ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 begins with George H. W. Bush and continues through to the early term of Joe Biden. The division between chapters two and three represents the transition from climate skepticism to climate denialism over the Reagan to Bush administrations which was fostered by the contrarians – a small number of scientists who did not accept the science of climate change who had arrived in Washington at the end of the 1980s, upon the invitation by Republicans in Congress. Climate denial began to seep into American politics with the presidency of George H. W. Bush and had fully infiltrated the Republican Party by the end of George W. Bush’s presidency. President Obama had done the most to combat climate change, including being a force behind the Paris Climate Agreement, but his efforts were largely negated by President Trump, the most notorious climate denier ever to hold the office. Near the end of the chapter, there is a review of the early term of Joe Biden and the Inflation Reduction Act, the most important (and only) climate-related legislation ever passed by Congress.
