The existence of human-caused global warming is pretty much settled science, but there are powerful interests who have reason to sew doubt. These deniers - they aren't scientific skeptics as they aren't expert in the field and their arguments have never held up - continue to confuse and delay. Some of the key people were active in supporting the tobacco industry and they were very successful for a few decades until the scientific evidence was finally too overwhelming. Their goal is not to disprove, but to cast doubt and stall movement allowing an industry (the fossil fuel industry in this case) to remain profitable.
Here is a nice list of denier statements along with rebuttals.
The average American does not care a whit that the goal is to, "...cast doubt and stall movement allowing an industry (the fossil fuel industry in this case) to remain profitable," because the average American is less concerned about fossile fuel industry profits and global warming than they are about the cost of driving their cars and heating their homes. The average American can live with other people's floods and hurricanes and droughts and forest fires, but they cannot live without their cars and comfort. Estimates vary, but the average American commute distance to work is sixteen miles. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Traffic/story?id=485098&page=1 Some of my coworkers traveled 40-60 miles each way, and I didn't see any carpooling. They would pay $24/day to drive an SUV 120 miles roundtrip at 20 mpg with $4 gas. Translate that into annual cost, and it is easy to understand their reluctance to meddle with fossil fuel industry profits, potentially driving the price of gas to $10. Republicans and democrats alike know this, which is likely the primary reason for no action.
Posted by: Roger | April 19, 2012 at 11:55