1 have a stronger correlation with oil companies or industry affiliations. However, if the heart of the skeptical counter-movement is made up of believers, then some will fight until their last breath is forfeit.
