In 2022, a string of mass shootings in Buffalo, El Paso, and Christchurch shocked the world with a horrific new trend—ecofascism. Mary Annaïse Heglar points out that all the shooters were young White men who had been exposed to misinformation and right-wing media ecosystems, choosing to take matters into their own hands rather than hold political leaders accountable. Heglar highlights how the common thread between gun culture, climate change, and disinformation is White supremacy. Climate denial or dismissal is not rooted in a rejection of scientific evidence, but rather in the fact that the worst effects of climate change disproportionately impact people of color, communities in the Global South, and the poor. In the eyes of White supremacists and ecofascists, Heglar explains, climate change is perversely embraced for its potential to eliminate so-called “undesirable” non-white populations. Consequently, the climate crisis threatens to deepen racism even further.
