van Bruggen et al. (2026): Vacuuming the Sky? Metaphorical Framing in News Coverage of Carbon Dioxide Removal Methods
Femke van Bruggen, W. Gudrun Reijnierse, Tim Groot Kormelink, Elliott Hoey and Hedwig te Molder, IN: Environmental Communication, https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2026.2673348
Discussions of proposed climate solutions, such as carbon dioxide removal (CDR), are multi-layered and contested. This study examines the role that metaphors play as frame devices in news coverage (2018–2024) about CDR. Using critical metaphor analysis, the authors examined 257 articles from major UK, US, and Canadian news outlets to identify and interpret contrasting metaphorical expressions from journalists and their sources, including industry, science, and civil society. The authors find that a wide range of source domains, including references to, e.g. historical events, household objects, crime, religion, and medical analogies, is used to metaphorically frame CDR. These metaphors reflect actors’ competing ideologies and interests, rooted in hopeful rational-optimist and socio-ecological visions.