re: #193 Charles

The problem with leaving it up to the free market is that some of the biggest players in that market — i.e. the energy industries — are pumping many millions of dollars into an effort to convince the US public that they shouldn’t believe the AGW science. And they’re doing this to protect their bottom lines.

It’s very similar to what happened when the link between tobacco smoking and cancer became indisputable. The tobacco industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars on campaigns to trick people into disbelieving the scientific evidence, because it threatened their profits.

And in fact, many of the groups who are now the most deceptive anti-AGW agents got their start as tobacco industry shills. This connection isn’t a coincidence.

One of the allied front groups for CEI that is suing NASA under the FOIA was also involved with stopping air bag requirements. We’ve probably run into people like this before — the types that think seat belts will actually kill you. Speaking of which the auto industry was dead set against seat belt regulations and emissions standards.