In 2006, according to the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Americans saw "solid evidence" for global warming. By this fall, that figure had dropped to 57 percent—and just 36 percent said they believed that humans are to blame. That's good news for climate change skeptics and deniers, who have spent years trying to perpetuate the illusion that the reality of climate change is up for debate. Never mind that the scientific consensus is firmly on the side of global warming—for anyone seeking an alternate view, there's an entire parallel universe where junk science and bogus statistics ricochet through an echo chamber of kooky blogs, "nonpartisan" institutes, and fake "green" and "citizen" groups that are often acting on behalf of the oil and coal industry.
With Copenhagen kicking off and the overblown "Climategate" scandal making headlines, the deniers have even more fodder for their campaign to kill serious action to slow climate change.
Here's a guide to the dozen loudest components of the climate disinformation machine.
No. 1: ExxonMobil Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 2: Lord Christopher Monckton Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 3: American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 4: Plants Need C02 Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 5: American Petroleum Institute (A.K.A. Energy Citizens) Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.- No. 6: Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (A.K.A. ClimateDepot.com) Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 7: The Heartland Institute Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 8: Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change (A.K.A. The Idso Family) Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 9: FreedomWorks Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 10: Tennessee Center for Policy Research (A.K.A. Carnival of Climate Change) Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 11: Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security (A.K.A. FACES of Coal) Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
No. 12: Institute for Energy Research (A.K.A. American Energy Alliance) Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.
