Climate change doubters
Those who reject mainstream climate science
DISAPPROVED
Climate change skeptics
But “denier” has also proved controversial, something the AP cited in its release on the change. The word deliberately carries with it connotations of Holocaust denial. In an email, George C. Marshall Institute CEO William O’Keefe said the word “was intended to be pejorative and was seen that way.”
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William Happer, a physicist at Princeton University who has questioned climate science, applauded the AP for the move, but said he was still happy to be called a skeptic. “All real scientists should be skeptics,” he said.
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Flashback: Warmists defend use of term ‘climate denier’ – Article features Climate Depot’s Morano – In 2000, “denier” was referenced 10 times in the English-language press. In 2014, it appeared 3,183 times…In politics, there was “Holocaust denial,” “moon-landing denial” and “evolution denial” — all flowing from Freud, with its implications not only of untruth but of mental illness. And now the word’s in the center ring of the global warming fight: “climate denial.”…Marc Morano, publisher of the Climate Depot blog and a former Inhofe aide, said the term captured the essential points for his side: that there shouldn’t be a rush to embrace the widely held scientific view that human emissions are leading to harmful warming, and that the public should entertain other views and other data. “The reason ‘skeptic’ is so apt, I believe, is because we were told that there was a consensus and this is no longer up for debate,” he said in an interview. “We’re skeptical of those claims.”
But Morano says the Obama administration and its allies are deliberately using the “denier” label to “intimidate and silence” their political opponents while they drive through their agenda. The term is being used more frequently, he said, because greens know the last years of the Obama administration are their best chance to win carbon regulations at home and a climate agreement abroad, he said. “They want a final push to just totally smear and discredit skeptics,” he said. “The reins of power right now are on their side.” But “denier” effectively means “liar,” and that’s a risky message, Morano said. “I don’t like to say someone’s a liar in political discourse, because it takes away from your case. You become the issue, and whatever language you use to say it,” he said…But Morano said he is still careful about making his messaging too personal. He prefers, he said, multi-word descriptions — “global warming fear promoters,” for example — that focus more on what his political opponents are doing than on what they are.’
