Climate Obstruction across Europe

Robert Brulle, PhD, is a visiting professor of Environment and Society at Brown University and an emeritus professor of Sociology and Environmental Science at Drexel University. His research focuses on U.S. environmental politics, critical theory, and the political and cultural dynamics of climate change. He is the author of three books and more than one hundred publications on these topics. Brulle received the Frederick H. Buttel Distinguished Contribution Award for Environmental Sociology from the American Sociological Association in 2016 and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association in 2018.

J. Timmons Roberts, PhD, is the Ittleson Professor of Environment and Society at Brown University and the executive director of the Climate Social Science Network (CSSN). Roberts is the co-author or editor of fourteen books and edited volumes, and of more than one hundred articles and book chapters. He was awarded the Frederick Buttel Award for distinguished scholarship from the American Sociological Association and the International Sociological Association. Previously, he taught in and directed environmental science and policy programs at Brown, the College of William and Mary, and Tulane University, and held fellowships at Oxford and the Brookings Institution.

Miranda Spencer is a writer, editor, and project manager with forty years of experience in the publishing and media industries. She has worked mainly as a journalist and book editor focusing on environmental and health topics. Spencer has collaborated with or coached famous authors and emerging writers alike. Her articles have been published in American Forests, BioScience, The Daily Climate, E: The Environmental Magazine, and the Scottish investigative platform The Ferret, among others. Until recently, Spencer was a staff editor for the online magazine Mad in America.

Chapter 1: Introduction: The First Portrait of Climate Obstruction Across Europe
Robert J. Brulle and J. Timmons Roberts

Chapter 2: Climate Obstruction in the United Kingdom: Charting the Resistance to Climate Action
Freddie Daley, Peter Newell, Ruth McKie, and James Painter

Chapter 3: Climate Obstruction in Scotland: The Politics of Oil and Gas
William Dinan, Victoria Esteves, and Steven Harkins

Chapter 4: Climate Obstruction in Ireland: The Contested Transformation of an Agricultural Economy
Orla Kelly, Brenda McNally, and Jennie C. Stephens

Chapter 5: Climate Obstruction in Sweden: The Green Welfare State - Both Progressive and Obstructionist
Kjell Vowles, Kristoffer Ekberg, and Martin Hultman

Chapter 6: Climate Obstruction Efforts in Germany: Hidden in Plain Sight?
Achim Brunnengräber, Moritz Neujeffski, and Dieter Plehwe

Chapter 7: Climate Obstruction in the Netherlands: Strategic and Systemic Obstruction of Dutch Climate Policies (1980-Present)
Martijn Duineveld, Guus Dix, Gertjan Plets, and Vatan Hüzeir

Chapter 8: Climate Obstruction in Poland: A Governmental-Industrial Complex
Kacper Szulecki, Tomas Maltby, and Julia Szulecka

Chapter 9: Climate Obstruction in Russia: Surviving a Resource-Dependent Economy, an Authoritarian Regime, and a Disappearing Civil Society
Marianna Poberezhskaya and Ellie Martus

Chapter 10: Climate Obstruction in the Czech Republic: Winning by Default
Milan Hrubes and Ondrej Císar

Chapter 11: Climate Obstruction in Italy: From Outright Denial to Widespread Climate Delay
Marco Grasso, Stella Levantesi, and Serena Beqja

Chapter 12: Climate Obstruction in Spain: From Boycotting the Expansion of Renewable Energy to Blocking Compassion Toward Animals
Jose A. Moreno and Núria Almiron

Chapter 13: Climate Obstruction in the European Union: Business Coalitions and the Technocracy of Delay
Dieter Plehwe, Moritz Neujeffski, and Tobias Haas

Chapter 14: Conclusion: Ten Lessons about Climate Obstruction in Europe
J. Timmons Roberts and Robert J. Brulle