We’ve covered the Climategate scandal extensively. It is the most important scandal of our time. Climate alarmists are trying to impoverish the world, ostensibly in order to cool it down but really, in my view, to achieve the liberal holy grail of government control over everything. The scandal comes along at a critical moment to cast doubt on whether the “scientists” behind the global warming scare are doing science at all. Rather, their own words suggest that they are engaging in a combination of politics and fraud.
The liberal media have studiously averted their eyes from the scandal–a common posture for them these days–but, nevertheless, Americans are deeply skeptical about the warmist enterprise. Scott Rasmussen finds that the liberals’ claim that the scientific argument about global warming is over is roundly rejected by the American people:
Most Americans (52%) believe that there continues to be significant disagreement within the scientific community over global warming. [T]he latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 25% of adults think most scientists agree on the topic. Twenty-three percent (23%) are not sure.
So, by more than two to one, Americans believe the debate is alive and well. Not only that, by a stunning 59 percent to 26 percent margin–also better than two to one–Americans say that it is either very likely (35%) or somewhat likely (24%) that some scientists have falsified research data to support their own theories and beliefs about global warming.
What’s curious is that most people aren’t basing this judgment on the Climategate scandal, which fewer than half of Americans have followed. (No wonder, since if you’re relying on network news and your local newspaper, your chance of knowing about the story is probably zero.) Rather, while Climategate is no doubt a factor, most Americans seem to be relying on their innate anti-authoritarian bent.
It is perhaps a sad fact that most Americans are skeptical of what they are told by politicians, businessmen, college professors and other supposed authority figures. An extreme case is the United Nations: Rasmussen finds that only 22% of Americans consider the UN to be “a reliable source of information on global warming.” So much for the IPCC “consensus” on climate change.
Whether we would be better off if we were a more trusting people is an interesting question. In this particular case, however, the skepticism is amply justified.
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