Why people become climate change deniers, and the threat to America

Last night I found myself listening to 1210 on the way home -- I always find that having your blood boil helps prevent you from falling asleep late at night -- and the host was this guy Rich Zeoli, going off about climate change. Ironically, I totally agreed with one of his micro-points -- that Al Gore is way, way off base in comparing climate change deniers to racists -- and mostly agreed with the second, about global warming and hurricanes. That is, there's indeed no reason to believe that global warming causes more hurricanes, although unlike Zeoli I think it is possible that global warming makes the hurricanes that we do get more powerful; after all, one key factor in hurricane strength is ocean temperature, and ocean temperatures have been rising, quite likely from global warming. Still, it's hard to nail down because there are other factors that make hurricanes stronger or weaker.

This was written in 2005 but I think it's on the money:

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.

Concluding:

Now, we don't know who will win next year's presidential election. But the odds are that one of these years the world's greatest nation will find itself ruled by a party that is aggressively anti-science, indeed anti-knowledge. And, in a time of severe challenges — environmental, economic, and more — that's a terrifying prospect.

Agreed, whole heartedly. And I want to be clear: I don't think that people who don't believe in climate change are like racists, and I also strongly believe they should not be muzzled, because there's nothing I believe in more than free speech. But I think this is a classic case where the majority of Americans who believe in the real dangers of climate change need to exercise our own right of free speech, and speak more loudly, and more powerfully. The alternative is indeed too frightening to contemplate.