capturing another comment
This one from Brad Delong's weblog:
Taking responsibility for anthropogenic global climate change will be costly for existing owners of heavy industry, who therefore have a financial interest in being conservative and resisting change. Challenging the "anthropogenic" nature of actual climate change may seem useful to political conservatives who wish to distinguish themselves from the "scary" Democratic administration.
Just as Republican/conservative types will claim that any recovery from recession was inevitable and possibly slowed by government spending on stimulus, they will claim that global climate change is taking place due to processes unrelated to human activities.
Although the facts of hard times and hot times are indisputable, some people might still be convinced by a contrived and bogus narrative of their causation. It is vital to the interests of some to obfuscate the fact that the majority are now paying the cost of the externalities omitted from financial and industrial accounts.
Taking responsibility for anthropogenic global climate change will be costly for existing owners of heavy industry, who therefore have a financial interest in being conservative and resisting change. Challenging the "anthropogenic" nature of actual climate change may seem useful to political conservatives who wish to distinguish themselves from the "scary" Democratic administration.
Just as Republican/conservative types will claim that any recovery from recession was inevitable and possibly slowed by government spending on stimulus, they will claim that global climate change is taking place due to processes unrelated to human activities.
Although the facts of hard times and hot times are indisputable, some people might still be convinced by a contrived and bogus narrative of their causation. It is vital to the interests of some to obfuscate the fact that the majority are now paying the cost of the externalities omitted from financial and industrial accounts.