The climate change science was in in 1988…and climate concern was at its height. Then a calculated campaign by fossil fuel industry and the auto industry worked to convince people it was “junk science”. Consider this: According to Mother Jones magazines roundup of the Dirty Dozen deniers, ExxonMobil unleashed the power of $8 billion into think tanks and media to debunk climate science. And, of course, there have been others spreading their demon seeds of discontent.

What’s astonishing is that those who believe in the unanimous conclusions by the world’s top climate scientists – that would be the conclusion that climate change is indeed happening…and that we’re largely to blame – is hovering around 51%.

Al Gore was recently on CBC radio, sounding calm and mildly amused by all this insanity with the climate deniers. He pointed out that 15% or Americans believe the moon landing was staged on a set in the desert. Yet we don’t read articles in mainstream newspapers or have news reporters giving them much air time. What is it about climate change that inspires such dismissal?

I don’t have the answer, but speculate that it’s fear. Who wants to believe that climate change is real? That our lifestyles are unsustainable and that we either make drastic changes now or endure Mother Nature’s drastic changes later? Frankly, I’d love to discover that James Hansen and Bill McKibben, Al Gore and David Suzuki concocted some conspiracy to get us all to…seal our drafty windows or, ummmm, insulate our water heaters. But I can’t.

Instead, I accept the peer-reviewed science that tells me we’re teetering on a precipice and that Copenhagen had better produce some global plan of action.