Digby, Amanda Marcotte and Krugman traded thoughts recently on what exactly it is about climate science that so sets off the right in opposition.
It's an important question. The right, while opposed to environmentalism in most regards, could in past at least see what side of the bread is buttered. The Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer, after all, was negotiated and ratified in the era of Reagan, Thatcher and even in Canada, Mulroney. Thatcher herself was an early believer in the need for concerted action to address Climate Change. Why (aside from her education in chemistry) is she basically alone on this? I like Krugman's answer the best of the three, but even so I think he comes up short, particularly on the anti-intellectualism angle.
What's really happening is that anthropogenic climate change is a fundamental assault on right wing ideology and the solution requires a worldwide implementation of liberal policies that will undercut right wing ideas at every level well into the future. Right wingers maybe do not grasp this fear consciously, but intuitively everything about this issue stinks for them. Denial is the only way to save their worldview.
Being skeptical about Global Warming skeptics' arguments has proven, to date, to be a healthy and sensible way to deal with their truthiness claims and arguments. The Heartland Institute's distribution of a list of scientist supposedly doubting Global Warming yet again verifies the value of being skeptical about Global Warming skeptics.
The Heartland "article purports to list scientists whose work contradicts the overwhelming scientific agreement that human-induced climate change is endangering the world as we know it."
"DeSmogBlog ... emailed 122 of the scientists ... calling their attention to the list."
"in less than 24 hours - three dozen of those scientists had responded in outrage, denying that their research supports Avery's conclusions and demanding that their names be removed."
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