Abstract

For my junior theme, I decided to research climate change, specifically the denial of the phenomenon, and how economics, politics, race, and religion play a role in shaping their beliefs. Whether it be the millions of dollars spent annually by Fossil Fuel companies, or the clear bias and lobbying in congress to help oil companies in their ventures, climate change denial is a pressing issue in our world today. The topic interested me because of lack of urgency everyday Americans have towards resolving the issue of climate change.

Reflection

Rather than attempting to find research that helped back up a predetermined thesis, I let my research push me towards a conclusion in which I could provide strong evidence for, and what I found changed my perception of climate change completely. I had understood that climate change was a problem, and evolving issue in our world, but really payed no attention to it, as so many do. However, my research changed all of that. In my paper, I dive into the scary reality of the situation. For example; “Over roughly the last three decades, five major US oil companies have spent a total of at least $3.6 billion on advertisements” (The Guardian). The purpose of these advertisements were to contain climate conversation amongst the general public. Our government was shadowed by hundreds of millions of dollars expended by oil companies to create legislation helping oil companies, as well as the astonishing differences in opinions on the basis of race and religion.