Big Surprise: Tea Partiers Don't Believe in Global Warming

This is more unsurprising news. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, it turns out that folks who identify themselves with the tea party are more likely to deny or question the existence of global warming, with only 25 percent of this faction of the GOP saying that global warming is a reality. That stands in stark contrast to the 67 percent of Americans (including 61 percent of Republicans) who say they believe that the world is warming.

            My guess about this is that tea party folks are twofold: First, it seems to me that many in the tea party are prone to believing fantastical unreal things. Barack Obama was born in Kenya, despite evidence to the contrary; Barack Obama is a Socialist, despite evidence to the contrary; Barack Obama is a Muslim, despite evidence to the contrary. Many in the tea party believe this stuff. Second, the folks who say they are in the tea party are more likely to get their “news” from Fox News, which has done really questionable reporting on climate change, as well as from talk radio, which can be even worse when it comes to global warming and mendacity.

            Given their disproportionate influence on the GOP, as well as the rest of our politics—remember these folks brought you the partial government shutdown—the misinformation and ignorance on the climate that the tea party embraces is even more destructive and dangerous than their partial government shutdown.