Green Backlash and Fossil Societies

More and more research across the social sciences is uncovering the role of the fossil fuel industry in pushing back on climate policy and creating roadblocks for the clean energy transition. But how has political backlash fed into these efforts?

In this essay, Paasha Mahdavi, an associate professor of political science and affiliated professor of environmental science and management at UC Santa Barbara, examines the means by which fossil fuel interests weaken climate action at the domestic and international level—including from lobbying, spreading climate misinformation, corporate greenwashing, and insertion into the UN climate process—while noting the more nuanced reaction to the energy transition in communities reliant on fossil fuel jobs. Mahdavi concludes by outlining a set of future research questions around the consequences of green backlash by fossil fuel actors on democratic governance.

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On January 30–31, 2025, IGCC convened a first-of-its-kind research incubator to examine the links between climate change, democratic backsliding, and public backlash against green policies. The conversation aimed to bridge the divide between scholars within the political and climate sciences to promote interdisciplinary studies at the crossroads between global environmental and governance challenges. Workshop participants prepared memos before the meeting responding to two questions: under which conditions can climate change and climate policies trigger a green backlash? And what are the consequences of climate change disruptions and green backlash for democracy? These memos are now published as part of an ongoing IGCC essay series on Climate Change, Green Backlash, and Democracy.