[boublepop]

> It was clear to everyone it was BS.

That’s what a lot of republicans have been saying about climate change for decades. Sensible people don’t act based on “everyone knows” especially not when tasked with actually digging out facts.

[stevenwoo]

This is unwarranted whataboutism. Conservatives around the world say this about climate change but that the vast majority of scientists can show the receipts - there is very little evidence against accelerating man made climate change. Contrast with the Iraq war justifications, even after they were shown to be false, the guys in favor of war kept on saying it was OK to go to war because "good intentions" matter more than facts. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,463779,00.... https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36712735

[boublepop]

It’s not whataboutism, it was literally the point.

If you where a republican investigator in charge of figuring out if climate change was a problem and decided to not actually do any fact checking because “everyone knows it’s bullshit” you would be an idiot.

In the same sence, someone tasked with looking for WMD in Iraq would be an idiot to simply go “well everyone knows there aren’t any” and not checking the facts.

Point is that no matter your political leanings, there is no such thing as “everyone knows” when doing investigations you look for facts and evidence.

And sometimes that’s hard because there isn’t any (Iraq) and other times that’s easy because there are tons (climate change). But no matter the case and your political affiliation if you skip the facts and rely on public sentiment you’re being foolish.

[LatteLazy]

It's sort of hilarious that you choose that example...