CHAPTER FOUR:
American Exceptionalism in a Warming World

EXCERPT FROM PAGES 193 AND 149

“It might be easy to pin the blame for policy inaction on the climate disinformation campaign and the well-financed, fossil fuel-led lobbying campaign—as many environmentalists did—but the real challenge is more fundamental. Addressing global warming meant not just reshaping the nation’s energy economy, but challenging an American culture that celebrates independence, abundance, and exceptionalism... By 2010, opposition to climate policies [became] a rallying cry among conservatives, aligning groups that included coal miners, evangelical Christians, and Tea Partiers, over concerns that policies to address global warming threatened deep-set conservative beliefs about America exceptionalism, the resilience of God’s creation, and individual freedom.”

Primary Sources ​

1988

Source: NASA

James Hansen statement to U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute, testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee claiming that with almost near certainty, the change in global temperatures was due to a warming trend rather than chance variation. His testimony, along with others given by Michael Oppenheimer and George Woodwell, first brought the urgency of global warming to public attention.

“...THE EARTH IS WARMER IN 1988 THAN AT ANY TIME IN THE HISTORY OF INSTRUMENTAL MEASUREMENTS” - HANSEN

Source: Ronald Reagan Library (NARA)

President Reagan signing Montreal Protocol
Despite his opposition to domestic environmental policy, the Reagan administration led efforts that resulted in the Montreal Protocol in April 1988. The Protocol aimed to stabilize the stratospheric ozone hole and committed the United States and other countries to cutting ozone depleting pollution.

1990

Source: EOP

President H.W. Bush Speaking at the White House conference on Climate Change | PDF
In his opening statement at the White House Conference on Global Change, President H.W. Bush stressed the importance of scientific research into climate change. Further research, Bush believed, would clarify the extent to which human actions were causing climate change. He also emphasized that if climate policy neglected the economy, it was destined to fail.

“Global Warming: What Does the Science Tell Us?” A report by the Marshall Institute
​Contrary to James Hansen’s assessments, the Marshall institute published a report raising questions about the state of scientific knowledge about global warming. The report highlighted the challenges of measuring global temperatures, the rate of change and other uncertainties, and the shortcomings of Hansen’s prediction. Ultimately, the authors did not deny the potential threat of climate change, but they concluded that warming would be modest and urgent action would be hasty and potentially costly.​

1997

Source: U.S. Senate

Transcript of Debate over the Byrd-Hagel Resolution in the U.S Senate | Final Resolution
The Senate debated whether the United States should commit to a binding greenhouse reduction target if developing countries did not.  A top concern among senators was the economic impact: The protocol could put U.S. industry at a competitive disadvantage, especially compared to other developing nations such as China. Ultimately, the Byrd-Hagel Resolution passed in the Senate 95-0, making clear that U.S. Senate would not consent to the Kyoto Protocol.

2000

Source: C-SPAN

Presidential Debate between Gore and Bush on Environment [video excerpt] | Transcript
During the 2000 presidential campaign, the environment was an important concern for voters. In the second presidential debate, when it came to climate change and environmental issues, Vice President Al Gore and Texas governor George W. Bush each articulated positions that departed from their records.

2001

Source: Karen Ballard (White House)

Bush administration’s Energy Plan| National Resources Defense Council’s Critique 
Vice President Cheney created an energy plan that promised a new approach to energy and environmental policy, but which emphasized increasing energy production and gave little attention to environmental concerns. In response, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published an evaluation of the plan, in which they critiqued the administration’s overall approach, claiming that the plan will only increase global warming, “damage public health, and scar the landscape.”

“...THE BUSH PLAN IS A BAD IDEA FOR AMERICA’S HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT” - NRDC 

2005

Source: Eric Draper (George W. Bush White House Archives)

President Bush on Energy Policy Act
In the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, concern over energy policy shifted away from the environment to the rising cost of energy. To address these concerns, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Ultimately, the act caused a surge in domestic natural gas production and provided some support for renewable energy developments. In doing so, the act contributed to what later became known as the “war on coal.”

2009

Source: USFS

Summary of Waxman-Markey Climate Bill  | Heritage Foundation Response
Representatives Henry Waxman and Edward Markey proposed an energy bill to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions. The bill utilized a cap-and-trade system, similar to the successful Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, and supported investment in clean energy technologies. The Heritage Foundation responded to the bill arguing that the restrictions on energy supply would “suppress economic activity and reduce employment,” affecting all sectors of the American people.

Tea Party rallies against Climate Change Legislation [video]
Americans for Prosperity, a conservative interest group that the Koch brothers helped finance, launched Hot Air Tour that traveled across the United States drawing attention to the potential consequences of the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill.  At one stop on the tour, Tim Phillips, the organization’s president, spoke to concerned citizens in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he spared no hyperbole in describing the potential impact of the legislation.

2013

Source: C-SPAN

President Obama Speaking to Crowd at Georgetown University [video] | Transcript
Early in his second term, President Obama gave a fiery speech on the need to combat climate change. Since Congress had not acted, Obama promised to advance administrative initiatives to address climate change.  That commitment would lead to tougher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, the Clean Power Plan, and other administrative regulations, all of which were vulnerable to reversal during the Trump administration.

2017

Source: The Washington Post (Reuters)

President Trump Talking to Coal Miners on the 2016 Campaign Trail [video excerpt] | Full video
While campaigning for the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump gave a rousing speech promising to bring back jobs to coal miners. Trump’s commitment to coal miners and disregard for climate change became a signature issue during his presidential campaign.

“I THINK YOU ARE AMAZING PEOPLE…IF I WIN WE ARE GOING TO BRING THOSE MINERS BACK.  YOU ARE GOING TO BE SO PROUD OF YOUR PRESIDENT. YOU ARE GOING TO BE SO PROUD OF YOUR COUNTRY. YOU WATCH...” - TRUMP

Source: C-SPAN

President Trump on Clean Power Plan [video excerpt] | Transcript
In 2015, the Obama administration’s EPA finalized the Clean Power Plan, which required each state to meet limits on  greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The law was a sweeping administrative rule that sought to significantly reduce emissions by 2030 through the authority granted by the Clean Air Act. In March 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to begin to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, arguing that the cost of compliance was too expensive and threatened the nation’s energy security.

Discussion Questions ​

1. What qualities distinguished the US role in  international environmental policy through the 1980s?
2. ​Why did some policymakers believe that the successful international effort to forge the Montreal Protocol and address the ozone hole offered a template for action on global warming?
3. In what ways were the early 1990’s a missed opportunity to address climate change? In what ways did the commitments adopted in the 1990’s make future action on climate change more difficult?  
4. Why did the Clinton administration propose an energy tax in 1993?  Why did the tax fail to gain legislative support? What changes did the Clinton administration succeed in making on energy policy?
5. Both Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush did an “about face” on addressing climate change at the start of their administrations. Why?
6. To what extent have debates over climate change been about science and to what extent has it been about other factors, such as local communities, the meaning of work, or the economy? What are some historical moments that illuminate the complex role of science in public decision making?
7. Trump promised to end the “war on coal.”  When did that “war” begin? Who started it?  How did that rhetorical claim evolve with changing administrations?
8. Why did the Byrd-Hagel resolution, which was drawn up in opposition to international climate negotiations, draw unanimous support in the U.S. Senate?
9. In what ways did Al Gore’s 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth both facilitate and hinder efforts to advance climate change policy?
10. ​What are the parallels between partisan debates over health care and climate and energy policy during the Obama administration?
11. Despite some Republicans efforts to advance a bipartisan climate bill in the early 2000’s, why did the Republican Party object so strenuously both to the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Climate Accord?   

Additional Readings

U.S. and the Global Environment

Ozone Diplomacy: New Directions in Safeguarding the Planet
Richard Elliot Benedick | Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998

​The Dawn of Conservation Diplomacy: U.S.-Canadian Wildlife Protection Treaties in the Progressive Era
Dorsey Kurkpatrick | Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998

​Domestic Sources of International Environmental Policy: Industry, Environmentalists, and U.S. Power
Elizabeth R. DeSombre | Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000

“Of Montreal and Kyoto: A Tale of Two Protocols” 
Cass R. Sunstein | Environmental Law Review: News and Analysis, August 2008

Global Warming, Energy, History, and Politics

“Balance as Bias: Global Warming and the US Prestige Press”
Maxwell T. Boykoff and Jules M. Boykoff | Global Environmental Change, July 2004

“Six Years of Deceit”
Tim Dickinson | Rolling Stone, 28 June 2007

“Exxon Knew about Climate Change Almost 40 Years Ago”
Shannon Hall | Scientific American, 26 October 2015​

Behind the Curve: Science and the Politics of Global Warming
Joshua P. Howe | Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2016​

“The Koch Brothers’ Covert Ops”
Jane Mayer | The New Yorker, 30 August 2010
​
Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway | New York: Bloomsbury, 2010
​​
​ Spencer Weart: The Discovery of Global Warming 
Spencer Weart’s website provides an excellent introduction to the history of climate science during the twentieth century, as scientists came to realize that humans were the driving force in a new era of global warming.

Religion, Conservatives, and the Environment

“The Role of Religion in Environmental Attitudes”
Matthew B. Arbuckle and David M. Konisky | Social Science Quarterly, November 2015

“End-Times Theology, the Shadow of the Future, and Public Resistance to Addressing Global Climate Change”
David C. Barker and David H. Bearce | Political Research Quarterly, 2013

The Tea Party and Religion
Scott Clement | Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project, 23 February 2011

Religion and the Tea Party in the 2010 Elections
Daniel Cox and Robert P. Jones | Public Religion Research Institute, 5 October 2010

“Moving Mountains: The Business of Evangelicalism and Extraction in a Liberal Age”
Darren Dochuck | What’s Good for Business: Business and American Politics since World War II, New York: Oxford University Press, 2012

Personal Faith, Public Policy 
Harry R. Jackson and Tony Perkins | Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine, 2008

The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism
Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson | New York: Oxford University Press, 2012)

Resisting the Green Dragon; Dominion, Not Death
James Wanliss | Burke, VA: Cornwall Alliance, 2011

Between God and Green: How Evangelicals Are Cultivating a Middle Ground on Climate Change 
 Katharine K. Wilkinson | New York: Oxford University Press, 2012

Other

The Light-Green Society: Ecology and Technological Modernity in France, 1960-2000 
Michael Bess | Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003

The Republican War on Science 
Chris Mooney | New York: Basic Books, 2005)