Anti-environmentalism as conservative coalition maintenance: an automated text analysis of National Review

Anti-environmentalism is an important component of the broader conservative movement and represents an essential feature for the maintenance of this coalition over time. National Review, since its inception in the mid-1950s, has presented itself as the primary intellectual clearinghouse for conservative thought and the conservative movement. As such, in this article we examine how anti-environmentalism is presented as conservative coalition maintenance in the pages of National Review. Using automated text analysis of issues of National Review from 2009 to 2024 we find that the main topics regarding the environment presented in the magazine are the costs and burdens of regulation as well as the importance of reliable energy, namely that provided by fossil fuels. Topics such as climate change are also presented in the magazine but often in connection to the costs associated with regulations to counteract it.