Here's my 2 cents worth: As some of the champions of dealing with global climate change are from the political arena (i.e. Al Gore), there are those out there who see this as a political issue. Political issues always have two sides and if your political leanings are not the same as the progressives who work to raise awareness on this issue, you figure you must take the other side. It's also interesting that some of the conservative politicians who initially poo-pooed global warming are now coming around to "believing" the science involved on the issue.

I consider it criminal negligence. MY grandchildren will be the ones impoverished by their ignorance. Granted if teachers were treated more like human beings by our government and science education were treated as vital this wouldn't happen. Does anyone remember when politics was about opinion? Such as federal versus state power and allocation of funding, etc? Now half of it is trying to convince ignorant congressmen that science is not a "belief" that you have "faith" in. Whether or not you believe in gravity doesn't change the fact that you fall down when you trip. Global warming has been pretty well understood since the 1960's. We have the money and the minds to fix it. But that is just not where money goes... Maybe there should be a max income law and people who make over a million dollars a year can't keep anything over that million. NO ONE NEEDS a million dollars. NO. ONE. So maybe Jessica Simpson and Tom Selleck and whoever else in Hollywood should stop buying Armani and start buying food for the hungry. Or pay HUGE taxes that can go to education and such. Anyway, don't hold individuals responsible for not believing in global warning when it's their representatives that do them the disservice of not making it an issue and taking the responsibility to educate themselves and their constituents about such a vital issue. And I have learned that being kind and patient and caring enough to explain it... people do come around. So educate yourself on these issues and when it comes up, ask them if they would just hear you out. I've actually converted Creationists to believers in science simply by answering each question as it came and making sure my understanding of radiometric dating and chemistry were deep enough that I could explain it in my own words. My fiance just convinced a man of global warming the other day. Well, the guy said it made sense and that he would think about it. But considering he was belligerently shouting that global warming is a scam maybe ten minutes earlier, that's wonderful. And anyway, who wants a person to just believe you? What we want MOST is for them to listen, think, and then look into it themselves. That's thinking, and it's good for you.