… Lack of belief in climate change correlates highly with political party and with faith in government. People who lean left and look to government to solve problems believe in climate change because they can see a solution—policy—that is within the realm of their experience and tolerance. People who lean right—especially those who are libertarian—hear about climate change and start thinking, to their horror, about government.
Various scholars have tried to identify the impact of denialist chatter and events like the climategate email scandal, and some seem to find some links. But in my view what is going on has nothing to do with denialism. Instead, what we are seeing is what psychologists call “motivated reasoning” —people hear about something they abhor and they find reasons to justify their dissent. Believing that the science is “uncertain” is one of those reasons. CONT.
David Victor, UCSD (via Andrew Revkin, NYT)