Climate policy delaying discourse by an American think tank

Abstract: A case study of the conservative and allegedly climate denying think tank American Enterprise Institute and its usage of climate policy delaying discourse. By applying William Lamb et al.'s model of the discourse climate delay, this essay seeks to describe and analyse if and how American Enterpise Institute uses climate delaying discourse. The study is based on published texts from the American Enterprise Institute and the analysis is performed in two steps. Firstly, by conducting an argumentation analysis using the Toulmin model on the material to discern the main arguments of the texts. Secondly, by applying Lamb et al.'s model on the arguments to discern if any of the climate policy delaying discourses are used. This study finds that almost all of Lamb et al.'s described discourses are used by the think tank and that they are used in several different ways and with different implications. This study can expand the understanding of how climate denial focused on climate policy manifests and how climate delaying discourse is used. Moreover, the results of this study further proves what previous research has indicated: That climate denialists are changing tactics and are focusing on how to affect climate policy for their own benefit.