Connection Research conducts many surveys of consumer and business attitudes and behaviours in the field of energy efficiency and sustainability. We try hard to make our surveys as representative as possible, encompassing all demographic groups. That means we get a broad range of views from the people answering our surveys, which is as it should be.
When we ask people their views on climate change, we get representative responses from the 15% or so of the population who deny the science of climate change. This percentage has been fairly constant across our surveys and many others we have seen. Mild scepticism and outright denial is on the rise.
Recently we sent respondents to our Interconnected Home survey a summary of the results, as promised. We received back an angry email from a climate change denier who we shall call AD (Angry Denier). The short note drips with vitriol, and is full of profanity, bad grammar and spelling mistakes. It accused us of manipulating the survey to get the answers we wanted – “I will waist (sic) no time in your pathetic manipulated and dishonest surveys” (full text below).
The email is indicative of the mindset of many of those who deny the reality of a warming planet. They believe the science to be a conspiracy, but are unable to counter with facts of their own. Instead they resort to foul language and personal abuse. Even in his survey response (he did “waist” his time completing it), he referred to us as “you bastards”. The anger is palpable.Now, this fellow is not representative of all climate change deniers. Many of them are decent, if deluded, people. But they are not, generally speaking, the sharpest tools in the shed. They do not understand scientific method, nor the discipline of risk analysis.
We were glad to receive this email. It demonstrates the existence of a mindset impervious to reason, logic and fact. Such people exist, and they live among us.
