Climate beliefs in an oil-dependent economy: Norwegian pre-service science teachers’ attitudes towards climate change

A large proportion of people in western societies do not believe in the concept of human-induced climate change (HICC), and oil-dependent economies might be expected to have more climate contrarian populations than others. Recent recessions in the Norwegian oil industry caused an influx of dismissed oil engineers into Norwegian science teacher education. With their background in the natural sciences and associations with the oil industry, this group of pre-service teachers might express mixed attitudes towards HICC and how to approach this subject while teaching. A survey of students attending a one-year course for qualifying people with a university degree in science as science teachers was conducted. Association with the oil industry covaries with climate skeptic thinking and reluctance towards teaching about HICC in these groups of students. This suggests that a green shift might create an influx of climate contrarian views into schools in oil-dependent economies.