re: #121 klys

The problem is that here we have people giving the crackpots a platform and trumpeting this as division within the scientific community and other such bullshit.

No, it’s not. It’s crackpots. But the appeal to authority requires a competing authority, so they’re willing to elevate the crackpots like they mean something.

Yeah. This. It’s why the Creationists/Intelligent Designists denigrate Darwin so much. They assume he is the “authority” for evolution, and attack him specifically over and over in wrong-headed attempt to bring down evolution. They have no comprehension, even a suspicion, that biology has moved on since Darwin’s day, and that the last 150 years have not only confirmed most of Darwin’s theory but extended the theory of evolution in ways that Darwin never imagined. Telling them that 150 years of scientific research supports Darwin’s ideas has no impact. All they hear is “The Bible is wrong. Darwin was right, so shut up.”

Al Gore is the lightning rod for the AGW denialists for much the same reason. He’s the most visible figure expounding AGW, and the opposing bunch of authoritarians have promoted him to The AGW Authority to Attack. Referring to hundreds of papers supporting AGW has no effect, as above.

Stupid as fenceposts, they is.