Krugman: Republicans Against Science

But never mind that, Mr. Perry suggests; those scientists are just in it for the money, “manipulating data” to create a fake threat. In his book “Fed Up,” he dismissed climate science as a “contrived phony mess that is falling apart.”

I could point out that Mr. Perry is buying into a truly crazy conspiracy theory, which asserts that thousands of scientists all around the world are on the take, with not one willing to break the code of silence. I could also point out that multiple investigations into charges of intellectual malpractice on the part of climate scientists have ended up exonerating the accused researchers of all accusations. But never mind: Mr. Perry and those who think like him know what they want to believe, and their response to anyone who contradicts them is to start a witch hunt.

Republicans Against Science

Climate Denial Crock of the Week

This is one of the many posts by Greenman3610 at this most excellent site: Climate Denial Crock of the Week

Enemies of the people?

Republican [gubernatorial candidate] Gary Herbert is a global warming denier:


I’ve heard people argue on both sides of the issue, people I have a high regard for. People say man’s impact is minimal, if at all, so it appears to me the science is not necessarily conclusive. [Deseret News, 6/16/09

Governors Races: Losing The Western Climate Initiative




Galileo suffered at the hands of the mainstream philosophers and ultimately the church. He was condemned for heresy, his books were banned, and he was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life in 1633.


While today's climate scientists like Dr. James Hansen and Dr Michael Mann are not under house arrest, their reputations have been attacked relentlessly by the denier crowd.


Then as now, the common people relied on the mainstream for their information. Then as now, they were mislead or deceived.


The 'science is not conclusive' mime was used to keep people smoking for decades. How many died? Did anybody go to prison for it?

In this case, climate change, the potential for mass death, human and otherwise is unprecedented. These people are asking to be elected leaders. Shouldn't some responsibility go along with that? Shouldn't they be held to a higher standard? Shouldn't they be held accountable for the damage done because they prevented progress toward a sustainable future?

History is rife with mainstream resisting new science.

• Sister Kenny and her polio treatments
• Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes and his hand washing regimen.
• Alfred Lothar Wegener and continental drift

Another analogy is the play Enemy of the People.

Scopes Trial Redux

Essentially putting global warming science on trial, Texas officials on Thursday expanded their arguments in a lawsuit meant to prevent the federal regulation of greenhouse gases.

State hammers EPA on science of global warming


This ought to be interesting.

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HT Cost of Energy

The record heat experienced in the United States in the summer of 2010 is no isolated event. Global temperature data compiled by NASA show that the first seven months of 2010 was the hottest such period on record. This comes on top of the warmest decade on record (2000-2009), which surpassed the previous record set by the 1990s, which itself supplanted the 1980s as the warmest decade on record at that time.

The Worst Summer Ever?