The Structure of Obstruction: Understanding Opposition to Climate Change Action in the United States

The document describes a sophisticated 'denial machine' in the United States composed of ten key player types—including corporations, think tanks, and conservative media—that use a multi-tiered 'playbook' of long, medium, and short-term strategies to disseminate misinformation and block climate mitigation policies.

• A sophisticated network of organizational relationships, referred to as the "denial machine," works to slow or stop ambitious climate action by disseminating misinformation and influencing public, media, and political arenas.
• The countermovement consists of ten primary types of actors: corporations and trade associations (such as ExxonMobil and Peabody Coal), opposition coalitions and front groups (such as the Global Climate Coalition), PR firms, astroturf groups (e.g., 'Energy Citizens'), conservative philanthropists, conservative think tanks (e.g., Heartland Institute), contrarian scientists, conservative media (e.g., FoxNews), Republican politicians, and denial bloggers.
• The obstruction strategy operates across three timeframes: long-term efforts (5+ years) to build cultural and intellectual infrastructure; medium-term efforts (1-5 years) to translate academic ideas into policy proposals via think tanks and PR firms; and short-term efforts focused on immediate political outcomes like elections and legislation through lobbying and public opinion management.
• The overarching objectives of these efforts are to maintain a public agenda that rejects climate action, shape the media agenda to cast doubt on mitigation, and influence the political process to select policies that do not support climate action.

APA

Climate Social Science Network (2021). The Structure of Obstruction: Understanding Opposition to Climate Change Action in the United States. https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CSSN-Briefing_-Obstruction-2.pdf

Chicago

Climate Social Science Network. The Structure of Obstruction: Understanding Opposition to Climate Change Action in the United States. 2021. https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CSSN-Briefing_-Obstruction-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Social Science Network |title=The Structure of Obstruction: Understanding Opposition to Climate Change Action in the United States |date=2021 |url=https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CSSN-Briefing_-Obstruction-2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatesocialsciencenetwork2021structure, author = {{Climate Social Science Network}}, title = {{The Structure of Obstruction: Understanding Opposition to Climate Change Action in the United States}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2021}, url = {https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CSSN-Briefing_-Obstruction-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }