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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 17h

Russia? Climate change? AI?

No. It seems the real threat and thus priority issue, for many in the European Parliament, is... the veggie burger.

www.euractiv.com/news/parliam...

Like, seriously?

Parliament pushes for ‘veggie burger’ ban | Euractiv

Lawmakers back stricter labelling for meat alternatives

www.euractiv.com

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, that's what they did. A quick search suggests that's a thing. Guess I can live with it, though I don't think it's got the same bravado as an em dash!

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 2d

Dear world, I am a pedant.

@universitypress.cambridge.org published an article of mine, and changed all the em dashes ("—”) into en dashes (”–”).

They also added a space after the minus symbol for all negative numbers (though no space after the plus for positives).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am unsettled.

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 4d

New publication!

Aleš Kudrnáč and I have a new paper in npj Climate Action about public support for climate policymaking. Prior studies have emphasized the importance of people's perceptions of policies' costs. But we find perceptions of benefits matter even more!

rdcu.be/eJkGb

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 12d

"Collaboration needs to be the ultimate goal if eight billion of us are going to have a bright future on this planet," said Jeremy Hansen, astronaut, at a NASA news conference today.

"Just having humanity stop for a moment and say, 'Wow, look at what we can do when we work together.'"

Love this.

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Reposted by Malcolm Fairbrother

Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 13d

#OpenAccess from @jpublicpolicy.bsky.social -

How do Europeans want to fight climate change? Comparing and explaining public support for a wide variety of policies - cup.org/3W89P1g

- @mfair.bsky.social, Ingemar Johansson Sevä & @joakimkulin.bsky.social

#FirstView

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 12d

bsky.app/profile/mfai...

Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 13d

In this new paper, we present one of the largest ever studies of public support for different climate policies--16 policies, 6000+ respondents in four countries (DE ES PL SE), and a survey experiment that makes a big contribution to our understanding of why people prefer the policies they do.
(1/n)

Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 13d

So political trust is a key factor shaping people's views of different policies, and we conclude that distrust is a problem. We aren't saying people should blindly trust their political leaders. But we think people are often too cynical, and that is weakening the fight against climate change.
(5/5)

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 13d

People with more trust are more accepting of costly policies, and it seems political trust makes people more confident that costs will be compensated by benefits. Because most people are distrusting, however, costly policies are unpopular--even policies experts recommend, like taxes.
(4/n)

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 13d

A major reason for scepticism is that people don’t trust political leaders to design and implement policies fairly and effectively. We found that such distrust makes many people particularly hesitant about policies that will mean paying an obvious cost—like taxes. (Think Yellow Vests.)
(3/n)

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 13d

People believe climate change is a real and serious problem, and want governments to do something about it. But it’s less clear what specific actions they would like to see, and public scepticism about some solutions has been a major reason for the world's slow action on climate change.
(2/n)

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · 13d

In this new paper, we present one of the largest ever studies of public support for different climate policies--16 policies, 6000+ respondents in four countries (DE ES PL SE), and a survey experiment that makes a big contribution to our understanding of why people prefer the policies they do.
(1/n)

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Aug 31

”Wir schaffen das.” (We can handle this.)
Ten years ago today. I’ll always appreciate that Merkel said that. She was right.

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Aug 27

Come on Europeans, up your game!

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Reposted by Malcolm Fairbrother

Martin Kolk @martinkolk.bsky.social · Aug 19

In our new study in Population and Environment, we examine how environmental concerns shape public attitudes toward childbearing in Sweden. We find views linking environmental concerns with reproduction are widespread, even if we find less support that they affect behavior.

doi.org/10.1007/s111...

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jul 29

There will be benefits for some U.S. industries, costs for others. Same in the EU.

The fact that Trump sees tariffs as a win, and according to this deal the U.S. will charge tariffs, doesn't mean Americans have gained something at Europeans' expense. Rather, there will costs to pay on both sides.

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jul 29

A lot of coverage of the big trade deal suggests the EU somehow lost out bigtime... and the U.S. "won".
To be clear: The U.S. "won" only a game whose rules emanated from Trump's mind.
Mainly, EU products will now be more expensive for U.S. consumers to buy, as their government taxes imports.

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jul 14

Hmm…

“Eventually these papers will all be written by an AI agent and then another AI agent will actually read them, analyse them and produce a summary for humans. I actually think that’s what’s going to happen.”

Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published

Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention

www.theguardian.com

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jul 6

One or two lectureships in the sociology department at Uppsala.
Excellent applicants wanted!

Sociology Department Uppsala University @uusociologydep.bsky.social · Jun 27

📢 We’re happy to share a new opportunity in our department!
Check out the details and apply here:
🔗 www.uu.se/om-uu/jobba-...
#JobOpening #UppsalaUniversity #AcademicJobs

En till två biträdande universitetslektorer i sociologi - Uppsala universitet

En till två biträdande universitetslektorer i sociologi, Sociologiska institutionen, Uppsala universitet

www.uu.se

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jul 2

Important climate-related announcement by the European Commission today.
Not as ambitious as green groups wanted, but some MS's (Italy, Poland, Czechia, partly France and Germany) refused to go further.
I've read only DK, ES, FI, LU, NL, and SI were fully supportive.

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

EU\'s Climate Law presents a new way to get to 2040

The European Commission today proposed an amendment to the EU Climate Law, setting a 2040 EU climate target of 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, compared to 1990 levels, as requeste...

ec.europa.eu

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jul 1

Canada is lucky to have you!

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jul 1

Headline result: ”exposure to most types of extreme weather event does not predict policy support”.
Thus far, this and other papers suggest experiencing extreme weather events does not make a notable difference to people’s views.
It might yet start doing that. But not yet.

Naomi Oreskes @naomioreskes.bsky.social · Jul 1

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Extreme weather event attribution predicts climate policy support across the world - Nature Climate Change

Literature produced inconsistent findings regarding the links between extreme weather events and climate policy support across regions, populations and events. This global study offers a holistic asse...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Malcolm Fairbrother

Mia Farrow @miafarrow.bsky.social · Jun 28

Budapest: At least 100,000 people defied Viktor Orbán’s ban & to marched in the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hungary's history

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jun 24

This looks great! I would be interested in taking this.

However, it's in the middle of the night, for us here in Europe... any chance you would consider running this again sometime, so it's during our daytime?

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Malcolm Fairbrother @mfair.bsky.social · Jun 14

Yep. Disproportionately likely to come to Sweden to take high-paying tech jobs (and so they contribute a lot in tax).

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