Have you seen the PBS Frontline special, "Climate of Doubt"?
If you wonder why the US lags much of the world in accepting and addressing the reality of climate change, watch this special.
This MUST SEE program documents how a handful of organizations have successfully turned the tide of public opinion against concern about climate change, and how that in turn, has prevented elected officials from taking action.
Climate of Doubt exposes how climate skeptics mobilized, built their argument, and undermined public acceptance of a global scientific consensus.
Robert Brulle, a sociologist at Drexel University, has focused his research on the strategy of what he calls "the climate change countermovement." Calling it an "extremely well-organized political movement," he credits it for having "a real political and ecological impact on the failure of the world to act" on global warming.
The key organizations behind the "counter-climate movement" are also the ones working hard to smear renewable energy in favor of fossil fuels, and who continue their attempts to stop government support for renewable energy.
They are Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, Heartland Institute, ALEC and the American Tradition Institute.
Scientists Fight Back
Michael Mann, one of the main targets of anti-climate change groups, is fighting back.
In 2007, the Penn State climate science professor won a Nobel Peace Prize for his climate change research.
He is suing the conservative magazine, National Review, and think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute for libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
A July 13 article called his scientific findings fraudulent and compared his global warming research to "molesting data" in similar ways as Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State football coach molested children.
The 2010 elections tilted the US Congress strongly toward climate change skeptics, and tired of being harassed, and afraid of what science shows for the future, climate scientists have begun to fight back.
A recent court ruling in Virginia gives some protection to the US climate science community – it allows universities to refuse information requests for scholarly communications and personal emails of climate scientists.
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Climate of Doubt is being shown at various times on PBS, or you can watch it here:
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