[dragonwriter]

> Because of US left/right politics global warming has become a political topic rather than a scientific one.

Any issue for which a policy response is advocated is, ipso facto, a political one.

But the reason climate change is a globally controversial political issue is that it fits the game theoretical conditions of tragedy of the commons as well as having large up-front costs for delayed benefits (the latter not being a huge deal, but it compounds the former.) This manifests in, but is not caused by, US right (“capitalism is good, but taking coordinated action to avoid environemntal catastrophe damaging human society is good for capital”)/farther-right (“capitalism is good, and if there is a need to take action for the long term, it will be rewarded by the market without government intervention so as to make it the natural choice”) politics.