Eric S. Raymond identifies three groups that inadvertently enable each others groupthink. He places politicians like Carnahan in the "green-shirts" group. Here's his post about naming and shaming the AGW fraudsters:
First, the scientists. Most are caught up in, or struggling against, an error cascade of humongous proportions.... This is not conspiracy, it’s a result of a tendency to use seniority or authority as a shortcut when it’s technically difficult to evaluate evidence and socially difficult to be skeptical. All humans do this, even scientists.Russ Carnahan supported cash for clunkers and cap and trade while directing $90 million of your stimulus dollars into his brother's windfarm business. Then there's Carnahan's 2007 climate change trip. His whirlwind tour hit several vacation hot spots: Italy, New Zealand, the South Pole, Australia, and Hawaii—all to save the environment.
Next, the Gaianists – term I made up for people in whom “Save the Earth!” has psychologically substituted for traditional religion (in more or less chiliastic forms). They mean well, they really do; they recycle as an act of virtue, they worry about composting and buying local produce — and they’re totally subject to being manipulated by the other players, which is important since most of the action is going on in democracies....
Next, the green-shirts. These are political hacks of all varieties who just love the ideas of more carbon taxes, more regulation, and the general expansion of state power, especially if they can posture as virtuous eco-saviors while they’re arranging this. They’re not a conspiracy either, just a bunch of careerists who compete for the Gaianists as a voting bloc.
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