Transcript The Framing of Climate Change * The View from Alberta and Beyond

The Framing of Climate
Change – The View from
Alberta and Beyond
Lorelei L. Hanson, Athabasca University
Greg Powell, University of Toronto
Purpose of Project
 Develop a better understanding of the context that
influences citizen and government action/inaction
and policy on climate change in Alberta over the
past several decades
 Inform other research and the citizen deliberations
associated with ABCD
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Alberta Climate Dialogue
(ABCD)
 SSHRC-CURA 5-year project involving academics
and deliberative democracy practitioners from
across Canada, the US, Australia and Great Britain
 Work with Alberta municipalities and nongovernmental groups
 Key questions guiding the research:
1.
2.
how do design choices shape how and to what degree
citizen deliberations influence policy? And,
how and to what degree does participation in formal
deliberations shape citizen capacity to act?
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Textual Analysis
Frames
 Data gathering process of interpreting texts to make sense of the
ways people make sense of the world around them (McKee 2012)
 “Frames are interpretive storylines that set a specific train of
thought in motion” (Nisbet 2009) by specifying the relationship
between various elements in a text
 Every communication involves selection, emphasis and
presentation, and as such, frames are an unavoidable component
of communication (Gitlin 1980)
 No message about climate change is ever neutral
 Frames resonate with core values and assumptions, allowing the
receiver of the communication to rapidly identify if, and why an
issue matters, who might be responsible and what should be done
(Hulme).
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Letters to the Editor on CC
 Contribute to a better understanding of the factors
that shape climate change policy in Alberta and
citizen engagement on climate change
 How it is best to frame communications about
climate change to engage citizens
 A work in progress and results only preliminary
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Data Collection
 Used Canadian Newsstand - selects 23 major papers from
across Canada & includes the Edmonton Journal and
Calgary Herald.
 Selected Letters to the Editor (document type: letters to
the editor/letter section/opinion section) using the
keywords climate change, global warming and
greenhouse (to capture greenhouse gases, greenhouse
effect and greenhouse impact)
 January 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2011.
 Result: 5482 letters.
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Year
Table 1:
Number of Letters
to the Editor/Year
about Climate
Change found in
Canadian
Newsstand, 20002011
7
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Number
of Letters
187
184
600
191
183
328
572
1232
963
536
254
241
AB Studies Symposium, Edmonton, AB
March 4, 2013
Thematic Analysis
Don’t
Focus on
GHGs
Reduce
GHGs
Myth
Technology
Government
Hurts Economy
Individual
GW Beneficial
Solution not specified
Focus on
Adaptation
Slow population
growth
Other actors
responsible
Industry responsible
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Climate Change
Major Signifying
Narratives
Science
Moral Beliefs
Economics
Risk
Development
Governance
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Idea
The Cultural Theory of Risk
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Based on the Four Ways of Life by Douglas and Wildavsky (1982),
adapted by O’Riordan and Jordan (1999) and Hulme (2009).
Context
2002
• Kyoto ratified
• Harper defeats Day
• Clark gone
• G8 in Kananaskis
• CAN $ all time low
• Earth Summit – S. Africa
2007
• Dramatic increase in GHGs
• UN CC Conference, Bali – Harper opposed binding targets on GHGs
• Live Earth concert
2008
• Elections: Alberta (March), Canada (October)
• Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers – global economic recession
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Frequency of Frames
Frequency of Views about GHG Reductions in Letters to the
Editor in Canadian Newspapers, 2000- 2011*
*Letters often fall into more than one category
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Technology & Morality
“It is also shameful so many people think that as long
as they won’t be alive when the consequences of our
actions become more evident, it doesn’t matter what
we do as long as we’re comfortable while we’re
here….Do the words gluttony and ignorance mean
anything to anyone?”
Susan Routledge, Edmonton
Edmonton Journal, March 17, 2000
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Hierarchist
 “politicians should…”
 “nuclear power is the solution”
 “the government needs to…”
 “it is up to Stephen Harper to…”
 “we should invest in renewables”
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Egalitarian
 “we need to transition to renewables”
 “it will take collective action” or “it will take all of
us”
 “our industry organization is doing…”
 “citizens must….”
 “enough public demand will force politicians to…”
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Individualist
 “engineers and scientists will solve this”
 “use ethanol in your car”
 “reduce energy use”
 “individual Canadians should…”
 “our company has…”
 “if we all plant a tree…”
 “the free market will solve this”
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Frequency of Risk Frames
Cultural Theory of Risk Emphasis in Letters to the Editor,
2000, 2007 and 2011
Definitions of Self/Ways of Living
Number of Authors
Hierarchist
Individualist
Egalitarian
Fatalist
Total number of letters
111
51
21
2
152
%
72%
33%
14%
1%
-----*
*Percentages sum to greater than 100% because many letters fell into multiple categories
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Conclusions
 Challenges of climate change seen in largely
modernist, techno-managerial terms
 Confidence in humans ability to control nature
 High reliance on government to enact the
regulations and incentives to promote action
 Don’t see much Alberta exceptionalism so far
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