Meanwhile, most Americans in fact are ignorant of
the facts of climate science and even «confuse climate change with the ozone hole,» Schmidt remarked.
When confronted by
the facts of climate science we think to ourselves: «environmentalists always exaggerate», «Australia has always had droughts», «a bit of warming would be good for us» and «humans have solved these sorts of problems in the past».
Laudato Si» is critical not only of those who exploit the Earth without care and of those who deny
the facts of climate science.
When Mr Rudd says his task is to «balance» the claims of industry and the sceptics against those of the scientists and environmentalists he is saying that the scientists are political actors, that
the facts of climate science are up for negotiation.