For us, it inevitable that this ends with more authority by central government over others because no one will. This is why Exxon is being sued by the government for retroactively failing to push theories that the state wants it to. Now, fanatics are drafting children to help punish companies for thought crimes. It is one of the most egregious attacks on free speech we’ve encountered, yet. Even if the legal effort fails, which it almost surely will, the effort to chill speech in risk-averse Big Business will surely succeed. Which is the point, after all.

This new push against speech is predicated on the laughable notion that Americans are being misled or barred from hearing the TRUTH about global warming rather than simply being skeptical or uninterested because it doesn’t make any sense. After all, not a day goes by that we don’t see some new disturbing story tethered to slight climate variations—apparently something completely new to the earth. The fact is that as much as people say they care. They don’t act like it.

I imagine there’s a certain amount of emotional gratification in telling a pollster you’re worried about global warming. What kind of deranged science-denying troglodyte isn’t? But how you act tells us something, as well. Most Americans don’t feel obligated to make lifestyle changes. Maybe they intuitively understand tradeoffs are necessary but not worth it. Maybe they understand that humans have been adapting successfully to slight changes in the climate forever. (Almost all advances in efficiency in carbon emissions have been made through the market-based technological growth.) Maybe they believe climate change but recognize that there is really nothing we can do about it. Or maybe they don’t really care enough.  Good news for anyone concerned about genuine progress.