Conspiracies, Corruption and Climate
by Paul Krugman at the NY Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/opinion/columnists/climate-rush-limbaugh-hurricanes.html
"SNIP...........
And almost all climate change denial involves Limbaugh-type conspiracy theorizing.
There is, after all, an overwhelming scientific consensus that human activities are warming the planet. When conservative politicians and pundits challenge that consensus, they do so not on the basis of careful consideration of the evidence — come on, who are we kidding? — but by impugning the motives of thousands of scientists around the world. All of these scientists, they insist, motivated by peer pressure and financial rewards, are falsifying data and suppressing contrary views.
This is crazy talk. But it’s utterly mainstream on the modern right, among pundits — even anti-Trump pundits — and politicians alike.
Why are U.S. conservatives so willing to disbelieve science and buy into tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories about scientists? Part of the answer is that they’re engaged in projection: That’s the way things work in their world.
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