An opinion piece at the Chicago Sun Times (hey, don’t they kill a lot of trees to publish their paper and put out lots of CO2 to deliver them?) by an unknown author shows their love for climate alarmist Jon Huntsman, who, as I understand it, is still actually running for the GOP nomination (yeah, I was surprised he was still in it, too). Then we get to this
The mystery is not why so many Republican candidates persist in saying global warming is a myth. As we learned from the birther debate, some people will say anything for a boost in the polls.
The real mystery is why so many Americans refuse to accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that man-made global warming is real. About 64 percent of Americans believe the globe is warming up, according to a recent poll, but only 47 percent think the cause is mostly human activity.
At the heart of the matter is a crippling cynicism among ordinary Americans about the values and competence of government, leading them to demand that government just butt out. They find it easier not to believe in global warming than to believe in the solution — more government rules and regulations.
It’s not a mystery at all: the so-called science has still not been proven, continues to become more and more hysterical (both meanings of the word), and they can look and see that a. consensus is not science, b. there sure seems to be a lot of fraud and inability to show the actual raw (and taxpayer funded) data, and c. the people who push it the most seem to be the worst greenhouse gas offenders.
There is a lot of similarity between the “birther” issue and the “global warming hoax” (GWH).
Both are driven by what people want to see the conclusions they want, rather than any solid scientific or demonstrable evidence.
Both have people that are willing to forge, falsify, or overstate supporting “evidence” and lay people, because they agree with the conclusions, do not do their own homework or investigations.
Both have people that are more interested in making money rather than looking for the truth.
The good thing is that there are plenty of sites that document the failings of both theories – including Pirate’s Cove for the debunking and monitoring of the GWH.
The issue is always going to be whether people are willing to dispassionately and logically look at the documentation and evidence, as opposed to tilting the evidence to fit what they want to believe.
You are so right, GT, the movements are similar. Neither will listen to anything that rebuts their beliefs. No amount of facts will change their minds. Ever.