Why do so many people accept Exxon's story on global warming, instead of the scientific community's?

Question

My impression is that this bizarre phenomenon is entirely attributable to partisanship -- the tendency to buy every single article of faith put forward by a particular party unquestioningly, if you buy one.

Note: A little reasoned argument, versus name-calling, will be viewed as refreshing.

Submitted for your consideration:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/17/60minutes/main1415985.shtml
http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p357.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy

Answer 1

I don't think most of the people who ridicule the notion that people are in some part responsible for the present warming cycle are cognizant of the fact that they are spouting the propaganda put forward by not only energy companies, but 'dirty' industries in general. I think they haven't even gotten the latest memo from Bush who recently said that (gasp) global warming exists. How many times on Yahoo have we seen people who look out their window and say "Well, its snowing here, Gore is crazy"?
You can also still find people who proclaim the earth flat,Elvis alive and the moon landing a hoax. Sometimes you just have to choose your battles.
So, like the lady below, the impact of a mere 150 years of industrial revolution spewing tons of particulate matter into the atmosphere and dumping materials and compounds that don't exist in nature for the first time in the history of the planet, make easy to overlook the fact that this is not a natural happening that's happened before, our planet may not be able to handle it. Or it may if we give it a break, what is there after all to lose if our earth, air and water are cleaner?
Do you really have to be a hippie or a tree hugger to understand that?

Answer 2

as usual the same error is being made. there are really two parts of this question. first global warming , which is generally accepted as cyclical and has been happening for millions of years.
second is the green house THEORY ( the word always left out. this is the theory that 30 years ago claimed we were going into an ice age. when the ice didn't show up they changed their mind and said we were going to heat up.

the supporters love to throw around 1500 to 2500 "scientists" that agree, the trouble with this is that's only about 0.1% of the worlds scientists.

Answer 3

Global warming is a natural phenomenon that the earth has gone through before and will again. They even found evidence in the ice packs at the South Pole. It has nothing to do with greenhouse gases, or ozone layers. Its a myth created by environmentalists in the late 60s in order to control the populations. It used to be wars that could make people sacrifice.. ie.. save metals, go without basics or accept rations like eggs, flour, and gasoline like in WW2.
Then they found that people wouldn't be controlled that way so they came up with this 'save the world' theory and found a few scientists that were high profile enough to point out natural phenoms as something cataclysmic... just like you can hand numbers to a statistician you can make anything sound like you want it to you just arrange the numbers and put in whatever variable you think will make it swing your way.
Recycling, save this and that causes are all controlling ways by the powers that be right now and since they got the media and the teachers buying into it they can indoctrinate the entire world to their 'ways' of thinking. The world has spun around the sun without us for a few billion years and its not going to stop because of our fretting.
p.s. Anyone who thinks the hippies no longer exist has not traveled through Berkeley, San Francisco, Medocino/ Sonoma counties or Oregon.

Answer 4

My take on this is similar to yours. I believe that a token number of scientists were paid to "debunk" global warming by Exxon-$10K was the standard fee, I believe. Couple this with the fact that one of the main people warning us about the effects is Al Gore, 2000 Democratic presidential nominee, and you have more than enough for talking points to be spread by right wing hate radio and television. Add to this so-called "preachers" who say that it is a lie, and you have a toxic mix of Kool Aid ready for the people to drink.

Answer 5

not really, but what is happening is a first that is for sure.

you have a large group of people out there who's sole reason for taking a position is that it will irritate democrats, liberals and independent people.

if you think this sounds disturbing, it is.

it means that there are people out there who's sole reason for believing and voting the way they do is spite for others.

the way i see it is that there is such a backlash against the hippies of the 1960's (who are long gone, by the way) that some people will just do whatever it takes to make these long gone people unhappy.

of course they have had help along the way, by extremely weak politicians like george bush and his handlers like kkkarl rove.

when very weak people get into positions of authority, you can be sure that there is a strange reason for it.

doing things because 'libs won't like it' is about as strange as it gets...

Answer 6

So people would accept as true anything from a Corporate Vandal like them? Besides the obvious conflict of interest are people really that stupid???? Most likely just dont care.

Answer 7

It is human nature to pick one out of a choice of two.