A Contrarian Turn on a Warming Planet
As the scientific consensus on climate change solidified, Jordan Peterson took a starkly different path. He emerged not as a cautious skeptic but as what climate scientists bluntly called a climate‑change denier, using his vast audience to cast doubt on both the problem and its proposed solutions.
"There Is No Such Thing as Climate"
In a 2022 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Peterson advanced a series of claims that left experts aghast. He asserted that "there is no such thing as climate," arguing that "climate and everything are the same word." He dismissed the accuracy of climate models and appeared to conflate them with short‑term weather forecasts.
He cited Fred Singer, a well‑known climate change denier, and falsely claimed that fracking had not polluted water supplies.
Climate scientist John Abraham described the episode as a "word salad of nonsense" from people with "no sense" about climate. Michael E. Mann, a leading atmospheric scientist, suggested Peterson either misunderstood basic scientific method or was intentionally disinforming his audience.
A Global Organizer of Opposition
Peterson’s role went beyond the occasional misinformed comment. Climate researchers identified him as a "key organizer at the global level" in efforts to oppose or delay meaningful climate action.
In November 2023, the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, an organization affiliated with him, hosted a conference that opened with Peterson declaring, "We do not believe that humanity is necessarily and inevitably teetering on the brink of apocalyptic disaster." The gathering featured speakers who downplayed the extent of human‑caused warming and promoted fossil fuels, leading biologist Jennifer Marohasy to characterize the event as a platform for climate change denialism.
Platforms for Denial
On his own YouTube channel, Peterson hosted prominent climate deniers such as Judith Curry and Alex Epstein, amplifying their views to millions. His videos carried titles like "The world is not ending," "Unsettled: climate and science," and "The great climate con," framing mainstream climate science as alarmist or corrupt.
Mann accused him of "poisoning the minds of so many influenceable people with his pseudo-intellectual and pseudoscientific drivel," calling him "a central cog in the denial machine."
The Rise of "New Denial"
Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate used Peterson as a key example of what they termed "New Denial" on YouTube. Unlike older forms of denial that insisted climate change was not happening, the new strategy often concedes warming but seeks to undermine trust in solutions, question the reliability of science, or suggest that the harms are trivial or manageable.
In this landscape, Peterson’s prestige as a psychologist masks a shift in terrain: from arguing about whether the planet is warming to convincing millions that the proposed remedies are futile, dangerous, or part of a broader ideological plot.
The Cost of Influence
The climate debate is no longer just about data; it is about who people trust. Peterson’s journey into climate discourse illustrates how authority in one field can be leveraged—critics say abused—to wage a cultural battle in another, with consequences that extend far beyond YouTube views.