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Climate change is the perfect example of what happens when every issue becomes politicized.  The latest Gallop poll reveals the following discouraging graph.

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The New Republic asks why the change in public perception.

So why the rise in skepticism? Was it those Climategate e-mails? All those news stories harping on a few small errors in the IPCC’s report? Sure, it’s possible that both episodes could’ve affected public opinion, even if neither was significant on the merits. Still, it’s interesting to look at the crosstabs of the poll, as Josh Nelson does, and note that skepticism about global warming is almost exclusively on the rise among political conservatives. Two years ago, for instance, 50 percent of conservatives believed climate change was already happening—that’s now down to 30 percent.

I’d guess it’s just as likely that political dynamics are a big driver here, as opposed to, say, a handful of e-mails from East Anglia. After all, climate change has become increasingly identified as a Democratic cause—in no small part because it’s one of Barack Obama’s main agenda items. And, on the flip side, you have key Republicans like John McCain and Charlie Crist facing primary challenges and edging away from what was once a signature issue for them. Energy issues have become far more partisan of late, which could explain the sharp uptick in skepticism over the past year and a half.

There are two main observations to be drawn from this.  One is, as noted above, that climate change is identified as a liberal cause.  Republicans have been successful in poisoning the minds of their followers to the point where any issue which has a liberal or Democratic backing is perceived to be wrong and perverted by conservatives.  No facts are necessary to back up their claims.  Simply state a lie enough times and shout it out from the highest mountain and the sheep will follow.  We’ve seen the same type of ploy being used in the health care debate.

The second observation to be made is that industry lobbyists (i.e. Exxon) have the necessary money and resources to skew any topic just enough to plant a seed of doubt in the minds of many.  The tobacco industry did the same in the 70s when they downplayed the harm caused by nicotine.  We see it in the power of the religious right who have lambasted science to the point where half the population discounts evolution.

Republican’s mentor of propaganda, Nazi Joseph Goebbels said is so well.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

This technique has become the Republican trademark.  It was used effectively during the Bush years to sell the Iraq invasion and it is equally effective now in their role as minority party.

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