Of all the major developed countries in the world, the United States has resisted unified action on climate change for decades. In fact, it is the only country where the scientific facts of climate science are still not accepted by a significant number of citizens, including a major political party. Social science studies indicate strong polarization around the issue of climate change within the US. In this presentation, Jeffrey will summarize the current state of polarization around American’s perceptions of climate change, and then describe two distinct cultures existing within the US that strongly correlate with polarization around climate change. He then describes how this American polarization manifests in terms of cultural complexes and the archetypal roots of these complexes.
Jeffrey Kiehl, PhD, is a climate scientist and Jungian analyst living in Santa Cruz. He is the author of Facing Climate Change: An Integrated Path to the Future (Columbia U Press).