How Coal, Utilities, and Transportation Impede Climate Action

Abstract

Climate obstruction efforts by the coal industry, electric utilities, and the transport sector including road vehicles, shipping, and aviation have proliferated in the United States, Europe, parts of Asia, and beyond. This chapter explains the relationships between these industries and sectors, maps actors and organizations supporting them, and outlines the state of knowledge on common obstruction strategies. It provides three typologies: actors, organizations, and coalitions active in these sectors; direct political obstruction strategies they use; and rhetorical and discursive obstruction tactics that argue for continued fossil fuel use and against taking action to address climate change. The chapter demonstrates that these obstruction activities have become increasingly diversified and sophisticated across the industries and sectors studied, including efforts to weaken, delay, or block climate mitigation. However, important differences exist across industries, sectors, and geographies. The chapter concludes by suggesting responses to counter obstruction and outlining gaps where additional research is needed.